some more questions on my new tank

[Justice]

Hi All again, ok i tested my tank again tonight and my readings are: ph
7.2, nitrite .5, nitrate 5, amonia .1. my fish seem to be ok, although
my clown loaches seem to be kind of lazy one seems to hide in my flower
pot. Also when I first go them I noticed my snail population reduced
alot. but today holy**** population explotion tonight, what the? Are
they not supose to eat the snails? Or am I feeding too much?

TIA

[Mary Burns]

"Justice" > wrote in message
news:cR6Ze.267888$HI.33812@edtnps84...
> Hi All again, ok i tested my tank again tonight and my readings are: ph
> 7.2, nitrite .5, nitrate 5, amonia .1. my fish seem to be ok, although my
> clown loaches seem to be kind of lazy one seems to hide in my flower pot.
> Also when I first go them I noticed my snail population reduced alot. but
> today holy**** population explotion tonight, what the? Are they not supose
> to eat the snails? Or am I feeding too much?
>
> TIA

You still have ammonia and nitrite, and so the tank is not cycled until you
only have nitrate. Clowns are scaleless fish and should only go in
established tanks, and even then they are hard to setlle in. Their nature is
too hide a lot if things are not right, so he is not being lazy. They do
better in bigger groups/large tanks. If you really want clown loaches, you
must give them what they need to thrive, as they live over 25 years and get
very big, growing quickly to around 3.5 to 4", and around 8 or 9" in 10+
years or so. If you just want someone to eat the snails, there are smaller
loaches...yo yo or dojo. If you have a lot of snails, remove some manually
until tank is cycled. Mary

[Justice]

Mary Burns wrote:
> "Justice" > wrote in message
> news:cR6Ze.267888$HI.33812@edtnps84...
>
>>Hi All again, ok i tested my tank again tonight and my readings are: ph
>>7.2, nitrite .5, nitrate 5, amonia .1. my fish seem to be ok, although my
>>clown loaches seem to be kind of lazy one seems to hide in my flower pot.
>>Also when I first go them I noticed my snail population reduced alot. but
>>today holy**** population explotion tonight, what the? Are they not supose
>>to eat the snails? Or am I feeding too much?
>>
>>TIA
>
>
> You still have ammonia and nitrite, and so the tank is not cycled until you
> only have nitrate. Clowns are scaleless fish and should only go in
> established tanks, and even then they are hard to setlle in. Their nature is
> too hide a lot if things are not right, so he is not being lazy. They do
> better in bigger groups/large tanks. If you really want clown loaches, you
> must give them what they need to thrive, as they live over 25 years and get
> very big, growing quickly to around 3.5 to 4", and around 8 or 9" in 10+
> years or so. If you just want someone to eat the snails, there are smaller
> loaches...yo yo or dojo. If you have a lot of snails, remove some manually
> until tank is cycled. Mary
>
>
Ok this tank is not exactly new it has been running for about 5 years. I
got it from somebody. although in transport we emptied about 2/3 water
but my sponge got dryed up for about a day. I have only had it for 5
days. my first tests were 6 on nitrite yes 6 not .6 and ammonia 0 now it
is .5 and .1ish yellow is 0 and it is pretty yellow just not exact so it
could be .05 who knows, the next number is .25 and its not that green. I
know my clown loaches are going to get bigger, I am planing on buying
a bigger tank in about a year or so. but room limitations at the moment
are not there yet. 20gal all I got. they should be fine for a year, I
hope. and thank you.

[Mary Burns]

"Justice" > wrote in message
news:OS7Ze.267891$HI.227057@edtnps84...
> Mary Burns wrote:
>> "Justice" > wrote in message
>> news:cR6Ze.267888$HI.33812@edtnps84...
>>
>>>Hi All again, ok i tested my tank again tonight and my readings are: ph
>>>7.2, nitrite .5, nitrate 5, amonia .1. my fish seem to be ok, although my
>>>clown loaches seem to be kind of lazy one seems to hide in my flower pot.
>>>Also when I first go them I noticed my snail population reduced alot. but
>>>today holy**** population explotion tonight, what the? Are they not
>>>supose to eat the snails? Or am I feeding too much?
>>>
>>>TIA
>>
>>
>> You still have ammonia and nitrite, and so the tank is not cycled until
>> you only have nitrate. Clowns are scaleless fish and should only go in
>> established tanks, and even then they are hard to setlle in. Their nature
>> is too hide a lot if things are not right, so he is not being lazy. They
>> do better in bigger groups/large tanks. If you really want clown loaches,
>> you must give them what they need to thrive, as they live over 25 years
>> and get very big, growing quickly to around 3.5 to 4", and around 8 or 9"
>> in 10+ years or so. If you just want someone to eat the snails, there are
>> smaller loaches...yo yo or dojo. If you have a lot of snails, remove some
>> manually until tank is cycled. Mary
> Ok this tank is not exactly new it has been running for about 5 years. I
> got it from somebody. although in transport we emptied about 2/3 water but
> my sponge got dryed up for about a day. I have only had it for 5 days. my
> first tests were 6 on nitrite yes 6 not .6 and ammonia 0 now it is .5 and
> .1ish yellow is 0 and it is pretty yellow just not exact so it could be
> .05 who knows, the next number is .25 and its not that green. I know my
> clown loaches are going to get bigger, I am planing on buying a bigger
> tank in about a year or so. but room limitations at the moment are not
> there yet. 20gal all I got. they should be fine for a year, I hope. and
> thank you.

From your previous post, 20g moved, with about 8" of fish. Nitrite 6 with 2
clowns added, making around 12" if clowns are 2" small ones. They have been
exposed to high level of nitrite when you added them, and although ammonia
is .1 and nitrite .5 now, it will have been a tough start for them. Cycling
with about 20% of fish load is safer and you are at around 50%. Keep up
daily water changes(15 or 20%), don't disturb substrate until you only have
nitrate. I hope the clowns survive, keep checking for ich too if they are
stressed. Clowns are eternal Peter Pans, adorable fish, I have 10...5
around 4" and 5 around 2" who dominante my 65g, with 6 female platies for
company. I will be upgrading to a 7' tank, around 135 gals next year. They
are "out" all day, very boisterous and this has been achieved by removing
other bigger fish (angels)to another tank, increasing 2 clowns to 3 then 5
last year and now 5 more small ones this year. They are my favourites as
they just "play" all day and use all the tank. Mary

[Justice]

Mary Burns wrote:
> "Justice" > wrote in message
> news:OS7Ze.267891$HI.227057@edtnps84...
>
>>Mary Burns wrote:
>>
>>>"Justice" > wrote in message
>>>news:cR6Ze.267888$HI.33812@edtnps84...
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hi All again, ok i tested my tank again tonight and my readings are: ph
>>>>7.2, nitrite .5, nitrate 5, amonia .1. my fish seem to be ok, although my
>>>>clown loaches seem to be kind of lazy one seems to hide in my flower pot.
>>>>Also when I first go them I noticed my snail population reduced alot. but
>>>>today holy**** population explotion tonight, what the? Are they not
>>>>supose to eat the snails? Or am I feeding too much?
>>>>
>>>>TIA
>>>
>>>
>>>You still have ammonia and nitrite, and so the tank is not cycled until
>>>you only have nitrate. Clowns are scaleless fish and should only go in
>>>established tanks, and even then they are hard to setlle in. Their nature
>>>is too hide a lot if things are not right, so he is not being lazy. They
>>>do better in bigger groups/large tanks. If you really want clown loaches,
>>>you must give them what they need to thrive, as they live over 25 years
>>>and get very big, growing quickly to around 3.5 to 4", and around 8 or 9"
>>>in 10+ years or so. If you just want someone to eat the snails, there are
>>>smaller loaches...yo yo or dojo. If you have a lot of snails, remove some
>>>manually until tank is cycled. Mary
>>
>>Ok this tank is not exactly new it has been running for about 5 years. I
>>got it from somebody. although in transport we emptied about 2/3 water but
>>my sponge got dryed up for about a day. I have only had it for 5 days. my
>>first tests were 6 on nitrite yes 6 not .6 and ammonia 0 now it is .5 and
>>.1ish yellow is 0 and it is pretty yellow just not exact so it could be
>>.05 who knows, the next number is .25 and its not that green. I know my
>>clown loaches are going to get bigger, I am planing on buying a bigger
>>tank in about a year or so. but room limitations at the moment are not
>>there yet. 20gal all I got. they should be fine for a year, I hope. and
>>thank you.
>
>
> From your previous post, 20g moved, with about 8" of fish. Nitrite 6 with 2
> clowns added, making around 12" if clowns are 2" small ones. They have been
> exposed to high level of nitrite when you added them, and although ammonia
> is .1 and nitrite .5 now, it will have been a tough start for them. Cycling
> with about 20% of fish load is safer and you are at around 50%. Keep up
> daily water changes(15 or 20%), don't disturb substrate until you only have
> nitrate. I hope the clowns survive, keep checking for ich too if they are
> stressed. Clowns are eternal Peter Pans, adorable fish, I have 10...5
> around 4" and 5 around 2" who dominante my 65g, with 6 female platies for
> company. I will be upgrading to a 7' tank, around 135 gals next year. They
> are "out" all day, very boisterous and this has been achieved by removing
> other bigger fish (angels)to another tank, increasing 2 clowns to 3 then 5
> last year and now 5 more small ones this year. They are my favourites as
> they just "play" all day and use all the tank. Mary
>
>
Well I am new to this fish keeping, well my dad used to be a avid
aquaria guy. @ one point he hat about 14 diffrent tanks. I bought the
clown loaches @ the same time as the test kit, I know that was kind of
dumb. they seem too have no white spots. and it looks like the tank is
more about 30% fish. they all seem to have enough room, and have there
own areas. well my western rainbow has his space, he seems to like to
chase the others around, not bitteing just chasing. I am planing on
getting another 20 gal soon to move the western rainbow into. A bit to
agressive for my community tank IMO.

Thank You for you help