Hope To Get Fish Soon, Water Tests Permitting.

[matty007]

Hi folks.

Ive had my tank set up for a week now and have been following the guide of my handy fishkeeping book.

I went to pets at home in Lincoln with a tenner in my pocket hoping to buy a water testing kit, but I dint realise they cost considerably more than this!. The guy in the shop told me to take a sample to them and they would test the water for me. Has anyone had any experience with pets at home testing water?. Ive heard a few horror stories of this place and im wondering if they are reliable?

Im also wondering if anyone could recommend a few hardy species for me to keep as my first fish?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Pleccy]

I would recommend investing in your own test kit, which should cost between £20-£30. You will need to leave your tank for a few weeks before you can begin adding fish. How big is your tank?

 

[Corleone]

Don't trust somebody else to test your water. Some of them are just fine about it, but many stores will tell you good water is bad and you need to buy stuff to put in it (most of which you wouldn't need even if it was bad), or that bad water is good and sell you fish to put in it. I've even seen at least one salesperson intentionally do tests wrong to get a different color, though that's (hopefully) rare, with all the things that can go wrong, it's best to trust yourself.

Also, what have you done since setting up the tank? Just leaving it set won't make any difference - the water will actually test perfect immediately, and will remain perfect for a long time as long as there's no fish in there. Please review the fishless cycling thread in the New to the Hobby section if you're not in that process already.

 

[JenCliBee]

I would recommend investing in your own test kit, which should cost between £20-£30. You will need to leave your tank for a few weeks before you can begin adding fish. How big is your tank?

if you look on ebay the api master test kit goes for around £16-£17 and free delivery from some... thats where i got mine from


jen

 

[matty007]

I set up the tank last Saturday and added a dose of aqua plus conditioner and nutrafin cycle which was supplied with the tank. I also added a pinch of flake food which I believe the bacteria will feed from to help things run a little better. The filter and heater are working fine and I am happy that the water is keeping to a steady temperature. The tank is a 60 ltr tank.

What would you guys suggest I do now because I really dont want to rush into things as I would hate for anything to happen to my new mates!!.

I appreciate your time on this as I am new to fish keeping.

 

[Corleone]

I set up the tank last Saturday and added a dose of aqua plus conditioner and nutrafin cycle which was supplied with the tank. I also added a pinch of flake food which I believe the bacteria will feed from to help things run a little better. The filter and heater are working fine and I am happy that the water is keeping to a steady temperature. The tank is a 60 ltr tank.

What would you guys suggest I do now because I really dont want to rush into things as I would hate for anything to happen to my new mates!!.

I appreciate your time on this as I am new to fish keeping.

Proceed with a fishless cycle - adding flake food works, but it's imprecise and hard to gauge how much food to add. It still takes about a month or so. Nutrafin cycle is junk, and even so, without an ammonia source, any remaining live bacteria wouldn't have grown.