Cloudy Water

[GuppieMike]

I'm off work now for two days, so I'm off to the aquatic centre I mentioned that jus focuses in fish to hopefully get a testing kit. I'm not really fussed at price as I just want it sorted.

So what do I do with the friend tank, just take water and kind if dip my filters in or something else.

I hate seeing my fish looking ill.

 

[fluttermoth]

If you want to seed your filter from your friend's, you need something from inside her filter; it could be a cut off piece of sponge, or a few ceramic noodles, or even just some of the 'gunk' that's built up in there.
 
Take that home, keeping it wet all the time, and put it in your filter. This helps because, instead of having to wait for bacteria to arrive, you just have to grow a larger colony from a small one.
 
In theory, if you used enough filter media, you could stock the tank immediately; this is what most of us experienced keepers do when we want to set up a new tank BUT; I wouldn't recommend this to a new keeper like yourself, as it needs careful monitoring and knowledge of what needs to be done if things go wrong.
 
Your best bet is to use this as a way of speeding up a normal fishless cycle

 

[Byron]

I second what other members are suggesting here, but I would just add, Mike...please carefully read those articles on cycling.  There is no urgency now as the tanks are without fish, so read the data, ask questions in this thread on whatever bit you might not fathom, and take things slowly.
 
There is nothing you can do for the fish in your friend's tank, they are now in the best place for them.
 
Byron.

 

[the_lock_man]

 
EDIT
Mr lock_man .... I'm seeing 'established tank' here ... is there a sticky for seeding from established media on the site? (ignore me Mike, don't want to confuse you further)

 
Not really, because you can seed a filter when doing a fishless or fish-in cycle. Seeding drops you into the process part of the way through, rather than at square one, so it's really a case of following the same process as per the fishless or fish-in stickies that we've got.

 

[Akasha72]

I'm worrying that what Mike is missing here is where the cycling process happens as he keeps mentioning the water.
 
Mike - there is nothing in aquarium water that is useful for 'cycling' a tank. All the work is going on inside the aquarium filter. This is where the bacteria live - not in the water. Water is sucked into the filter - the bacteria living on the sponges/bio balls/what ever it has 'eat' the ammonia and the nitrite (which is in the water) convert it to harmless nitrate and then the filter spits out water that is safe for the fish.
 
Depending on what type of filter your friend has will depend on what you might be able to take from it. For instance, an external canister style filter which is full of water will have a large amount of brown smelly gunk sitting at the bottom of it. This brown smelly gunk is good bacteria. If you can get a good handful of this in a fish bag you can soak in it any clean sponge for your filter and the bacteria will 'latch on' to it. This is what we mean by 'seeding'. Alternately, if your friend has an internal filter then the only way to 'seed' is to ask if you can pinch a bit of sponge from her.
 
The mistake a lot of newbies make is thinking that the water is where the bacteria live so your not alone if this the line you are thinking down. All the good stuff is inside the filter. This is why we never recommend changing filter sponges unless they have fallen to pieces. A swish and a light squeeze in old tank water is all we will ever recommend. Over clean them or add a new one and your right back to cycling a tank from the start.
A healthy cycling tank will have a gentle composty type smell 

 

[GuppieMike]

I went to three stores yesterday and none of them had the testing kit, I found a maidenhead centre close by which I going to check out today, if none there then I'm going to have to order offline.

Thanks for all the info, I also read the article, I understand now.

I'm also going to get some gunk from my friends tank today and put it in my filters sponges.

 

[NickAu]

 
I'm ready to cry now. The way I've been told to cycle tank and how I did the small one was by the advice of the guy from P@H, which is to fill the tank out tap safe in and leave it for five days. However this time I've been doing water changes and adding tap safe when do so.

Wow you were lucky at least they told you inpart about cycling, Good or bad advice at least they tried.
 
When I got my first tank a Aquael 20 lt from a LFS, The guy sold me the tank and some Guppies and Guppy food, Then told me how to set it up at home.
 
1 Unpack tank Fill with water turn on filter turn on heater.
2 Add fish ( 6 of them )
3 Don't forget to feed fish.
 
Oh yes here is some driftwood with a plant on it and you need this bottle of stuff and this bottle, you get the idea? Sell Sell Sell  , that's $139 AuD thanks.  Needless to say I lost a lot of guppies in the next 7 or 8 months.
 
Then I found this forum and started reading about cycling water parameters and stuff, and learned a lot, However after reading some of the replies in other threads by 
The Moderating Team
Wildbetta
Alasse
TwoTankAmin
RRaquariums
Akasha72
Byron
Just to name a few,  I came to realise just how little I know, Don't worry these guys and gals will show you how its done, In no time you will have a happy healthy tank full of fishie friends.

 

[Akasha72]

aww thanks Nick 

 
 
I discovered this forum when I had my 2nd tank - a 50 litre 2ft tank that a neighbour was throwing out. Up until that point I'd had a little hexagon tank with a few neons in. That first little tank had an old under gravel filter running from an air pump. The lfs told me about dechlorinating (although I already knew as my Dad has been a fish keeper all my lifetime and beyond - about 50 years!) and they alos gave me some API stresscoat. I was allowed just 3 baby neons and told I couldn't have any more fish for at least 2 weeks. I didn't know then that they'd set me off with a fish in cycle but it did work out and I didn't lose any. The 2ft tank was different though. Within days of set up I had a bacterial bloom and it was a bad one - I could barely see my fish! That was when I found this place and learned so much from such lovely people.
 
I do my best now to repay the help I got when I needed it by helping others. I've never forgotten the stress that first bacterial bloom caused and the desperation I felt at trying to save my fish.
I will also only speak from personal experience and always say 'I don't know' or 'I'm not sure' as I have nothing to gain by misleading anyone 

You should find everything you need (any a lot of what you don't need!) at Maidenhead Aquatics Mike. But it won't be cheap there, they are on the expensive side  

 

[GuppieMike]

Ok so I finally found the kit. I've done the test (this is without adding any gunk from the friends tank). The results are...

PH 7.6
High Range PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 2.0
Nitrate 10/20ppm (it was hard to distinguish)

 

[the_lock_man]

That's fine.
 
However, since all your fish are "on holiday", you need to get some bottled ammonia (I got mine from Homebase, in the Household Cleaning" section, and follow the instructions in the FIshless Cycle thread that was referenced earlier in the thread. If you have already got the gunk from your friend's tank, pop it into your filter, and keep it wet.

 

[Akasha72]

I hate Nitrate tests ... they never give an accurate reading. The API one needs to have the bottles shaken so vigourously that your arm feels like it's gonna fall off and my current JBL test is no different.
 
the ammonia and Nitrite tests are the most important to you now though... once they both hit zero and Nitrate starts to show (if the test behaves itself!) then your fishes can come home

 

[GuppieMike]

I drove to my local Homebase which isn't so much local lol only to find out they were out of stock.

However I have now added gunk from my friends tank.

 

[Akasha72]

since you can't get hold of some ammonia the 'gunk' will still need to be 'fed'. The only thing off the top of my head that your likely to have to hand is some fish food ... uneaten fish food will create small amounts of ammonia. I'd start adding some food .... your feeding the bacteria now, not the fish!

 

[GuppieMike]

I've added some food to the tank, I've been looking all over for ammonia, apparently loads of shops in the UK have stopped selling it. Does pets at home not sell something along the Line that would help?

I forgot to ask, is there any treatment I can get to help the fish's eyes that have clouded up or is it permanent?

My boss told me not to add ammonia in but to put my fish in which would help. Don't worry I'm not going yo do that, I'm going to do it the right way and wait.

 

[Akasha72]

the short answer is no - pet@home don't sell things like that - not that I've ever seen anyway. 
 
As to the fishes eyes - my old tetra's have had cloudy eyes for a while now but I think that's age related. I've not come across a med that will fix it. I think once they are blind they are blind - not certain that's the right term as I'm not even certain they are 'blind' as such, they just look blind if you see what I mean. 
 
If their eyes a popping there is a treatment for that as that's caused by a bacteria - I used Waterlife's Octozin as it contains an anti-biotic when my rams had pop-eye. They were both too far gone by then though and I lost them both.
 
My Dad went mad too at adding ammonia to tanks - some fish keepers are just stuck in the old ways of thinking and that's fine, that's just their way. Stick with it for now, keep chucking in food a few times a day and that'll help feed the bacteria. Keep checking the water too for signs of Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate and keep up updated with the readings. Good luck