First Water Change?
- Thread starter woody111
- Start date
Aphotic Phoenix
Fish Addict
Welcome to the forum. 
What you have started is a "fishy cycle", which means that the fish will be the ammonia source for your growing biological filter. Unfortunately, this means that you will have to do daily water tests and possibly even multiple daily water changes to keep your fish safe and healthy. If you do not have a water test kit already, purchase a liquid test kit, and start to check your Ammonia and NitrIte levels at least once per day.
Ammonia and NitrIte (which may take about two weeks to show up) should be kept below .25 ppm whenever possible. Ammonia burns soft tissues like gills and fins (to the point where the fish may not be able to breathe properly), and NitrIte acts in a way similar to Carbon Monixide poisoning in humans in the respect that it prevents the blood from carrying oxygen properly. As you can see...very dangerous for your fish!
Once Ammonia and NitrIte reach a stable 0 ppm, and you see a rise in NitrAte levels your tank will be "cycled", which means that a large enough bacterial colony has grown in your filter to process the waste products of your fish. A cycled tank should have a minimum 25% water change weekly.
There are two very good threads about cycling, and weekly maint that are stickied in these forums, and I definitely recommend reading both of them because they are very informative.
What you have started is a "fishy cycle", which means that the fish will be the ammonia source for your growing biological filter. Unfortunately, this means that you will have to do daily water tests and possibly even multiple daily water changes to keep your fish safe and healthy. If you do not have a water test kit already, purchase a liquid test kit, and start to check your Ammonia and NitrIte levels at least once per day.
Ammonia and NitrIte (which may take about two weeks to show up) should be kept below .25 ppm whenever possible. Ammonia burns soft tissues like gills and fins (to the point where the fish may not be able to breathe properly), and NitrIte acts in a way similar to Carbon Monixide poisoning in humans in the respect that it prevents the blood from carrying oxygen properly. As you can see...very dangerous for your fish!
Once Ammonia and NitrIte reach a stable 0 ppm, and you see a rise in NitrAte levels your tank will be "cycled", which means that a large enough bacterial colony has grown in your filter to process the waste products of your fish. A cycled tank should have a minimum 25% water change weekly.
There are two very good threads about cycling, and weekly maint that are stickied in these forums, and I definitely recommend reading both of them because they are very informative.
GRJ
Fish Crazy
Have you cycled your tank? If not you will have to test the water daily and change the water whenever the ammonia or nitrite go above 0.25. You need to keep these below 0.25 at all times. Alternitavley you could take the platys back to the lfs and do a fishless cycle. If you choose to keep the fish in, dont buy anymore untill your tank has cycled, keep doing the water changes when needed, sometimes multiple water changes in one day and eventually the ammonia and nitrite will drop to zero and the nitrate will start to rise. HTH. GRJ
Aphotic Phoenix
Fish Addict
If ammonia and/or nitrItes rise above 0.25 then do a water change to bring the levels down. This is why testing often is helpful because the smaller the increase, the smaller the water change you have to do.
If you can get some filter media from a cycled tank to place in your own filter that can greatly speed up the cycling process. A good handful of gravel from a cycled tank can help somewhat as well, but is not nearly as good as only a small amount of bacteria live on the surfaces inside the tank. Placing the gravel in an unused nylon stocking before putting it in your own tank makes it easier to remove later. In both cases (filter media/gravel) make sure to keep both wet with tank water at all times.
Another (more advanced) method of reducing ammonia levels is planting a LOT of very fast growing rootless plants such as hornwort/foxtail, anarachis, and java moss. Plants love to suck up Ammonia and Nitrites for food, so you would have to be very careful about removing the plants slowly after about a month to prevent overloading the biological filter. Unfortunately this may require a lot more light than what most beginner tank setups have, and you'd still need to check the water parameters daily to make sure that everything was safe.
If you can get some filter media from a cycled tank to place in your own filter that can greatly speed up the cycling process. A good handful of gravel from a cycled tank can help somewhat as well, but is not nearly as good as only a small amount of bacteria live on the surfaces inside the tank. Placing the gravel in an unused nylon stocking before putting it in your own tank makes it easier to remove later. In both cases (filter media/gravel) make sure to keep both wet with tank water at all times.
Another (more advanced) method of reducing ammonia levels is planting a LOT of very fast growing rootless plants such as hornwort/foxtail, anarachis, and java moss. Plants love to suck up Ammonia and Nitrites for food, so you would have to be very careful about removing the plants slowly after about a month to prevent overloading the biological filter. Unfortunately this may require a lot more light than what most beginner tank setups have, and you'd still need to check the water parameters daily to make sure that everything was safe.
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