What Should Be My Next Move

[kbod]

sorry a bit long but im very new to this and dont want to make unnneccesary mistakes so your help is greatly appreciated.
i have purchased a 64 litre tank from pets at home its been set up and running now for 30 days today ,i have 7 fish in total in it already 5 are glowlight tetras and 2 corydoras peppered catfish.
the first lot (glowlights) were added on the 12th day although 1 died 1 days later
the 2 corys and another glowlight were added on the 24th day as i didnt want to add so soon .
i have been taking my water to be checked regulary and its fine how ever on day 29 i took it to be checked and i have a amonia spike and a nitrate/nitrite unsure but not the good one im told ,although its not a major amount.
i have a couple of live plants which ive added more to and told to buy amonia drops which i added.yesterday.
what i want to no is should i do anything else ?
how long should i wait before adding more fish ?
and what should my next fish be ,id like a community tank with guppies,neons nothing too big,
thanks very much kaz newbie x

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum KBod. It sounds like you have received some of the typical bad advice that many new fishkeepers get. If the LFS is admitting that you have any ammonia problem, you are in more trouble than usual. I would suggest that you use a good dechlorinator and do a partial water change of half of your water. For now, avoid cleaning your filter until you can get the ammonia and nitrites under control. Until your tank has established its biological filter in your tank's filter, you will either be doing periodic large water changes to control your chemistry or you will continue to lose some fish. Do not add any fish to the tank for now because your tank is still not properly cycled.
What happens is that ammonia is produced by the fish and by any organic material, including dead plants and fish food, decaying in the tank. There are bacteria that will grow in your filter, because that is where the water flow is high, that will convert the ammonia to nitrites. The nitrites are also poisonous to fish but there are other bacteria that will grow in the filter to convert nitrites to nitrates. The nitrates are much less toxic than either nitrites or ammonia so the fish will tolerate some in their water. You have both ammonia and nitrites so the first set of bacteria are probably starting to become established. That part is both good and bad. The nitrites are still a poison for the fish but at least it means that the ammonia should start to control itself soon.
Products are sold by many local fish stores that are said to deal with ammonia, nitrites and are even supposed to get the bacteria going. The chemical attack on nitrites and ammonia should be avoided completely because they will prevent or greatly slow down the bacteria becoming established. Some, but very few, of the bacterial additives have had some spotty success but those that have worked are quite expensive, have a short shelf life and need to be kept refrigerated. In general, we don't advise using them.
Eventually you will want to be able to monitor your own water chemistry, and it is quite important during a fish-in cycle like you are doing. For that purpose a liquid reagent type test kit is recommended. Most commonly used by people here is the API freshwater master test kit. It contains all of the commonly needed tests and is a reasonable price at places like eBay. It can often cost an extra 50% at a local fish shop. The kit contains enough chemicals to easily get you through a complete cycle and then do periodic monitoring for quite a while after.
For details on fish-in cycling, there is a link in my signature area to a thread on the subject.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi kbod

Welcome to the forum!

You are among good company here. A lot of our members started out with the same problems you are having. Once you get your tank cycled, all will be well and you will be able to enjoy it with only weekly cleaning and partial water changes. For now you have some work to do to keep your fish from being harmed by the ammonia and nitrites.

OldMan47 gave you some good advice. It's important that you get your own test kit so you can monitor the chemicals closely. If you can't do this, take regular samples to the lfs and ask them to give you the actual results in numbers.

Good luck with this. It will just take some patience and work.

I'll move your thread to the New to the Hobby section so you can get more help as you progress.

 

[hellohefalump]

OldMan47 gave good advise.

Don't add anymore fish until your ammonia and nitrites are under control (at 0).

Frequent water changes will help, as they dilute the ammonia and nitrites.

I take it you are running a filter on this tank?

 

[kbod]

thanks for the advice ,seems ive been steered the wrong way so im a bit panicking now,hope all will be ok , pets at home and my local aquatic centre both differ on their advice its hard to no whats right . glad ive got this place .
i will get hold of the testing kit as soon as possible and take your advice hopefully no more fish will suffer,and i definatly wont be adding just yet,im in no hurry would rather get it right.
can i ask as again 2 different opinions pets at home say only feed whole flakes never crush while my aquatic centre says always crush flakes which is true.
thanks again for a warm welcome and sound advice kaz x

 

[kbod]

forgot to add yes im running a filter which i was told to add filter boost to every 2 days for 14 days then i was told to add more ? then they said wait 2 more weeks and then do water change and clean filter , i did do a 25% water change after one fish died did i do wrong ?

 

[Adam1510]

Think im in the same position as you, got a new tank (Roma 125) from pets at home. been taking their advice and i've lost a fish. i'll be keeping an eye on this post

 

[Inchworm]

Hi kbod

2 different opinions pets at home say only feed whole flakes never crush while my aquatic centre says always crush flakes which is true.

It really doesn't matter as long as the fish can eat them. Some fish will nibble the edges of the flakes even if they are large. I suggest watching your fish to see what they prefer.

When it comes to feeding, it's essential that every bit you put in gets eaten, so feed cautiously at first. If food remains it could pollute the water and feed harmful bacteria.

_____

Hi Adam1510

Welcome to the forum!

Good luck with your tank too. Please feel free to ask questions and start your own thread if you want to.

 

[petertr]

wow - I thought Pets at Home were getting better at this - I was in the Hartlepool store a few months back, and they wouldn't let a family buy fish because the tank wasn't cycled.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Adam 1510. As Inchworm said, feel free to post your own subject. Sometimes these things go in different directions and it can get confusing if we are trying to track 2 people's chemistry in the same thread.

 

[kbod]

hi all my fish are all doing ok today .

ive been watching them while feeding so not overdoing it and all as far as i can see is eaten.

my hubby went to three pet shops today for a test kit not one had any available ,couldnt go myself as came down with a dreaded lergy so will try again tommorrow.

i have set up a 2nd tank yesterday and im listening to the guidence on here so hopefully i wont loose any fish as i wont be putting any in ,i will wait longer no hurry .

sorry to hear also that others are having probs with what pets at home are saying, guess we can't all get it right .

didnt want to do a water change today as if im bad could the fish contract anything ? or is that a dumb question

hubby will do it tommorow if need be should it be 20% or 50% or should i wait and test water again ?

thanks kaz x

 

[DJ ArKaDaRkA]

hi all my fish are all doing ok today .

ive been watching them while feeding so not overdoing it and all as far as i can see is eaten.

my hubby went to three pet shops today for a test kit not one had any available ,couldnt go myself as came down with a dreaded lergy so will try again tommorrow.

i have set up a 2nd tank yesterday and im listening to the guidence on here so hopefully i wont loose any fish as i wont be putting any in ,i will wait longer no hurry .

sorry to hear also that others are having probs with what pets at home are saying, guess we can't all get it right .

didnt want to do a water change today as if im bad could the fish contract anything ? or is that a dumb question

hubby will do it tommorow if need be should it be 20% or 50% or should i wait and test water again ?

thanks kaz x

id do a 50% thats what im doing atm

 

[kbod]

thanks ive got hubby to do it as im pretty lergyfied

also tried to purchase a gravel cleaner but only had extra large sizes , are these a good thing to have and how do they work thanks kaz x

 

[DJ ArKaDaRkA]

thanks ive got hubby to do it as im pretty lergyfied

also tried to purchase a gravel cleaner but only had extra large sizes , are these a good thing to have and how do they work thanks kaz x

i made my own with a airline and some plastic bowl we make at work its kida like a small coke bottle

i work for a plasic moulding company so i can pretty much make anything i want

ill try and post a pic in the diy section tomorrow

 

[kbod]

thanks would like to see pic , does this help the gravel get clean or does it remove the water ?