Arrrggghhhh What's Cycling, New Tank And I've Already Got Fish

[Miss Wiggle]

good info there andy thanks like you say it's not a case of needing to panic all the time, just to be aware of what your buying, what it does and what can go wrong

 

[Santa took us a fish tank]

As a complete beginner to this and have just lost most of my first lot of fish - I wish I had kown of this website and forum before I started - I guess I'm now in for some hard work with high nitrate and nitrite levels. Thank you for explaining it all in really easy to read and understand format. Wish me luck.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

As a complete beginner to this and have just lost most of my first lot of fish - I wish I had kown of this website and forum before I started - I guess I'm now in for some hard work with high nitrate and nitrite levels. Thank you for explaining it all in really easy to read and understand format. Wish me luck.

glad you've found this helpful. let us know how you get on

 

[1ncubu5]

go on and pin this you mean moderators, miss wiggle spent a lot of time writing it

 

[Miss Wiggle]

go on and pin this you mean moderators, miss wiggle spent a lot of time writing it

its now linked from the pinned beginners resource centre here

 

[cane76]

congratulations miss wiggle well done

 

[emmag21]

I think when people get their first aquarium they are sometimes so eager to get fish they dont think about the aquariums condition and rush out to buy them. The above should make it clear that your aquarium needs to be ready first before adding fish. xx

 

[Miss Wiggle]

congratulations miss wiggle well done

I think when people get their first aquarium they are sometimes so eager to get fish they dont think about the aquariums condition and rush out to buy them. The above should make it clear that your aquarium needs to be ready first before adding fish. xx

thanks

 

[Biff0r]

great post, same as most wish I knew of this site before i went out and bought stuff.

Luckily i had a little sister who knew her stuff.

 

[joyellwein]

A very thoughtful & useful thread!

Just in case I'll add this if it's OK....

If using normal tap water, simply just doing a water change to bring the Ammonia etc. levels down is not always a safe thing to do and could lead the beginner to much confusion when he or she sees the levels possibly rise!

We all know that water must be dechlorinated. Water contains Chlorine (Cl) and / or Chloramine (NH2Cl) that is used to kill bacteria in the water, i.e. will also kill filter bacteria. Should the water contain chloramine, the action of some dechlorinators will produce Ammonia! Some of the dechorlinators also bind this ammonia into safe ammonium (that can also be consumed by the filter bacteria). The levels of Ammonia are usually small, but the quality of water can change (the amount of Chlorine / Chloramine added), hence I recommend testing the dechlorinated for toxic levels of Ammonia water BEFORE it goes into the tank!

I then recommend testing your tap water for levels of Ammonia BEFORE putting it in the tank.

Note: Dropper test kits simultaneously test for levels of Ammonia (toxic) and Ammonium (safe). This is why they are labelled NH2/NH3... These two chemicals are in balance, the percentage of the ppm (mg/l) result is related to the pH of the water (and to a lesser extent the temperature). The higher the pH, the higher the percentage of toxic ammonia exists.

Andy

good call Andy, what would you recommend to do if you test your dechlorinated water and find it does have toxic levels of ammonia in? treat with something like ammo lock?

 

[joyellwein]

I did just get a new 10 gallon fish tank. I set up the tank and let it sit without fish for a week. Today I put in 3 tetras
to start the cycling. Now I'm worried. I also have a betta in another tank and am considering putting in some of the gravel from that tank to help with the cycle and hopefully help out my tetras. Would that be a good idea? Also what is a good and affordable testing kit? Also, I don't have a bubbler, just a filter and a heater. Do I need one? Help! Help! Help!

 

[vinylman]

I think when people get their first aquarium they are sometimes so eager to get fish they dont think about the aquariums condition and rush out to buy them. The above should make it clear that your aquarium needs to be ready first before adding fish. xx

Unfortunately, a lot of LFS don't think that way; it's THOSE people that need to be educated just as much as newbies who haven't researched properly.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I did just get a new 10 gallon fish tank. I set up the tank and let it sit without fish for a week. Today I put in 3 tetras
to start the cycling. Now I'm worried. I also have a betta in another tank and am considering putting in some of the gravel from that tank to help with the cycle and hopefully help out my tetras. Would that be a good idea? Also what is a good and affordable testing kit? Also, I don't have a bubbler, just a filter and a heater. Do I need one? Help! Help! Help!

moving some gravel will theoretically help as it does contain some beneficial bacteria, however the amount is minimal and won't make a big difference, does the betta's tank have a filter? moving some of the media from that would be best if possible. if not there's a pinned topic in the new to the hobby section with members willing to donate media to newbies, look for someone in your area.

don't worry about not having an air pump, they aren't essential.

 

[RiiCKYOMD]

Hey ive just started a new tank on Monday its tuesday now
Im letting the tank start up for a week then adding 2 hardy fish like platys

Is that OK thats what I have been told by Pets at home and various toher fish shops
Please help

Ive only got a 5 gallon fish tank but it doesnt matter because I only itnend on keeping a few tetras and platys and when i get the hang of it i will move on from there

Would you mind adding me on email so we can talk im sooo confused

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Hey ive just started a new tank on Monday its tuesday now
Im letting the tank start up for a week then adding 2 hardy fish like platys

Is that OK thats what I have been told by Pets at home and various toher fish shops
Please help

Ive only got a 5 gallon fish tank but it doesnt matter because I only itnend on keeping a few tetras and platys and when i get the hang of it i will move on from there

Would you mind adding me on email so we can talk im sooo confused

Hiya,

the theory of leaving a tank for a couple of weeks then adding hardy fish is pretty much outdated now, a lot of fish shops still advise it because it's easy. but it does pose a risk to your fish.

you have two options from here

1 - do as the fish shop told you, however be warned there is a fair chance you will have some of the fish die on you and you'll need to do water changes every day for possibly a month or so while the tank cycles

2 - do a fishless cycle (link with full explanation is in my sig) which means you significantly increase the fish's chance of survival, but you have no fish in the tank for maybe 4 weeks or so at the start. it'll mean a small amount of daily testing and adding ammonia but it shouldn't take more than 5 mins a day.

personally i would choose option 2 but it's down to you to research and see which method you prefer. best advice i can give you is to read read read all the pinned topics, it's a lot to get your head around at first but all the info you need is there, just have to do a bit of reading to get yourself up to speed