Fish For A New 48Litre Tank

[chrisbassist]

The filter start type things rarely help.

And even if it does add bacteria, you aren't providing a food source for it so they will die.

They will feed on ammonia. Whether that comes from fish poo, household ammonia or fish food doesn't matter.

 

[singy]

The filter start type things rarely help.

And even if it does add bacteria, you aren't providing a food source for it so they will die.

They will feed on ammonia. Whether that comes from fish poo, household ammonia or fish food doesn't matter.

Ok then, I will ditch the filter start stuff, and start feeding some fish food in to the tank every couple of days and test the water.

Thanks
Mark

 

[chrisbassist]

Ok. If you want to keep using it that's fine and you may be one of the lucky ones. But it will need the ammonia as well.

The trouble is these companies expect a fish in cycle, where ammonia is provided by the fish.

 

[singy]

Ok. If you want to keep using it that's fine and you may be one of the lucky ones. But it will need the ammonia as well.

The trouble is these companies expect a fish in cycle, where ammonia is provided by the fish.

Ive just bought some household ammonia from boots, so will start using this today.

Mark

 

[chrisbassist]

Even better than using fish food because you can control it a bit better.

When you test don't be surprised if the first dose takes a week or so to clear. It takes time for the bacteria to build up to the numbers required. Basically you're looking to be able to clear from 5ppm to 0ppm in 12 hours. Once you can do that steadily for a week, you can put in almost all the intended stock at once.

 

[singy]

Even better than using fish food because you can control it a bit better.

When you test don't be surprised if the first dose takes a week or so to clear. It takes time for the bacteria to build up to the numbers required. Basically you're looking to be able to clear from 5ppm to 0ppm in 12 hours. Once you can do that steadily for a week, you can put in almost all the intended stock at once.

Thanks for your help, Im waiting for my test kit to be delivered tomorrow, but ive just added 2 teaspoons of ammonia to the tank. I will do a test tomorrow to check the ammonia level and get it up to 5ppm if need be by adding some more ammonia.

Mark

 

[Twinklecaz]

Eeek, you may find you put a little too much in. For a 60L they say 3.16 ml and the average teaspoon is 5 isn't it? So 48l would prob be more like 2ml. Though if you have it's totally fixable.

 

[singy]

Eeek, you may find you put a little too much in. For a 60L they say 3.16 ml and the average teaspoon is 5 isn't it? So 48l would prob be more like 2ml. Though if you have it's totally fixable.

Oops, I hope i havent, i read on another site somewhere to put 2 teaspoons in a 10G tank.

 

[chrisbassist]

2 might be a bit much. I remember Reading about someone who added 1 and itwasvtoo high for the test to read and only showed up as a 1ppm

if when you test it's too migh, just do a water change to bring it back down.

I think in the case I read it ended up being about an 1/8 of a teaspoon, but dif sized tanks will obviously need dif amounts.

 

[singy]

2 might be a bit much. I remember Reading about someone who added 1 and itwasvtoo high for the test to read and only showed up as a 1ppm

if when you test it's too migh, just do a water change to bring it back down.

I think in the case I read it ended up being about an 1/8 of a teaspoon, but dif sized tanks will obviously need dif amounts.

Ive just done a rough 15% water change just incase ive put too much ammonia in, and will test it tomorrow morning when my test kit comes. Is too much ammonia bad for plants? cause ive got a lot of plants in the tank and dont want to kill them off. Also ive ordered some eco-complete substrate which should be delivered next week and im going to replace my existing gravel with this next week. If I empty the water and replace the gravel and add some more ammonia, will this have wasted my current cycling of the tank?

 

[Macro]

Hi Singy, That was me that had the 1/8 tsp to 3gal thing that Chris mentioned here is a link to the thread if you want to read it Ammonia and API test

Unless your ammonia source was really diluted I think you'll find that you have too ammonia in your tank. When you get your test kit (my only experience is with the API) and test your tank, if it shows a low reading, I wouldn't trust it and I wouldn't add more ammonia yet, you may have a false negative. If it shows a high reading, well than, you know its high and you can do some water changes to bring it down.

I'd fill a bucket with an increment of water with dechlorinator that is an easy divisible of your tank and then put just a very small amount of ammonia in (my experience was 1/8tsp to 3gal) and mix it up. Test it and that should give you some guidance as to if you need to put more in the bucket or dump the bucket because its too high and start over with less ammonia. You may have to do several rounds of tests, be patient. This will give you a good idea where you need to go with the tank.

Also make sure you rinse the vials out really well between test so they're as accurate as can be.

Take care

 

[Twinklecaz]

I just used the calculator, saw it said 3.16 ml for 60l, realised mine is slightly less and put in 3ml. I do worry that was too much though coz acutally it's about 2-3l less. I do get paranoid that my first reading was actually 8 and not 4. I don't know how I'd be able to tell though?

 

[chrisbassist]

thanks for popping by Macro, hope all the information doesn't get overwhelming!

 

[singy]

Thanks for everyones help, i'll post on here tomorrow when ive done the test.

Mark

 

[singy]

Ive done the ammonia test using the interpet easytest kit and it looks like its around 4.0mg/l, do i just leave it a couple of days now and then re-test? I also tested the PH and it looks to be around 8.5.

Thanks
Mark