New Aquarist Needing Advice!

[fluttermoth]

We'll all be here to support you through the hard times
 
Do get your ammonia up to 2 or 3 ppm though

 

[JayP]

Flutter mouth my ammonia has never really risen at all, I've been adding ammonia and testing the water every day since last Saturday. I've also turned the temperature up slightly. Will just wait and be patient!

Can you let me know what are good fish for the bottom of the tank? Ie fish that would clean the gravel etc

 

[fluttermoth]

No mate; I think you've got the wrong end of stick somewhere along the line
 
You want to start off with your ammonia at 2-3ppm, and then wait for it to drop, you don't want to sitting around waiting for it to go up on it's own.
 
There really aren't any fish that will clean your gravel for you; they all make far more poo than they might clean up in food (and no fish eats poo), and they all need their own food; they can't just live on what ends up at the bottom.
 
Most bottom dwellers also prefer and sand substrate rather than gravel; certainly you'd want sand for corydoras catfish or loaches.
 
How big is your tank again, I've lost the plot with that!

 

[JayP]

I think we're all losing the plot! It's a 60l tank.

I understand that I need to add between 2 and 3 ml and that once my ammonia rises to 0.25 do a slight water change to bring it down and keep doing that until nitrite starts rising, change water, wait for that to peak then check for nitrate? I think I understand the whole concept of the cycling process

So that we can talk about FISH what would you recommend I put in? I like shoal fish, maybe two shoals of six and two bigger fish??

 

[fluttermoth]

I think we're all losing the plot! It's a 60l tank.

I understand that I need to add between 2 and 3 ml and that once my ammonia rises to 0.25 do a slight water change to bring it down and keep doing that until nitrite starts rising, change water, wait for that to peak then check for nitrate? I think I understand the whole concept of the cycling process

That sounds more like a fish-in cycle

You need to get your ammonia up to 2 or 3ppm on your ammonia test. As lock_man says, that should be about 2mls, but if it' not showing up as that 2 or 3ppm, add more until it does. Then you carrying testing until it drops; no water changes, just wait for it to go down on it's own. Then you top the ammonia back up and start testing for nitrite as well as ammonia. You only need to do a water change if your nitrite or nitrate get very high,as that can stall a cycle, and when your cycle is complete (ie, you've had zero readings for both ammonia and nitrite 12 hours after adding the ammonia).
 
 

So that we can talk about FISH what would you recommend I put in? I like shoal fish, maybe two shoals of six and two bigger fish??

Personally, in a tank of that size, I'd go with a larger shoal of one kind of fish, rather than two smaller ones; mixed shoals can end up looking quite 'messy'. Is your water hard or soft, Jay; I can't remember if you've said!

And what are the dimensions of the tank?

 

[JayP]

I'm in Scotland so I'd imagine the water is soft, PH is a bit high at 7.6 though.

Ok I won't bother with the water change. I haven't changed it yet anyway. Still no readings. Ill up the dose to 5mls and see if that makes a difference.

 

[JayP]

Still no change! Still zero ammonia? Beginning to think this ammonia is dud.

What about ten zebra danios, six neon tetras and two honey gouramis?

 

[fluttermoth]

Somethings definitely not right somewhere Maybe you could find an LFS to test it for you, see if it's your ammonia or your test?
 
Danios really prefer cooler water than your other fish; and might upset the homey gouramis, which are quite peaceful and sedate, and don't like a high flow, unlike the danios. They also very active swimmers, and really need a tank that's at least three feet long.
 
How about some pygmy corydoras, with the neons and gouramis?

 

[JayP]

Yes that'll be my next stop. I'm fortunate in that I have a specialist aquatics shop not far from where I live.

That sounds like a nice combination. The gouramis are lovely fish.

Could you give me some other ideas for groups of fish I could put together happily?

Thanks

 

[the_lock_man]

Still no change! Still zero ammonia? Beginning to think this ammonia is dud.
 

 
You have no way of knowing, because you don't know (unless I've missed it along the way) how much ammonia you are dosing.

 

[Mamashack]

Did you manage to get hold of a syringe for dosing with ammonia? That's the only way you can be accurate about what you're adding and you'd be able to answer TLM's question then.
Try the Calculator on here - top of every page. It recommends aiming for 5ppm but mostly these days people aim for 2-3ppm - you can change the level you are aiming for at the bottom of the calculator page - it will then tell you how many mls to add so you are going to need that syringe! You can buy small ones at any chemist if you explain what it is for.

 

[JayP]

I initially put in 2ppm then put it up to 5ppm and have been doing that for the last few days?

 

[the_lock_man]

What's the strength of the ammonia? Most seem to be 9.5%, but just check to see what yours is
 
I can't believe your filter is processing 2ppm ammonia in 30 minutes, let alone 5ppm.

 

[JayP]

What do you think? 0 or 0.25?

Sorry tried adding a photo but no joy

 

[fluttermoth]

Your pic probably needs resizing. Or you could upload it to Photobucket/Flickr/whatever and paste the IMG code into your post.