Newbie - cycling and refilling questions

[Maz]

Hi all - great board.

I am in England and have recently moved house and "adopted" a tank 36 x 12 x 18 inches. (28 gallons?)

History of tank - was VERY green with 3 fish, previous owner put in a chemical to clear water - and the fish died. By the time I moved in the water had cleared, though algae still on the glass.

Yesterday, before reading about fishless cycling etc - I scrubbed the tank, rocks, filters etc using tap water (no detergents etc).

Tank now refilled with untreated tap water, and to my surprise last night I noticed that 2 v small snails are in the tank (possibly more).

I am completely new to fish keeping - so if I may ask some questions.

1) Are snails good/ok - can I still do the adding ammonia thing with them in there?

2) Should I treat the water with any other chemicals?

3) When you do water changes how do you make the water ok before it goes in the tank. This is probably dumb but I cant fathom it. For a 50% water change I need 14 gallons of dechlorinated water, heated to the same temp as in the tank???

I hope to get some ammonia and a water testing kit tomorrow.

Have loads more questions re fish etc but will get through this bit first.

All help appreciated.

Maz

 

[merlin]

I've just completed the cycling of my first tank, but I used fish, but I can try to answer your questions. If anything I say is inaccurate I imagine/ hope to be corrected by more experienced fish keepers here.

1. Snails aren't a bad thing, but out of control they are a bad thing. Snails add to the community, help clear up debris, aeriate the gravel etc. However, they become a nuisance if there are too many, so they must be controlled. General good advice is not to add chemicals to the water, so snail eating fish are a good means of control, or picking them out by hand (they don't run too fast).

2. Depends which chemicals, and the jury is out on this. There is no doubt that the very best way to cycle a tank is not to use chemicals, but dechlorinators are a necessity.

3. You use a dechlorinator (sometimes called a water conditioner). Common products for this are Stress Coat & Aqua Plus. For fishless cycling I don't think its a problem though (???) because the chlorine will disperse from the water with time, and it is only harmful to the fish, not the bacteria (am I right??). Certainly water conditioners are available at every fish store, and is the safest bet. You would typically only do water changes of 10-20%, and to dechlorinate the water anly takes a few of teaspoons of conditioner. Use warm water from the tap, but with small changes the temperature changes shouldn't be too drastic. 78F water isn't actually all that warm to the touch.

 

[gordon1973]

I do 20% water changes weekly and so equals 25 litre water to this I add dechlorinator the day before and let sit. Usually the water is still about 18-20oc with tank being 24oc, the fish seem to like it though

 

[Bol]

1) Are snails good/ok - can I still do the adding ammonia thing with them in there?

Snails can be helpful, as long as they don't get out of control. There are some easy ways to avoid that, though.

By the way, if you're concerned that the fishless cycle will kill the snails, I wouldn't worry about it (unless killing snails upsets you). Getting snails into your tank later is one of the easiest things in the world to do -- buying a live plant will usually do it (whether you want to or not!); snail eggs will often come along for the ride.

2) Should I treat the water with any other chemicals?

Just dechlorinator. Edit: Depends on how you choose to "cycle" the tank. But that's a whole other conversation. I'd recommend searching for "cycling" "fishless cycling" and "BioSpria" to learn of some options.

3) When you do water changes how do you make the water ok before it goes in the tank. This is probably dumb but I cant fathom it. For a 50% water change I need 14 gallons of dechlorinated water, heated to the same temp as in the tank??? 

That's exactly right. The two main things you want for your new water are that it's dechlorinated, and it's very close to the same temperature as your tank.

As gordon mentioned, many people do not do 50% water changes. Personally, I do 25% changes weekly, and it seems to do fine (I test the water to confirm no 'waste' buildup). So, 7 gallons might be a little easier to handle than 14.

Also, you may want to look into a product called a Python No-Spill system. I bought one, and I think it's the best aquarium investment I've ever made (although my tank is slightly larger than yours).


Lastly, a couple of things you may not know about dechlorinators:

1) They generally work "instantly". That is, within seconds. If you're using buckets to fill, you can add the correct dosage of dechlor to the bucket, and then just pour it in the tank (you might want to add the dechlor just before the bucket is full, so it gets mixed up a bit).

2) There may be two types of "chlor"s in your tap water that you will want to remove. Chlorine is the obvious one, and in some places they also use chloramines to treat the water. If you have chloramines in your water (asking someone at the local water treatment plant should answer this question), you'll want a dechlorinator product that also removes chloramines. Many do, they're not difficult to find.

 

[sinistral]

I would add that chlorine is also toxic to the helpful bacterial species, so it's important to dechlorinate water every time it comes into contact with fish and/or nitrosomonas and nitrobacter!

 

[Moe]

Hi - here is a great site that explains exactly goes on when you cycle your tank. Thought you might find it helpful.
http/www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...&articleid=2657
Here's another link to a great gravel cleaning tank refilling thing. It's called the python clean and fill system. It makes cleaning out the tank really fast and easy.
http/www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...3562&in_merch=1

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Welcome Maz

For additives a good dechlorinator is all you need. There are many products on the shelves of the fish store, and most of them are not needed except for specific purposes, or in certain situations - though the stores will try to convince you otherwise.

Water changes are your fishes best friend, and no additives will ever replace the need for fresh, clean water. I highly recommend looking at that Python hose mentioned - big tank or not this system will let you do a water change in a matter of minutes, which means doing water changes more often is very easy. It's true that dechlorinators are instantaneous, there is no need to age or boil water anymore.

Good luck with your new tank.

 

[gordon1973]

I have taken note of your comment on dechloro working instantly, didnt realise that
Cheers thecichlidaddict

 

[Maz]

Just wanted to say thanks for all your info so far.

I have my tank set up, and am trying the fishless cycling. Have at least 4 snails - may have to watch that one.

I didnt realise the dechlorine stuff was instant - had images of having loads of buckets of water sitting round the house

will no doubt be asking more soon.