Water Testing

[x_leanne_x]

I only got my tank yesterday and I know I should probably wait a few days yet but I'm impatient and I wanted to know if everything was progressing as it should so I tested the water just now and these are my readings (i've used TetraTest 5in1) It didn't come with the ammonia test and they didn't have one in stock but i've bought liquid tests from ebay! There are no fish in the tank, it's just setting up it's levels!

pH - 6.8
KH - 3
GH - 6 (it's got 3 squares but they all read 6)
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 0

are these looking OK so far? from what I can gather from the few posts I've read these seem to be OK but I'd just like to check!

 

[Dark Wolf]

Hello, and welcome.

Ok first things first, it's good that you are getting a liquid test kit, but is that only for ammonia? If it is i'd suggest buying a master liquid test kit that tests for Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Reason for this is because the strip test kits are pretty rubbish, and are often innacurate.

If you haven't yet, have a look at this topic http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

Reading that you can decide whether or not you want to do a fishless cycle, but i encourage you to.

 

[x_leanne_x]

Thanks for your reply! It is a master liquid test kit i've ordered, I used the test strip that came with the tank just to see how things were progressing! It's a fishless cycle I'm doing, LFS don't allow you to buy fish until you've done a fishless one!

 

[x_leanne_x]

quick question...reading that topic, I need a bottle of ammonia to add to the tank for it to cycle?! My LFS never mentioned that, so the tank has been cycling since yesterday without it! Is it important to add ammonia to the fishless cycle? If it is i'm quite annoyed that the LFS didn't inform me of that as they knew I was a first timer! and now it isn't open until monday

 

[Luketendo]

quick question...reading that topic, I need a bottle of ammonia to add to the tank for it to cycle?! My LFS never mentioned that, so the tank has been cycling since yesterday without it! Is it important to add ammonia to the fishless cycle? If it is i'm quite annoyed that the LFS didn't inform me of that as they knew I was a first timer! and now it isn't open until monday

You can get Ammonia from Boots or Homebase, LFS' don't usually do it.

 

[x_leanne_x]

fab! i'll try boots tomorrow! so how long roughly will it take for the tank to cycle if I start adding ammonia tomorrow night? LFS just said to take tank home, set it up, add gravel, water & decorations and wait a week and then go back for the fish! no mention of ammonia or anything!

 

[Luketendo]

fab! i'll try boots tomorrow! so how long roughly will it take for the tank to cycle if I start adding ammonia tomorrow night? LFS just said to take tank home, set it up, add gravel, water & decorations and wait a week and then go back for the fish! no mention of ammonia or anything!

4-8 weeks if you're lucky.

My new 35L has been up 2 weeks+ and not even started cycling.

 

[x_leanne_x]

omg are you kidding?! my LFS quite obviously know nothing then! no mention of ammonia and then telling me to wait a week! right well we'll go with your recommendations then! and do i turn my temp right up once I start adding ammonia?! sorry, complete first timer here!

 

[Luketendo]

omg are you kidding?! my LFS quite obviously know nothing then! no mention of ammonia and then telling me to wait a week! right well we'll go with your recommendations then! and do i turn my temp right up once I start adding ammonia?! sorry, complete first timer here!

Turn your temp up as far as it will go, you don't have to do it now but if you do it now you'll know it'll be warmer for when the ammonia arrives.

 

[Chrispixx]

My LFS quite obviously know nothing then! no mention of ammonia and then telling me to wait a week!

Your LFS was not talking about fishless cycling then, they wanted you to run the tank with water in it for a week which does nothing. Then they wanted to sell you fish which would jack the ammonia up and start the cycle, but this is dangerous and cruel and the fish would have died. That way they could have sold you more fish.

Its best to fishless cycle, you wont be able to get fish as soon but its better in the long run. Just follow the directions in the link that was provided for fishless cycling really well. Get ammonia that has no additives, soaps, perfumes, etc. it must be pure. One way to tell is to shake the bottle if no fizz then its ok.

Crank the heater up that will help the cycle progress faster, if you can get some filter media from a healthy tank that will speed things up too.

 

[rdd1952]

quick question...reading that topic, I need a bottle of ammonia to add to the tank for it to cycle?! My LFS never mentioned that, so the tank has been cycling since yesterday without it! Is it important to add ammonia to the fishless cycle? If it is i'm quite annoyed that the LFS didn't inform me of that as they knew I was a first timer! and now it isn't open until monday

No LFS will ever mention fishless cycling. I'm not certain why but part of it is that if you cycle with fish, you will most certainly lose some fish to ammonia poisoning and they get to sell you more along with all the other quick fix chemicals they will try to sell you. Adding ammonia is definitely important as you have to have an ammonia source in order to grow the nitrifying bacteria colony. And they will probably suggest bacteria in a bottle products like Cycle or Stress Zyme. Don't waste your money as none of those products do any good.

As for ammonia, you won't find it at the fish store. Try the grocery store or home improvement stores in the cleaning section.

 

[x_leanne_x]

thanks for all your replies! I've got my master test kit today, everything still reading as it did and ammonia is reading 0.25ppm, this is after 5 days of the tank running minus the fish! i've not added ammonia yet but i'm going to tonight! Do you think my ammonia level has been higher than this or is this it just starting to climb?

 

[rdd1952]

If there aren't any fish in the tank, the ammonia won't rise as there is nothing to produce ammonia. It's possilbe that it has been higher. What is your nitrite and nitrate reading?

 

[x_leanne_x]

nitrite and nitrate are reading 0 at the moment!

 

[rdd1952]

In that case, your tank has not started to cycle. The only way to cycle the tank (actually the filter) is by adding an ammonia source. You can do that without fish by adding ammonia (fish flakes or frozen prawns can be used if ammonia can't be found) ar with fish by adding 2 or 3 hardy fish. If you use fish, you will have to test the water parameters daily and do water changes as needed to keep the ammonia and nitrtie levels low.

If you haven't already seen it, read the pinned topic on fishless cycling. It should answer a lot of your questions.