First fish tank urgent advice please

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Perfect many thanks, need to put the ornaments back in but would do that after all this is sorted

Spoke to the aquarium they recommended adding a bacteria bomb? To boost the bacteria?

No need, the bacteria are already all over the tank and the filter, those bacterial colonies will grow as needed without help. What you need is a heater, water conditioner, a thermometer, and a liquid water testing kit.

Clean buckets for water changes, nothing that has been used for chemicals, and a gravel syphon to be used later also useful.

 

[ClownLurch]

Perfect many thanks, need to put the ornaments back in but would do that after all this is sorted

Spoke to the aquarium they recommended adding a bacteria bomb? To boost the bacteria?

Put them in ASAP and don’t clean them. The longer they are out the less chance any bacteria survive.

I know nothing about a bacteria bomb, sorry.
But THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE of keeping fish is that your LFS may not be acting in your and your fishes best interests. They are a business and need to sell stuff. Good ones are few and far between. You’ll figure em out soon enough. I know this myself from 20yrs back and EVERYONE on here will tell you the same. Until you’re more experienced I’d run that sort of question past this lot on here. They’ve hearts of gold regarding fish and inexperienced keepers.
Once you’ve got time use the search engine on here for stuff about your fish as there’s about 20 yrs of questions and answers on there about just about every fish related question imaginable. Also once you’ve established which fish you have look em up on seriouslyfish.com as it’s the bible for this place. It’ll tell you all about them temps, water hardness, ph, tank sizes, food, tank mates, plants, lighting requirements etc.
Seriouslyfish.com and this place will get you and your fish through this.
Best of luck. You’re gonna earn your cape.

 

[ClownLurch]

No need, the bacteria are already all over the tank and the filter, those bacterial colonies will grow as needed without help. What you need is a heater, water conditioner, a thermometer, and a liquid water testing kit.

Clean buckets for water changes, nothing that has been used for chemicals, and a gravel syphon to be used later also useful.

This young lady will keep you right. She’s rescued a failing tankful recently.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

This young lady will keep you right. She’s rescued a failing tankful recently.

I did?

 

[ash222]

No need, the bacteria are already all over the tank and the filter, those bacterial colonies will grow as needed without help. What you need is a heater, water conditioner, a thermometer, and a liquid water testing kit.

Clean buckets for water changes, nothing that has been used for chemicals, and a gravel syphon to be used later also useful.

Noted, many thanks

When would you recommend that i feed the fish?

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Noted, many thanks

When would you recommend that i feed the fish?

I'd wait until you have the water testing kit and the tank fully topped up, then keep feeding light while testing the water and being prepared for water changes as needed Fish can go for a week or even two without food, so don't feel too bad, this should only be for a day or two, until you can get what you need.

The API Freshwater Master test kit is the most widely used testing kit in the hobby, for it's accuracy and value compared to other liquid kits. I use that one too, so feel fine recommending it.

I'm not much help when it comes to filtration, cichlids, or larger tanks I'm afraid, so going to tag @Wills @Naughts and @Metalhead88 in to help you there, because I think African cichlids need some heavy duty filtration and regular large water changes, since they're kept overstocked, so better to get some expert advice from them for those things!

On that matter though, did you want to keep these fish? Or did you want to rehome them and set up a tank differently?

 

[ash222]

Local aquarium didn't have a 200 watt heater in stock, should be back in stock in the next few days, will a few days to wait be ok?

Purchased seachem prime, shall i hold fire from filling the tank back up until the heater arrives?

@ClownLurch Re the ornaments what would be the best method of putting these back in without disturbing the fish too much?, theres quite a few heavy pieces

How often do the fish need to be fed? The chap we purchased the tank from said he only feeds them once in the morning and if he forgets he then feeds them in the afternoon

@AdoraBelle Dearheart planning on keeping the fish, they look stunning, although i don't know exactly what they are and what there value would be

 

[ClownLurch]

Lower em in gently ASAP. The fish will get out of the way. I dunno how long they’ve been out of tank or how long the bacteria will live outside the water. Others on here would have a better idea of that than me.

 

[Essjay]

Until you get the heater, you could try keeping the room the tank is in warm - day and night. And I mean tropical temperatures not just warm enough to sit still with a jumper on.

 

[ash222]

Until you get the heater, you could try keeping the room the tank is in warm - day and night. And I mean tropical temperatures not just warm enough to sit still with a jumper on.

Shall i hold fire from filling the tank back up until the heater arrives on Saturday, Also re filling the tank back up how much water should i add to the tank in one go?

I.e shall i add 10 litres to the tank Every 30 minutes?

I've set the radiator thermostat to 25c degrees

@ClownLurch the ornaments have been out of the tank for 20 hours so far

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Shall i hold fire from filling the tank back up until the heater arrives on Saturday, Also re filling the tank back up how much water should i add to the tank in one go?

I.e shall i add 10 litres to the tank Every 30 minutes?

I've set the radiator thermostat to 25c degrees

@ClownLurch the ornaments have been out of the tank for 20 hours so far

You can refill the tank the rest of the way, better if you do in fact. Just try to get the temperature close to the temp of the water in the tank, it's the potential difference in temperature that would worry me, the additional volume of water would help to dilute potentially toxic fish waste, so some fresh water is a good thing.

You can add the decorations back, don't worry about it.

I found this video very useful for sharing to help people understand the nitrogen cycle, a crucial part of fish keeping, and it'll help you see why we're all like "no! don't clean the gravel yet!"

https://www.bassleer.com/ornamentalfishexporters/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/12/INFOFISHFish-Health-_-05-2012.pdf

 

[ash222]

You can refill the tank the rest of the way, better if you do in fact. Just try to get the temperature close to the temp of the water in the tank, it's the potential difference in temperature that would worry me, the additional volume of water would help to dilute potentially toxic fish waste, so some fresh water is a good thing.

You can add the decorations back, don't worry about it.

I found this video very useful for sharing to help people understand the nitrogen cycle, a crucial part of fish keeping, and it'll help you see why we're all like "no! don't clean the gravel yet!"

https://www.bassleer.com/ornamentalfishexporters/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/12/INFOFISHFish-Health-_-05-2012.pdf

Sure will do, I've filled the tank back up to max and then added 5ml of seachem prime directly to the tank and I've put the ornaments back in

Shall i feed them now? If not when do you recommend i feed them?

Also how often do you recommend i feed them? The previous owner fed them once a day, teaspoon full of a product called tetra prima

Re the led light strip how often should this be kept on for?

 

[ClownLurch]

Sure will do, I've filled the tank back up to max and then added 5ml of seachem prime directly to the tank and I've put the ornaments back in

Shall i feed them now? If not when do you recommend i feed them?

Also how often do you recommend i feed them? The previous owner fed them once a day, teaspoon full of a product called tetra prima

Re the led light strip how often should this be kept on for?

They can go a lot longer than humans without food. A day or two won’t matter. May even help keep the fish waste in there down.

 

[Retired Viking]

Do you have a test kit to test for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites? Just in case you loose your tanks cycle. Tetra Safe Start Plus would be good to have on hand to jump start your cycle. It has the correct good bacteria you will need if your tank lost it's bacteria.

 

[ash222]

Apologies if this is a stupid question, what is the water test for?

If for example I am going to do a 25% or 50% water change once or twice a week given that there are 35 fish in the tank and add seachem prime, why is there a need to test the water? Is it still necessary?