Help to start - first 30L tank

[Sunnyspots]

It’s all a bit advanced me for all of this. I was hoping to get fish in the tank by around the 10th July

Hello Mark
That might be possible, although unlikely if you do a full cycle of your tank, which everyone is most likely to recommend. What you could do, although no-one would recommend it, is a 'fish-in cycle'. There are 3 big downsides.

1. It is unpleasant for the fish.
2. It limits what fish you could have.
3. If any fish die (and they will if you don't keep changing the water frequently) you might upset children involved in the project.

'Fish-in cycles' mean you can start by putting water treatment in the tap water (it clears it of chlorine) and then adding that, a filter, and a heater to the tank. Straight off. Once the temperature is right for your fish (you can buy a thermometer especially to check it) you could add just a few 'hardy ' fish (there is not a great choice of these, but they are less likely to die than others).

From then on you are trying to grow the useful bacteria using the fish waste - poo and pee - as food for them. Since any ammonia or nitrites in the water are poisonous for fish you must keep these down to zero on tests (don't worry, there will still be enough around to encourage bacteria). The best tests to begin come in multiple packs. You want at the very, very least ammonia, nitrite, and pH tests. To be sure you should really include GH and nitrate tests. And liquid test packs are best (don't bother with dipstick tests, they're pretty useless).

So now you have fish, but you want to keep them alive. Keep testing the water for ammonia and nitrites and aim to keep them at zero. To do this you'll need to change the water every few days - only about 20% of it or so - and that keeps the fish from swimming in too much of their poo and pee and dying.

After a while you'll find it is easy to keep levels at zero. Maybe a week will be fine between water changes. At that point you can add a few more 'hardy' fish and the process starts over again. Note every time you remove the 20% water from the tank you must use water treatment in the replacement tap water to get rid of chlorine or... dead fish.

It's hard work doing it this way rather that the no fish cycle.

Finally there is a planted cycle in which you use fast growing plants. There is a thread here on this. It is a bit of a halfway house, as long as you ultimately want live plants in your tank.

Finally, you can put in fish but change ALL the water EVERY DAY. You'd still need hardy fish and a heater and the 3 risks above still hold.

I think all that, and the fishless cycling, covers all options that minimise the risk of ending up with a tank of dead fish! Sorry that it really isn't what most of us envisage on buying a fish tank! I know I didn't!

I hope this is helpful.

 

[FF_Member146894]

i've never done a fish-in cycle without any effects (most of the time fatal) on the fish - that's why it's not recommended
i'm not going to sugar-coat this as everyone else did so far. are you waiting for someone to tell you about a miracle product? the only way to speed this up is to add in live bacteria, preferably from an established aquarium. there are no "immediate results" products or methods. patience is one of the most important things in the aquarium hobby and if you experience such trouble in waiting a few weeks (maximum, by the way), then there's nothing more anyone can say to help.
no, there is no better way to do this other than what we've already told you.

 

[marklcfc]

Seachem Prime is an amazing water conditioner. So you don’t need to wait forever before adding the water to the tank

This is the water conditioner I’ve bought

do a water change every day until the bacteria have grown. It is much easier to grow them before there are fish in the tank.

So if I have a 10 day to prepare with my seachem prime what should I do to get it ready? I wasn’t aware I should change the water daily, if someone can write a plan to follow that would be great

 

[marklcfc]

Also, when preparing with the water without fish in, does anything need be the turned on in the tank or do I just leave it with nothing like the heater on

 

[marklcfc]

Also if changing the water in the future where do I keep the fish safely?

And if I have to do full water changes do I clean the gravel by taking it all out etc, how is that part done?

 

[redtailshark34]

Also if changing the water in the future where do I keep the fish safely?

And if I have to do full water changes do I clean the gravel by taking it all out etc, how is that part done?

When doing water changes you can get a gravel vaccum and use that to suck all the uneaten food, fish waste, and other debris out of the gravel.

You can leave the fish in the tank if you use this method, so that way you keep them as stress free as possible.

When using the gravel vacuum it will remove water with it so you are water changing as well.

Doing this once a week and changing about 60-70 percent of the water is good, but it depends on your stocking level (overstocked, understocked, etc)

 

[marklcfc]

You can leave the fish in the tank if you use this method, so that way you keep them as stress free as possible.

Ok, and after that’s been done I add the water from a bucket, after it’s been heated up with a seperate heater after using the prime water conditioner and leaving it a few minutes. How long after using the water conditioner should I heat it up and then put back in the tank?

 

[Essjay]

You asked for a 10 day plan. I can't give you a 10 day plan because the time for cycling a tank is different for every tank. But I can give you three ways to set up the tank.

#1 The safest way

Buy a test kit and a bottle of ammonia. Fill the tank with dechlorinated water. Follow the method I have you in post #2 then when you finish the cycle, do a big water change. Refill with dechlorinated water and go and buy fish.


#2 Another good method.

Buy a test kit and some fast growing plants. Fill the tank with dechlorinated water and plant the plants - or if they are floating plants, leave them to float on the surface. Take a photo of the tank once it is planted then leave it for two weeks. Compare the tank to the photo you took two weeks ago and if the plants have grown a lot, buy fish. Test for ammonia and nitrite every day, and do a water chnage if either read more than zero.
You would also need to buy aquatic plant fertiliser to feed the plants.

#3 The hard way.

Fill the tank with dechlorinated water, buy a test kit and fish. It doesn't need to run for 7 days, you can get fish immediately. Running it for 7 days will do nothing but waste a week.
Test every day for ammonia and nitrite and if either show above zero, do a water change. This will probably mean a daily water change for a few weeks.
When the levels have stayed at zero for a week, then start doing weekly water changes.

Ok, and after that’s been done I add the water from a bucket, after it’s been heated up with a seperate heater after using the prime water conditioner and leaving it a few minutes. How long after using the water conditioner should I heat it up and then put back in the tank?

Mix the dechlorinator and tap water - use warm tap water if you have a combi boiler or add boling water from a kettle if you have a hot water cylinder. You don't need to use a heater to warm the water. Once there is enough dechlorinated water in the bucket, pour it into the tank - slowly so you don't disturb the gravel. Dechlorinators work instantly so you don't need to wait.

 

[marklcfc]

Buy a test kit and a bottle of ammonia. Fill the tank with dechlorinated water. Follow the method I have you in post #2 then when you finish the cycle, do a big water change. Refill with dechlorinated water and go and buy fish.

A bottle of ammonia - is this the seachem prime water conditioner that I’ve bought?

 

[Essjay]

No, ammonia is food to grow the bacteria before fish are put in the tank.

Fish excrete ammonia but it is poisonous. Bacteria eat this ammonia and turn it into nitrite which is also poisonous. More bacteria eat nitrite and turn it into nitrate which is much less poisonous.
There are very very few bacteria in a brand new tank so we have to grow a lot more of them. The way to get them to grow is to feed them. In fishless cycling we add ammonia from a bottle to feed the ammonia eaters so they start to grow and make nitrite; then the nitrite eaters start to grow. When there are enough bacteria, we stop adding ammonia and get fish, and their ammonia waste feeds the bacteria so they don't starve.
We can also put fish in the tank without adding ammonia and let their ammonia waste feed the bacteria. But this is where it becomes hard work because if the ammonia made by the fish gets high, it harms the fish. Then when the ammonia eaters grow, the nitrite made by them also harms the fish. So we have to keep the levels of these poisons low by doing water changes so the fish aren't harmed.


Ammonia burns their gills so they can't breathe properly.
Nitrite does to fish what carbon monoxide does to us.
This is why we need those bacteria, to stop the fish being poisoned.

 

[marklcfc]

I only plan on having a few platys fish to start with. I just want an easy schedule to get things done, I can’t go adding ammonia and doing this that and the other when I know absolutely nothing about it and how it should be and when to put fish in, was led to believe this water conditioner would sort the water and filter out for me but then I get told I need to add ammonia and do all this other stuff I’ve no clue about

 

[marklcfc]

Mix the dechlorinator and tap water - use warm tap water if you have a combi boiler or add boling water from a kettle if you have a hot water cylinder. You don't need to use a heater to warm the water. Once there is enough dechlorinated water in the bucket, pour it into the tank - slowly so you don't disturb the gravel. Dechlorinators work instantly so you don't need to wait.

Also things like this also confuse me I don't know what I have, combi boiler / hot water cylinder is beyond my knowledge. I have a tap for cold and hot water. I have a kettle for boiling water, that's all I know.

 

[marklcfc]

When I first add the water into the tank for the first time should I put the water in and then add the water conditioner, or should I use the water conditioner on the water before adding the water into the tank?

 

[marklcfc]

Also, when preparing with the water without fish in, does anything need be the turned on in the tank or do I just leave it with nothing like the heater on

Does anyone know what I should do regarding this, does the heater need to be on or should it be off until I'm close to putting the fish in?

 

[redtailshark34]

When I first add the water into the tank for the first time should I put the water in and then add the water conditioner, or should I use the water conditioner on the water before adding the water into the tank?

Yes, you can put water into the tank and then treat it if there is nothing alive inside the tank.

Once you get fish, treat the water before putting it into the tank.