New Member, New Tank, New Hobby, Need Advice

[Meechm]

Just an update for anyone who may have been following this thread. I continued to do regular large water changes everytime the ammonia levels creeped up and 1 day I was in the LFS when I got to talking about my problem. The man there told me that by changing my water every day I was removing too much of the good bacteria despite what was said about it being 99% in the filter and not in the water. He gave me some nutrafin cycle and told me to use that as directed and do only 10% water changes when absolutley nescassary, like when the water got over 1ppm to 2ppm ammonia levels. I did that for 3 days and started to develop nitrite levels and cycle.

Also the problem I mentioned about the odor, he gave me something to take that away too. I forget what it was called but it worked. If anyone needs to know I can check when I get home.

I am not posting this to disprove anyone or thier techniques, different strokes for different folks. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

I just thought if this can help someone else who is new and has a similar problem then great, I know it was very frustrating for me to ask the same question to 10 different people and get 10 different answers. I am simply describing what ultimatley worked for my tank and my situation.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Pichers?

 

[Meechm]

Pichers?

What do u mean, like pictures of the tank?

By the way my nitrite just spiked to Iike 10 ppm and my nitrate is like 30, Is that okay to leave like that until it completes the full cycle?

 

[crazyforcordoras]

instead of spelling pictures, i say pichers.

 

[colleen0309]

Just an update for anyone who may have been following this thread. I continued to do regular large water changes everytime the ammonia levels creeped up and 1 day I was in the LFS when I got to talking about my problem. The man there told me that by changing my water every day I was removing too much of the good bacteria despite what was said about it being 99% in the filter and not in the water. He gave me some nutrafin cycle and told me to use that as directed and do only 10% water changes when absolutley nescassary, like when the water got over 1ppm to 2ppm ammonia levels. I did that for 3 days and started to develop nitrite levels and cycle.

Also the problem I mentioned about the odor, he gave me something to take that away too. I forget what it was called but it worked. If anyone needs to know I can check when I get home.

I am not posting this to disprove anyone or thier techniques, different strokes for different folks. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

I just thought if this can help someone else who is new and has a similar problem then great, I know it was very frustrating for me to ask the same question to 10 different people and get 10 different answers. I am simply describing what ultimatley worked for my tank and my situation.

While I understand your frustration, I do not agree with waiting until your ammonia reaches lethal levels before you do a tiny water change that won't do much to lower the ammonia. The object is to keep your fish healthy while your filter cycles. The damage you are doing to your fish with ammonia at 1 - 2ppm may not show up until later. The guy at the lfs did his job. He got you to spend money on not only one product, but 2. I have had aquariums for 40+ years and there is nothing better for your fish than clean fresh water. I don't even use meds unless absolutely necessary. I have cleared up things like popeye, finrot, and some fungal infections with nothing more than fresh water and time. I'm one of those impatient people that can't wait 6 weeks for a tank to cycle before I add fish. I do it old school or use cycled filter material to seed a new filter. Old school is adding one or two fish at a time, watching the ammonia and nitrite levels and doing lots of water changes. When I started with aquariums, we didn't have access to test kits and if we did, they were too expensive for us to afford. We just did water changes every day. I'm glad you thing you are getting somewhere with your cycle now, but remember, you may have problems that won't show up for awhile.

 

[willowstwin]

It's good that you're really into this!! It's so refreshing having someone who isn't angry that we're telling them to put more effort in. Water changes are your friend! and yes, once cycled, keep testing and change when any stat gets too out of hand. Putting plants in will help with the uptake of nitrAtes (and also help with algae problems, as they'll suck up the nutrients bad algae needs).

I'm a little intruiged with this fishy smell... my tank (and my fave LFS's tanks) smell, kind of earthy (weird as it sounds).

Keep us posted also be prepared for los of changes on the fry tank, as the babies are VERY sensitive to ammonia etc.