So far so good

[Ted H]

I've had my tank up and running now for a week or more .. 12 UK gal.
I ran it at first for a few days with no fish just "mature" gravel from my lfs tanks,and a few live plants , then two days later added two platties. After a few more days I've added one more plattie and two sail fin mollies... after checking my water each day I've had no increase in ammonia, nitrates etc. all zero & Ph 7.... I should add I've got a Fluval 203 for this tank ( which may be a bit of overkill on the filter side).. I'm going to keep checking the water .. but at this time do I need a water change ? As I understand it it only needs changing when the ammonias start to rise ......how soon should this rise be apparent after adding the fish ?

 

[jams.alaskan]

with mature gravel I'm guessing that it already has the bacteria in it and you kept it wet on the way home. You may not have a rise in the amonia levels with so little a bio load(so few fish) and mature gravel. You can clean gravel as you normally would for poo etc. Just keep adding very slowly and it may be just fine.

ALASKA

 

[tstenback]

Usually i do a weekly water change to reduce the level of nitrates in the tank but your nitrate level is 0... are you sure? Usually after cycling the one substance that is always present unless the tank is heavily planted is Nitrate. Anyhow if everything is going fine just do a weekly change 15-25% and add your fish slowly and you should be just fine. Good Luck

 

[Ted H]

I can confirm that my nitrites are zero as with ammonia and nitrite. As for keeping the gravel wet when I brought it from my LFS, yes it was , I live just 10 minutes away from the store.
How soon though after adding fish would I expect to see any rise in ammonia etc. ( If there was indeeed going to be a rise).

 

[tstenback]

The ammonia readings should show within a couple of days if they are going to show at all. If there is enough bacteria in the tank and you keep adding fish slowly(a few inches per week) then you may not see an ammonia spike at all. Keep checking the readings and do make your water changes. Good luck and I hope everything keeps going well.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Keep an eye on those nitrates. If Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates all keep showing 0 then something is wrong with your test kit.

Since there are fish in the tank you should do regular water changes periodically - basically as often as you would do them anyway. It is only necessary to do it more often then this if you measure increasing levels of ammonia or nitrite.

 

[Ted H]

All 4 of the test kits (No2 No3 Nh3 and Ph) are new and I follow the instuctions to the letter.
I wonder if its handling the load due to the large filter I have (Fluval 203)and the possible introduction of bacteria from the mature gravel , the tank also has live plants..... still... I intend to do a gravel clean soon ( today) and that should involve a partial 25% water change.