Newbie Starting Fresh

[Connor Rimmer]

im starting my tropical tank again, with a Betta and some select few other inhabitants (such as snails or cory's)

ok so i put in my water, and Aqua Safe dechlorinator but its like turned my water blue. Is this normal? I did add a correct dosage.

Also, the pump is leaving air bubbles onto everything - glass heater the lot. Can i get rid of those?

Im going, this weekend, to get some pure ammonia, a synringe and a freshwater test kit (27 pound from Pets at home, ripoff!).

Thanks

 

[Pleccy]

Aquasafe is blue so it will stain the water, however it should clear. When you first set the tank up the glass and equipment will be covered in tiny bubbles, this is normal and they will disappear within a couple of days. Good luck!

 

[Connor Rimmer]

ok another thing is my filter system to me seems wierd. I dont know how they come but i was under the impression they should be sub-merged in the water? This one has a little tube hanging over the sponges and water gets sucked through it into the tube and leaks onto the sponge, is this normal?

 

[Schmill]

Don't worry about the bubbles, they will clear in a day or two

From what you have said it looks like you are off to a good start, the sheer mention of getting the ammonia & syringe etc is a good sign

Have you read the FISHLESS CYCLING THREAD?
Its a good idea when you start to either do a log on here, or else to keep a log of your results yourself, so that you can post them up here if you have any problems or questions too

A good format for the log is:

XXX Litre Tank - Fishless Cycle
day-month-year - Day: XX (where xx is the number of days since you started the fishless cycle)
Time:
Water Temperature:
Test Results:
(Should be ph, ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte)
Additions to the tank:
(such as if you added ammonia, (how many ppm), or if you've added some rocks, or wood, or plants, (anythign that might effect the cycle )

Also on your 'Day 0' it is worth also posting a set of results for your tap water, as then it's easier to see if there are any problems there

Regarding your blue water, sorry I can't help as I've never seen it do that, and I also don't use the Aqua Safe one. Are you sure you didn't just overdo the dechlor?

As for ammonia, there are a few places you can get it, I got mine from Boots, (and if you ask at the chemists desk they will usually give you a syringe too, just tell them you want a syringe for childrens medicine, if you tell them you want it for ammonia they think you are mad!) This is what mine looks like:

Finally, (I guess it should have come first!), Welcome to the TFF's, I hope you have a good stay and find the place as useful as I have

 

[waterdrop]

Syringes should be cheap, so while you're at it get two, one for ammonia, one for putting tank water into the test tubes, makes it easier.. keep them labeled.. bright colored band on one or something.

Good advice in the posts above.

Welcome to TFF,

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Connor Rimmer]

What about my filter though? im not like totally sure about what they can be like. I always thought they where in-water sort of things... oh well

any kind of plecs I can find locally that will be suitable for a 35L tank?

 

[waterdrop]

Not sure I understand what your questions about filtration are?? For a small 35L there are members on here who are familiar with the challanges associated with smaller tanks and may have some good advice for you.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Connor Rimmer]

Well my sponge filter is in the hood and a tube is connected to the pump so i think water gets sucked up through this tube, which hangs over the sponge. along this tube are 5 wholes, were the water drops down into the sponge and trickles through back to the tank. I always though that the sponge would be in the water, submerged.

I went to boots today and look around the whole store, and then asked an assistant who confirmed they dont self ammonia. BUMMER!. my search will continue, though

 

[waterdrop]

I'm sure its hit or miss -- UK folks have sometimes reported that the employee reported no ammonia and then they walked amongst the mops,brooms,cleaners and there it was!

Your hood filter may be a type we call "wet/dry", which, when implemented and run properly have an advantage in higher bacterial populations theoretically because of greater oxygen availability for the bacteria. I know of no reports of the ones being included in hood kits being particularly bad or good. It would be ideal if you were able to post your model info as exactly as possible in the hope that a member with your exact equipment could give you a review of their experiences with your particular filter.

One practical thing to keep in mind with a wet/dry is that you will want to get to it quickly if there is a power outage or water flow blockage so that you can either submerge or somehow keep the bacteria wet, so they wouldn't die in such an emergency. Obviously this would be a rare situation.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Connor Rimmer]

if its any concelation, a picture ;

Also, my tank is rather codensated! when i lift the hood up heaps of water drips off. Should I leave it open sometimes to let the heat out or is that natural?

ALSO

Tap Water Resullts (API freshwater testkit)

Ammonia - 0 - 0.25

nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 0 - 5

PH - 7.0 - 7.2

Tested my water just for the fun of it after its been runnign for a couple of days and I have

Ammonia - 0.25

nirtrite - 0

nitrate - 0

Ph - 7.6

 

[waterdrop]

Condensation (even plenty of it) is quite normal. Most hoods are designed to both vent excess heat from the lamps and to allow some fresh air to get in but even if they seem fairly closed, air can probably get in well enough I'd think. Perhaps others can chime in if they've seen problems with this.

You've got a little ammonia and nitrate showing potentially showing in your tap water but its small and won't be a problem in the long run. Its great that you've already got a good liquid test kit and are posting up results here. The only other "bottle" things you might consider would be a liquid KH test kit and possibly to start out with Seachem Prime (pond dechlor is cheaper in the long run but I sometimes think a smaller bottle of Prime is a good starter for beginners) if you decide the current dechlor is being weird with the blue. These ideas are optional and not urgent. Getting the right pure ammonia (doesn't foam when shaken, not dyes, no fragrances, basically looks like water but certainly doesn't smell like it!) is important and you don't want to be going too long without starting.

Maybe you already do this but I always think a notebook is nice for an aquarium, say a nice spiral-bound one, but some people use their computers or other things. Even if you don't always post stats here you should always log everything in your notebook. Here's what I think of as a typical short one-liner entry, say during fishless, with nothing much happening:

Friday Nov.7,2008 8:00PM 84F,KH=x,pH=x,Amm=x,NO2=x,NO3=x, water clear, comments: xxx

When posting up cyclling info here in your thread so that members can comment and help you along the way, it greatly helps them if you always -repeat- your baseline info... let's see:

Day X, fishless cycle on XX Litre / XX US gallon tank
(no/?) live plants, no bogwood, no other chemicals
5ppm ammonia added 8:15am
stats at 12(or 24) hours later: xx,xx,xx, etc.

You can see other fishless/fish-in cyclers who are really doing this: look at the ends of threads here by Tuppers and Lana, for instance. Note that as a beginner its really nice to read threads by other beginners because you learn strange stuff you might not have come across. Now in your case you're probably not a beginner but it still might get you in the mood and thinking about your fishless cycle. Good Luck,

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Connor Rimmer]

thanks WD

I went and bought 6 live plants today, I believe the woman told me they were 'Amazon Swords'.

Is this a bad thing? i sort of considered after the ammonia might be harmfull to them!

 

[LauraFrog]

Plants aren't harmed by ammonia and swords are pretty easy plants to care for as well. Plants will stand up to a fishless cycle just fine. (Busily planting and aquascaping my tank while messing around with tests is the only way I can bear to wait for the tank to cycle before I have to start adding fish to it!)

What dechlorinator are you using? Be careful about all round 'water agers' when fishless cycling. Some of them remove ammonia as well as chlorine, so then you're shooting yourself in the foot trying to fishless cycle. Straight dechlorinator is best, though since you have ammonia showing in your tap water I'd suggest that switching back to water ager once the tank is cycled.

 

[Connor Rimmer]

Using 'AquaSafe' by Tetra.

 

[waterdrop]

Using 'AquaSafe' by Tetra.

That should be fine. Most conditioners help ammonia go over to the safer ammonium state and the bacteria eat that just as happily as ammonia.

~~waterdrop~~