Newbie Who Wishes He Was Here Before He Bought & Filled His Tank&#

[robodan]

Title says it all really, but its done now.

rekford 96 with cabinet, got real plants in there, 5 of. enough gravel to bed them down in. and we have 3 zebra danios which we put in after the tank was up & running for 24 hours.

right some questions if i may,

one, although the vast majority of the cloudy water has now gone, we are still left with a film on the top of the tank which does not look nice at all, i though by now 72 hours in that would have disapeared but it has not. Shall i do a part water change say 15%?? any other tips on removing this film?

two, is it better to do more water changes in the first week or two, say one evry two days? or stick to once a week? Also when should I start cleaning the gravel with a gravel vac when i do my first water change? or after it has had tome for some debris to sink into it?

three & finally, is 3 danios enough to be getting on with? should I be adding a couple or three more next weekend? I fully understand the cyclicng process & I will only ever be able to gradually add a few fish at a time.

Many thanks for all your help.

 

[shang hi]

Title says it all really, but its done now.

rekford 96 with cabinet, got real plants in there, 5 of. enough gravel to bed them down in. and we have 3 zebra danios which we put in after the tank was up & running for 24 hours.

right some questions if i may,

one, although the vast majority of the cloudy water has now gone, we are still left with a film on the top of the tank which does not look nice at all, i though by now 72 hours in that would have disapeared but it has not. Shall i do a part water change say 15%?? any other tips on removing this film?

two, is it better to do more water changes in the first week or two, say one evry two days? or stick to once a week? Also when should I start cleaning the gravel with a gravel vac when i do my first water change? or after it has had tome for some debris to sink into it?

three & finally, is 3 danios enough to be getting on with? should I be adding a couple or three more next weekend? I fully understand the cyclicng process & I will only ever be able to gradually add a few fish at a time.

Many thanks for all your help.

some basic things here, the film could be cause by soad and/or detergents that u did not wash off before puting your hands in the tank, its a common mistake.
the second question and third can be answered as one realy. 1 weter chang a week for a mature tank every 3 days for a tank cycling WITH fish. youde be better off doing a fishLESS cycle as you can fully stock your tank with out the add- wait 28 days add another - 28days more to wait tecnique. ill post a link (to fishless cycling) later in say 15 mins when i have the time. i dont think i worded this very well so i will look over it, if i don't make sence just tell me and ill fix it (i realy gota stop writing without thinking of word order )

shang hi

 

[robodan]

fishless cycle is too late now i'm afraid i have fish & i have nowhere else to put them.

every 3 days for a water change, i must be born to do this as its my instinct for some reason to do it today, 3 days in.

detergents sound's like thats exactly what it is, also we used a bowl to fill the tank up that we use to wash up with, it wont be done again I have now purchased a bucket!!!

Any idea how to remove this film? or will changing the water every 3 days slowly remove this now i have a bucket!!

oh and by the way everything made sense

 

[Angel_Queen]

fishless cycle is too late now i'm afraid i have fish & i have nowhere else to put them.
Any idea how to remove this film? or will changing the water every 3 days slowly remove this now i have a bucket!!

If it is like an oily film, you can place kitchen towel (like Bounty or similar) on the top of the surface which soaks it up and then just take out the paper. Hope this helps.

BTW, I was in the same situation as you, same tank, plants, fish. It's like looking in a mirror. I would stick with only the 3 fish for the time being. Until your tank has cycled. IMHO. Zebra's are considered better to cycle with than any other as they swim primarily at the top of the tank and aren't as affected as fish that live at the bottom where the ammonia and other toxins' levels are highest.

Do you have a liquid testing kit? You don't need all of them just yet, but Ammonia, NitrIte and NitrAtes are a definite must. I would check your levels daily, maybe even twice a day. you may have to do daily changes if the levels get too high.

Good luck.

 

[robodan]

ordered a testing kit last night so should be here before long, I did a 10-15% change lat night and my god has it made a difference my fish are so happy now, i also changed the output direction of the pump it was facing downwards now it is facing upwards and they love swimming in the wave it creates.

I will try a paper towel when i get home to remove the scum i also heard the top filter could be changed as its only a polisher. My neighbour is very good and is in the industry.

Angel, how strange to have almost the same set up as yo when you started, i must have good taste

 

[pauly]

Have you added any filter start type product to your filter? There's plenty out there, most of which are considered useless. One that might be worth trying is Bactinettes. However, I assume your neighbour has a tank? Ask him for some mature media (a bit of his filter sponge etc) and add it to your filter. That should speed up your cycle.

Paul.

 

[Angel_Queen]

Angel, how strange to have almost the same set up as yo when you started, i must have good taste

Definitely... good taste!

 

[mark.w.jones]

I would say for now, until you get your test kit, you should really be doing daily 10 - 15% water changes, just to be on the safe side. You don't know how high your ammonia and nitrite levels are right now, and anything above a trace amount will damage your fish. Some fish cope better with ammonia and nitrite than others and zebra danios are certainly some og the hardiest fish around. Once you have your test kit post levels for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate 24 hours after your last water change. This will give us an idea of what amount of bacterial processing is going on in this time.

 

[robodan]

i will post the results when the kit arrives, it should be here tomorrow i had a despatch email today and its gone first class, and as we have no post strike i should be ok

 

[robodan]

Heres the latest

Did water change on monday evening.

Added 3 more danios on Tue Evening

Tested just now here are the results

PH 7.8
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

 

[robodan]

no reply to my water stats...

Can anyone advise on how i'm doing at the mo? I felt pretty good yesterday cos i feard my ammonia being really high so was expecting to do a water change yesterday.

Will check again later and do a change if the levels have risen. If thats wrong could someone advise me?

 

[Thirdfloor]

Keep checking your ammonia, you will eventually have to be doing daily water changes in the neighborhoon of 30-40% to keep the ammonia levels down, after your ammonia processing bacteria develop in your filter you will have to repeat the process for nitrites until those bacteria are established as well. You will be doing a LOT of water changes to keep your fish safe and comfortable. Make sure you buy a big bottle of water conditioner and always always dechlorinate your tap water before adding to your tank when doing water changes. If not the chlorine in the water will kill your beneficial bacteria and hurt your fish. Hang in there, its going to be a long ride, but its worth it, I did the same thing with my tank.

 

[mark.w.jones]

I agree with what's written above. You may get away with 20 - 30% every other day. You just want to keep those ammonia levels and nitrite levels at 0.25 or below the majority of the time. Do your 30% change and then test your water the next day. If ammonia or nitrite are above 0.25 then you'll need to keep doing daily water changes. If the levels are lower then you will be fine doing changes every other day.

 

[robodan]

Am .5
Nitrite 0

did water change of about 15%