New Fish Tank Help

[iwaschosen]

Hey everybody,
I just started my first ever fish tank. it is a 15 gallon fresh water tank, with a heater, and a "topfin 15" filter.

this is day three since I bought 2 black pot bellied mollies from my LFS.

I talked to the fish expert at Pet smart about cycling before even setting up my tank, and she tried to explain to me that cycling takes 2 days and is needed to "clean out dust from your tank".
anyway, i set out to a LFS and the guy there seemed to know his stuff, so i explained i just started a new tank. He told me to get 2 mollies and leave them in the tank for a week with out doing any water changes, and feeding small amounts daily. He also told me to give my fish a better chance to buy this bacteria supplement. So i did as told, and two days later one of my mollies is dead (the smaller one that always hid and didn't want to eat). so i slightly panicked and did a 20% water change, removed the dead fish and added more bacteria supplement.

I went out today and bought a liquid aquarium test kit. ( the one with the vials) because i heard the strips are complete garbage. i also learned that the bacteria supplement is also garbage and only slows down the cycling process..

current situation:
pH = 7.6
ammonia 0.50 ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate between 0 and 5 ppm
temperature 79 Fahrenheit
Fish: 1 black pot bellied Molly about an inch long (i assume its a male but i really dont know?) his names ferris btw.
this is day three since I bought 2 black pot bellied mollies from my LFS.
and yes i do have water conditioner

My one fish is exhibiting odd behavior, swimming along the glass, and hanging out right next to the heater. but at least he isn't hiding all the time anymore.

What do i do now? i am in need of help from you guys that know what you are doing.

thanks
below is my tank

 

[Uriel]

You need to do a large water change(80-90%) to bring the ammonia level in the tank down to 0. You are now in a fish in cycle and i would reccomend you read the article about fish in cycling in the beginners resource centre. You need to keep both nitrite and the ammonia at 0 for the health of your remaining fish.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Chosen.
As Uriel advised, you need to do a large water change using a dechlorinator for the water. Your fish is exhibiting the beginning stages of stress induced behavior. A fish swimming freely is fine but one hiding by the heater is trying its level best to deal with stress. As far as telling a male from a female molly, that is as simple as can be. Have a look here for some hints of telling male from female. A molly is a common poeciliid as far as gender determination and looks like the first pair of examples.

 

[iwaschosen]

Thanks guys, i just siphoned out 80% of the water. ferris went kinda crazy cause he had such shallow water
and siphoned fresh conditioned water in,
i also did an ammonia test, its reading in at somewhere around .10 - .20 id say, its not exactly the pale green of .25ppm

Also, ferris is a female apparently, she is now swimming, very actively in one bottom corner of the tank, up and down the glass.
she had some fun when i was siphoning water in; swimming under the tube and getting washed away lol.

what do i do now? i last fed at 7:00 , and its 22:36 right now

 

[OldMan47]

Now you just be careful and feed no more than she wil eat in a few minutes at 0700 each day. At 2236, it is time for bed. It is 2142 here now.

 

[iwaschosen]

i turned off the lights, and she's still at attacking the aquarium wall.. has been for the past 10 minutes..

Now you just be careful and feed no more than she wil eat in a few minutes at 0700 each day. At 2236, it is time for bed. It is 2142 here now.

 

[Rynofasho]

Just feed small amounts --- they have very small stomachs, so just 4 or 5 decent size flakes will fill one fish. Keep up with daily water changes of around 25 - 30% once you have ammonia under control, use some Seachem Prime to condition the water as it detoxifies ammonia and nitrites, and have fun with your tank

 

[iwaschosen]

fed the fish this morning 3 medium sized flakes, for some reason she only ate them when they sank.
temperature is a constant 80 degrees, i managed to keep it between 80-81 during yesterdays 80% water change.
I am planning to do another 30% water change later this afternoon, and a ammonia test tomorrow.
so far fish seems healthy and happy, probably a bit lonely tho..

Also planning to visit the LFS for some more water conditioner today.. i heard on other threads and forums that "ammo-lock" is the way to go?
also should i look into buying a friend for Ferris? or hold off until the cycle is finished?

 

[waterdrop]

You are getting excellent advice from Uriel and OM47 and I agree with all of it.

NO, you do not want to use any ammo-lock (well, actually I'm saying that because it is the name of a type of chemical resin (white granules) in the USA and now I remember there may be a different type of product but with the same name in the UK.. but nonetheless I don't recommend either.)

The best conditioner you can buy (at your stage of the game) is Seachem Prime. It is a very good value because it is so concentrated that you use very little (comparitively) each time. It is also good at other things that conditioners do.

Don't forget that you are still in the Fish-In Cycle. These things go on for often a month or even two. During the first few days you might get by with just an ammonia test but within a few days its best to test both ammonia and nitrite(NO2) twice (morning and evening, probably 12 hours apart) each day.

Your goal in fish-in cycling is to be a bit of a detective and figure out what percentage and frequency of water changes will keep both ammonia and nitrite not going above 0.25ppm before you can be home again to change more water if your tests show that you should. If your pattern has you doing above about 30% water changes then you should also temperature match (your hand is good enough for this as it only needs to be rough.) The key to fish-in cycling is to never let up on the tests and actions. With only one fish you may be lucky and it may not be that hard, but it will probably be slow. The way you know it is near the end is when you can go two full days without a trace of ammonia or nitrite and you haven't changed water (but you are at the very beginning and with only one fish you also don't want to be fooled into thinking it has somehow happened right away by magic, which won't be the case - it always takes at least a few weeks.

We get hundreds of newcomer cases similar to yours each year but I must say that you got particularly bad advice from both places, one right after the other! Now that you've found a good hobbyist forum you can research things here prior and then just politely buy the things you need without seeking advice when at a shop. Good Luck and I'm sure you'll enjoy the forums.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[iwaschosen]

Thanks a ton guys, ive gotten into the habit of a daily 25% water change and testing practically every day
looks like i am going to return the ammo lock and probably get a second fish to speed the cycle up a bit!

 

[waterdrop]

Glad to hear things are ok. WD