New tank - need assurence lol

[Doug Corsa]

Right you will have all heard this before but i basicly just want some reasurance i am doing things right lol

I have bought a tropiquarium 55 from pets at home.
Filled it with gravel, 4 plants and water.
Put does of both stress coat and stress zyme in the water.

Left it for a few days.

Added 4 silver tipped tetras to the tank.

Now 2 days later have started feeding them small ammounts of food.
My PH level is 7.2 and has stayed the same for the whole time.

Am i doing everything right so far?
How long can i leave it untill i can start stocking it?

 

[Doug Corsa]

tank is 40 litres!

And i have the temp set to 76 degrees.
And my eventuall plan is to add the following fish:
4 male fancy guppies
2 clown loaches
4 neon tetras

Sound alright?

 

[sandyd]

I was wondering if you have read any of the posts on cycling a tank? If not, then I do suggest you give them a thorough read. You will need to get a test kit, so that you know when you tank is cycled. Since there are fish in there already, I am assumming you are going to do a fish cycle. If that is the case, you will need to keep the ammonia level low to not kill the fish you already have in there, this can be achieved by frequent water changes.

Cycling could and will take a while, so I would suggest that you dont get any more fish until the tank has cycled.

Sandy

 

[modernhamlet]

Do you have one of these?

If not, that's the very first step. Only when you know your water parameters are at safe levels (the tank has cycled) can you add more fish. And you can't know your water parameters (Ammonia, Nitrite, pH) unless you test the water. Get a good test kit. It's well worth it.

As far as the fish go, 40 liters = about 10 US gallons. That's a pretty small tank. The clown loaches need at least 5 times that, I believe. I want some, but can't fit them in my 29 US gallon tank. Cool fish though. Guppies and tetras would be fine, but you might limit yourself to 2 guppies. That's about all that tank can handle.

HTH

Good luck!

 

[Doug Corsa]

Yeah i have read the posts about cycling.
So how long can i expect this cycling to last. LFS never mentioned anything about cycling at all.
What can i do to reduce the nitrates and speed up the cycling process?

 

[modernhamlet]

Ways to speed up cycling:

1. Purchase Bio-Spira
or
2. Add gravel, a filter sponge, or sponge drippings from a already cycled tank. If your LFS is any good, they'll understand and help you out with one of these.

Anyone know of other ways?

 

[Doug Corsa]

So should i talk to my LFS and ask to buy some filter medium off them?

 

[sandyd]

If you could get some filter medium or gravel from an existing tank, it would help you to cycle alot faster. It would be a good idea to ask them and see what they say.

Sandy

 

[Doug Corsa]

ok i wll go see them 2mro.

I will also buy a water testing kit. and i will post the results up when i get them

 

[Myke]

Can I just drop a bio-wheel in the water for a couple of days to speed up the process? I have a different tank here that has a fully cultivated wheel that is running right now in a tank.

 

[Doug Corsa]

right i went out and bought a big test kit and have the following results
PH - gone up from 7.2 to 7.4
Ammonia - 1.0
GH - 8 dGH
Nitrite - 0.25

Is this good? tank has had fish in it for about 2 days now

 

[Doug Corsa]

i am assuming that the ammonia and nitrites will go down after a few days and that this is all part of the cycling process. am i right?

 

[sandyd]

If you are getting Nitrite reading, then you are doing great. The cycle starts with ammonia, and then goes to Nitrites, then to Nitrates. Once you have Nitrate readings, you will be in the final stages of your cycle. Now that you are getting nitrite readings, your ammonia reading will be going down. Just keep an eye on the Nitrites, as they are also toxic to your fish.

Sandy

 

[Doug Corsa]

Rigth just did another water test today and i have found the levels of everything has increased!

PH - 7.5
Ammonia - 2.0
GH - 9
Nitrite - 0.50


Do i need to do a water change or is this just the cycle going acording to plan? The tank has had fish in it for about 3 days now, i am feeding them about 30 seconds worth of food 2-3 times a day.