Need help

[Officefish03]

This is the ammonia

 

[Naughts]

I'm struggling to see the colour/ reading. What would you say it is?

 

[Officefish03]

I thought it said 0.5 which is safe.

 

[Naughts]

Ok, above zero is harmful so do the daily testing and large water changes.
I think by 'safe' they mean not immediately life threatening, which is not the same thing.

 

[Officefish03]

Ok, above zero is harmful so do the daily testing and large water changes.
I think by 'safe' they mean not immediately life threatening, which is not the same thing.

Ok thank you. I’m just confused on how there’s ammonia because I just completely redid my tank after my fish died to be on the safe side.

 

[Byron]

Ok thank you. I’m just confused on how there’s ammonia because I just completely redid my tank after my fish died to be on the safe side.

What was involved in this cleaning? The nitrifying bacteria live on surfaces, primarily in the filter media, but also in the substrate, and other places. It takes a real hard scrubbing to remove the bacteria, and even rinsing under the tap will not kill most of them. Just trying to sort everything out here. Were any chemicals used, or just water? Hot water can kill the bacteria, as will drying out.

Do they add chloramine to your tap water, or just chlorine?

 

[BabyGuppie]

Soft water as stated is not suitable for guppies! I'm willing to bet that's your main issue.

 

[biofish]

Something that greatly helped my new fish survive was to do drip accumulation. A lot of people were talking about cycling so I figured I’d mention that if you wanted to try. It’s basically you set up a dripper that feeds your tanks water into the fish bags about one drop per second. This helps the new fish get used to your water parameters just in case they’re drastically different than the ones they came from ~

My survival rates shot through the roof when I started doing this.

Also just to clarify- no accidental soap/lotion in the tank? Or windex/glass cleaner? I’ve heard strong smells like scented candles near fish tank can also be deadly.

 

[Naughts]

dripper that feeds your tanks water into the fishh bags about one drop per second.

Once the temperature has equalised by floating the bag for ten minutes, I just net out the fish and add them to my QT tank. The main reason is I have basic water. If the water in the bag is acidic it will have relatively harmless ammonium. Once the pH tips over 7 this ammonium will change to highly toxic ammonia.
Therefore 'plop and drop' is much safer for my fish.