Cycling Confusions- 2 Week Old Tank (4 Freshwater Fish)

[eaglesaquarium]

That product will work AGAINST your filter bacteria. It will adsorb the ammonia, which will not allow the production of nitrite or nitrate. But if you don't replace it in time, your fish will suffer from ammonia poisoning. It will also run into big time MONEY. You will constantly be replacing this product, which of course is what the manufacturer wants.

Try to return any of those things that you can. The bacteria in your filter is free...it just takes time to build up to the point that it is fully functioning. Also it will never need to be replaced. It will just need to be maintained.

The only things you need are: heater, filter, filter media, thermometer (just to confirm the heater is working properly), fish food, hose and bucket (or alternative syphoning device), net, test kit (pH, NH3, NO2, NO3) and a quality dechlorinator. Everything else (including lights) is unnecessary for keeping fish. I'd try to return as much of the add-ons as possible. Do not use the pouches though, they will cause you more harm than good. Your bacteria that you have cultivated will be starved.



(Just realized you have goldfish, you can strike "heater" and "thermometer" off the list.)

 

[pandamonium86]

ok thanks for that. i did think it was weird that it absorbed nitrate and nitrite as that stops the cycle right? aww man. i thought fish keeping was expensive, but i guess i was just ripped off. at least it will be cheaper in future not buying all this unecessary junk. ive used my gravel cleaner today which was fab! the fish are so nosey though keep getting in the way lol but at least they are friendly and not scaredy cats lol. they seem so much happier with the daily mini water changes. they are back to normal now.it makes me not ever want to leave for any significant period of time as you cant monitor these levels or behaviour when you are not there. have you seen all these crazy products online to monitor tank levels of nitrates etc and text you when they hit a high level. madness!

 

[CezzaXV]

Fishkeeping can be expensive, at least initially when you're getting all your gear together. I didn't get sucked into buying any of that kind of thing, but I still ended up buying things I ended up replacing with better versions of. If I were to start his hobby again, I could do it so much more cheaply and have better stuff at the end of it, so it's a learning experience!

I'd love one of those monitors, particularly a pH one since I have soft water and it tends to fluctuate, but I've spent so much money on this hobby in recent months that I can't justify spending money on something I don't strictly need right now.

 

[pandamonium86]

ya i agree. if you got everything you could possibly need it could get very expensive indeed. i think id worry more though if i got text messages at work telling me something was not right in the tank. id want to leave there and then to fix it for my fish!

 

[CezzaXV]

ya i agree. if you got everything you could possibly need it could get very expensive indeed. i think id worry more though if i got text messages at work telling me something was not right in the tank. id want to leave there and then to fix it for my fish!

I'm the same! If I'm not at home and able to do anything about it, I'd rather not know! Ignorance is bliss as they say.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be an ongoing expense. The start-up costs are high, but they aren't really high on a regular basis. The food lasts for a while. The dechlorinator lasts, the filters last far more than the manufacturers will tell you. Running the tank is fairly cheap, when you think about it. The heater might run 50% of the time for part of the year, but not year round. The filter runs constantly, but doesn't draw many watts, same with the lights (which should NEVER be on for more than 6-8 hours, and only that long if you are growing plants).

Meds aren't usually needed. Stocking costs fluctuate widely depending on what you buy, but if you know what you are actually doing and have correctly gone through the cycling process, it too is a one time cost for an extended period of time (years). It only becomes REALLY expensive when you get MTS (multiple tank syndrome).

 

[pandamonium86]

haha ya i was already thinking about that yesterday, because i now have a spare tank from which they moved as it was too small. its sat doing nothing, but its only 20l so not much i can do with it, and i think id rather focus on this one for now. i was thinking in a year or so when this tank is hopefully established i might set up a tropical tank with different fish. for now though i dont think there would be room in my flat for two tanks! lol