Hello. I'm New Here...i May Need Some Help.

[Adie]

Hello everyone, my name is Adie - and God do I wish I'd found this place sooner.

I recently bought a 60 litre tank with all the accessories, and as I'm finding out from reading posts here LFS staff are not much use for anything.

Now, when I initially bought my tank I was told to fill it, turn on the pump and bubble machine and leave to stand for a week before adding any stock. Fair enough. I added stock 7 days later (in a small amount as advised). Between stocking and buying the tank I was working away and without web access for a week. When I came back I was the proud owner of 5 Zebra Danios and one common plec.

Then I found this place, and read all of the posts on here about cycling and the damage you can do to the little guys if it's not done properly etc. If I'd know sooner it would be fishless cycling as we speak.

Needless to say I was horrified at the effects of Ammonia and Nitrates on fish, and have been cramming my head full of as much info as I possibly can recently.

The fish have been in the tank for a week so far and all seem happy enough at the moment. I've been doing daily water changes since I found this place to keep the ammonia and nitrate levels down as much as possible. I've also cut their feeding down to once a day - bloody hell that Pleccy can poo!

I've also got some sort of media from a different LFS to aid the production of bacteria. - the people in there actually seemed to know what they were talking about. This media is currently floating in the toe end of one of my Girlfriend's tights in the tank.

Is there anything else I can be doing to help the little guys? I've got a test kit for Ammonia and No3 (Nitrates?). Ammonia levels are reletavely low however N03 is quite high, however I hope I'm keeping on top of that with less food and water changes - I'm currently doing 8 litres a day from a 60 l tank.

Any pointers will be greatfully received and I may be bugging you all a lot over the next couple of weeks.

Adie

 

[lilfishie]

right i suggest you return the common, 1) due to the size they grow 24inch+ 2) there pooping which causes ammonia. sounds like your doing well so far, danios are hardy fish so should last though the cycling. what sort of test is it? liquid or strips?

 

[Adie]

Hi, I had thought that. For the amount of food he's actually eating reletave to the size of his poos I think he's doing more harm than good.

As for the test kit, it's liquid one. I'd read on here that they were the better kind to get.

And thanks

Edit: What would a good catfish / bottom feeder be for a commumity tank. I like the look of Zebra Oto's - are they likely to stay smallish? Nothing else is going in until the tank has cycled and matured for a while. And then anything else that goes in will be done sssslloooooooooooowwwlllyyy!!!

 

[CruX]

Needless to say I was horrified at the effects of Ammonia and Nitrates on fish, and have been cramming my head full of as much info as I possibly can recently.

It's ammonia and nitrItes you should worry about. Nitrates are only toxic in high amounts.

Keep doing water changes every time you ammonia or nitrite goes beyong 0.25ppm. Can you get the mature media into your filter, it might just help it spread a bit better and survives better from the water flow through the sponges.

I would consider knocking feeding down to once every 2 days for the time being, it won't do them any harm and means less waste.

EDIT> Sorry, how rude of me, WELCOME btw.

 

[lilfishie]

otos are great little aglae eaters prefer to be in groups but very fragile so none of them for a while yet, good that you have liquid tests, the test kits you will need are: ammoina, nitrite, nitrate and pH, there the main ones we use around here, it may take some time but it will be worth it in the end.
have a read though THIS if you haven't already

 

[Adie]

Thank you both, and that link is very useful.

One thing - and this may be really obvious...

Now my neighbour has an 18 month matured tank with what I think is an identical filter to mine: This one.

As this filter has two sponges, would it be hugely beneficial to see if she'd let me swop one of mine with one of hers? Or squeeze some of that bacterial goodness out of it onto mine?

If so, would I need to do anything else to top up the bacteria on the sponge whilst it's in my tank?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[CruX]

I would ask to swap a matured one with your raw one, it would be a god send. Keep checking the levels and changing water as needed though.

 

[Adie]

I would ask to swap a matured one with your raw one, it would be a god send. Keep checking the levels and changing water as needed though.

That's what I thought. I am shocked to find out that she threw both of the old ones away and replaced them with brand spanking new sponges.

This is from someone who's kept fish for years. I've been doing this for a matter of weeks and I'm totally speechless.