Yay! I finally did it!

[JKfish]

I'm not sure. If you have fish pellets or flakes, toss a pinch in a plastic bag, poke some holes in the bag, and try to sink it. It'll be just enough ammonia to hold it over until you're ready. Lol, as for the nasty water, just keep doing partial water changes, it'll clear out.

[sjones]

really? I can do water changes as often as I want without losing the good bacteria?
The fish food is a good idea!
I'll post some pictures soon! Tanks!

[JKfish]

yeah, course you can., that's why people can do fish in cycles safely. The bacteria isn't in the water, it's on the surfaces. So long as you don't scrub down the tank and do a 100% water change, you're fine.

I can't wait for pics!

[sjones]

that makes sense!
tanks jkfish!
btw no worms, however I did find one in one of my critter keepers recently (blah) I think it was from the plants I got..

[sjones]

I added one betta, however I am concerned, the tank smells sweet and rotting, I have now done two partial water changes
I am also noticing there is white splotchy mold looking stuff on the sides of the tank above and below the water line.
The water ph is 6.4 but it really seems revolting, I feel bad having my fish in there and am wondering if I should just tear it down and do a pure ammonia cycle instead
I have been googling this and can't find any answers except that by using raw shrimp I may have introduced saprolegnia into my tank (when the shrimp was rotting in the pantyhose it had long white hairs, looked like the pictures I found of saprolegnia)
ANy experiences or thoughts on my water/tank would be appreciated

[sjones]

I tore it down.

After an extensive internet search I wasn't able to find someone's experience of what was going on with the tank favorably

I felt horrible for my beloved betta sitting in that nasty water so I took him out and tore down the tank

I did learn (and maybe this will be useful to someone in the future) that using a shrimp to cycle can cause saprolegnia

I also had brown algae cover my silk plants

Additionally having my hands in the water or even getting near the tank made my skin very itchy


I also had white looking mold spores in the tank and on the glass and hood above it

Now I really want to clean the tank and the plants that were in it and the heater that my betta is now using again in his kritter keeper

I have duckweed and hornwort and naja grass and am wondering how to clean them to kill off any bacteria there may have been in the tank (think saprolegnia) and also any way I can "clean" my fish other than freguent waterchanges and aq salt

I may try to cycle again using pure ammonia in the future but rigth now I am goign to stick to waterchanges (the floating plants really help keep the water clear of ammonia as well)

I'd rate the overall shrimp experience as "disappointing" and I'm hoping I didn't get an weird skin disease off it (or that my fish gets sick)

[JKfish]

Sorry it didn't work out for you this time, and hopefully nothing bad will come to you or your fish. I'm pretty sure you can dip the plants in a light bleach solution for about a minte to get rid of anything nasty.

[sjones]

Okay, if anything happens I'll post it on this thread but likely things will be okay!