I have two five year old Orandas, bought from a pet shop as a replacement for my koi’s that were eaten by raccoons. Noticed this winter that one had trouble remaining upright and water was mid forties in temp so I brought them about a month ago in to a square 15 tank with a 50 Gal HOB filter, sand substrate and heating the water to 72deg. I have been fish-in cycling since then (with Seachem Prime and Stability) and testing daily with API test strips. PH stays around 7, nitrites and nitrates have yet to register and ammonia is a 3, which I lower to a 1 with a 50% water change.
All of my learning was accidental up to a point. Now it is as science based as I can make it. Still would like to know a couple of things:
1. Tank size vs water changes: I am changing water every other day. How big of a tank do I need to reduce water changes to weekly?
2. How much longer until I see nitrite levels rise? Will high ammonia inhibit that? Will the ammonia level ever drop in a tank this size?
3. Would you ever put them back into a pond? I paid much less attention to water quality in the pond and never treated the chlorine tap water I used to top it off. I did use the API Pond-Zyme.
Fish are healthy and happy and eating well. Thanks in advance for any assistance!
Zeeknos
All of my learning was accidental up to a point. Now it is as science based as I can make it. Still would like to know a couple of things:
1. Tank size vs water changes: I am changing water every other day. How big of a tank do I need to reduce water changes to weekly?
2. How much longer until I see nitrite levels rise? Will high ammonia inhibit that? Will the ammonia level ever drop in a tank this size?
3. Would you ever put them back into a pond? I paid much less attention to water quality in the pond and never treated the chlorine tap water I used to top it off. I did use the API Pond-Zyme.
Fish are healthy and happy and eating well. Thanks in advance for any assistance!
Zeeknos