Hi Amy,
I didn't realize before that you were new to the hobby but now I realize you only had one post in the welcome section. Looking at that I realize now that you are suffering from the typical thing of previously not having had the kinds of good info we hope our beginners will luck in to before starting a tank.
You're having trouble because what you attempted to do just completely misses the most core skill of the hobby, that of the biofilter. The filter systems that come with aquariums are really just a hardware kit. It would be like trying to start using your word processor on a personal computer that had had no operating system or hardware installed. The filter "kit" needs a knowledgeable hobbyist to spend somewhere between 3 weeks and 2 months working on it -prior- to it being able to handle fish! I know you've figured some of this out, so let's move on to what to do now...
You are definately in what I call a Fish-In Cycling Situation. I call it a situation as a reminder that it was not something that need have happened if the info had been there, so its a live and learn thing. In a Fish-In cycle your goal is to be a bit of a detective and figure out the percentage and frequency of water changes (using good technique, more about that later) it takes you to keep both ammonia and nitrite(NO2) -below- 0.25ppm (the very first color match on many test kits) until you can be back home to test and change water -again!- Its very water changing intensive. Good technique is to use a good conditioner (Seachem Prime is our favorite for beginners) to remove chlorine/chloramines (dosed at, say, 1.5x what it tells you) and rough temperature matching (your hand is good enough for this.) That sentence is quite a mouthful but you can look at it a couple times!
You need a good liquid-reagent based test kit (can't remember if you've said you have this?) Most of us like the API Freshwater Master Test Kit but there are others that will work and even some better. The paper strip tests don't cut it and can mislead.
In most cases with beginners first realizing what a fish-in situation involves they find that they were not diluting the toxins enough or frequently enough. Sometimes beginners have been told that water changes are stressful on the fish, but toxins in the water are much more stressful and take precedence over any minor stress of water changing.
Good luck and let us know how things stand with what I've discussed above,
~~waterdrop~~
Hi waterdrop,
Thanks again for all the information you have given me, it's really useful.
When I bought my tank (which is a fluval edge) I went to a local fish shop to get all the necessary advice for newbies, the guy there said that if I filled the tank, added my plants and whatever else I wanted in there along with Stress Coat (which is what I use to get rid of all the chlorine) and Stress Zyme (to help the filter along with good bacteria) and waited 1 or 2 weeks I would be able to put a few fish in there.
I did so, and had my tank running for 2 weeks before adding any fish. I then used 'Tetra 6 in 1 Testing Kit' and all of my levels were fine. I then double checked this at the fish shop and they agreed, the only thing that obviously wasn't there was any ammonia because of not having any fish in there, but he said to go ahead and put some fish in.
I was concerned at first not to put too many fish in, so as not overload the tank too quickly, and my friend was getting rid of a male betta that she no longer could keep so I thought I would start off with him. He was in the tank for a good week and flourishing. (He had previously come from a cold water fish bowl so I think the change in temperature and scenery was a pleasant surprise for him!!) I then decided I would add a few fishy friends for him, so decided on 2 guppies and 2 platys as advised by the fish shop.
Everything was fine until a few days later when my platys started to become inactive (I have posted about this on the 'Welcome' forum) and it was only then that I noticed my testing kit didn't let me know anything bout ammonia! I therefore took a water sample to my fish shop, in which it said my ammonia level was at 1, instead of 0 and so I was advised to put some Stress Zyme in every other day and do water changes of only 10%, which I have been doing. Unfortunately, not long before posting this, another of my paty's died (as I stupidly bought 2 more to keep my remaining one happy) so now I am left with 1 lonely platy, 4 guppies and a baby guppy, and my male beta.
As said before, my other fish are all fine (touch wood) the guppies are active and eating fine, my betta is roaming the tank and making sure everyone knows he is boss, and at the moment my last platy seems to be ok, however, how long this will last I have no idea.
Is there anything else I may be able to do to get my ammonia levels down quicker so I don't lose anymore fish?
Sorry that this post is so long, I'm just after any help I can get.
I wish I knew I could have done a fishless cycle before registering to these forums and I may not have lost my platy's =[
Thanks again for the help.
Amy.
Sorry, just to add to this aswell, when I have done water changes I have been doing roughly 25% and using a thermometer to get the temperature correct! I was scared incase a fluctuation in temperature would damge my fish, so I thought best bet was to get a thermometer.