way too much ammonia + scunge on rubber

[scuba_jez]

hey i posted the other day in order to save my poor little danios which sadly died the night of posting

Anyway! i went to about 3 different pet/aquarium shops looking for advice. one guy who was particularly charismatic sold me a product called cycle - bacteria in a bottle i suppose it was pretty silly in retrospect to buy it but i'm young and stupid. i put it in the tank and i bought ammonia and nitrate test kits (the bloke at yet another petshop said the nitrite test kit was useful but not really essential so i didnt buy it) and the ammonia levels went from 1.2 ppm to 2.4 ppm. I have them down to 1.2 again after a partial water change... anyway, i was wondering what should i do? start from scratch or see how the cycle goes with the product.. it's been in there for around 24 hrs now. do i need the nitrite test kit?

another question...

clear/white 'scunge' or slime has formed all around the rubber bits on my heater and the rubber sucker holding my thermometer. has anyone else had this problem? and is it poisonous or bad for my fishies when they eventually get brought back in to my tank?

thanks everyone! we tried as hard as we could to save the last danios - may he rest in peace.

 

[xander_chookeypud]

As you can see I'm also new to this site and to keeping tropical fish. Cycling does seem essential for keeping fish healthy. I have cycled my tank, however, one of my male mollies died and I have been worried about a couple of my female guppy's. It has been suggested to me on this website that I buy a water testing kit to make sure it is in an ideal state which will give me a good idea of how healthy the rest of my fish are.

Xander

 

[SarahBravo]

The slimey stuff is a bacteria build up, which is fine! It's pretty easy to clean off as well. Are you adding ammonia or fish food to feed the good bacteria and get them to multiply? If you're not, you need to add one or the other to keep the bacteria alive and growing. The nitrite test is essential when cycling because the first bacteria to settle in the tank change the ammonia to nitrite, the second set of bacteria change the nitrite to nitrAte. Once both sets of bacteria are established then you can add fish.

The 'cycle' stuff allegedly contains the bacteria you need and 'instantly' populates the tank - however, people on here don't seem to think it works, so I would be very wary and check before adding any fish.

Check out the pinned topics on cycling - they will tell you what readings you need to get.

 

[scuba_jez]

hey thanks for your replies.

im realy glad i dont have any fish in there lol

the ammonia is rising without any fish!!! has anyone heard of this before?

it was 1.2 ppm 2 days ago after a partial water change and now its 2.4 ppm - v. toxic for any fishy friends.

the nitrate levels have increased from almost 0 to 5 mg/L which im happy about coz that means bacteria are starting to grow

i think i have established that ammonia > 1.2 = death for dianos (pH 7)