Advice Please-New Tank

[Kezhouse]

Hi All,
Just after some advice. I have recently purchased an Aquanano 55. Had it set up for a week, had the water tested, and was advices that ok to put fish in. Started with 4 Cardinals. Had these in for a week, got water tested again. Advised ok to add more fish. Then added 2 swordtails and 2 female betta. Everything ok for the next week. Then did 25% water change and added 2 real plants. 2 days later I lost the cardinals and swordtails. Had water tested, was advised to add some strong bacteria. When adding this I noticed the water level in the chamber with the pump was quite a bit lower then the level in main tank. Worked out that the water wasn't being pulled through the cartridges quick enough. Was advised from my local pah to replace the cartridges with a course sponge and bio filter media- ceramic I think.
Left it like this for a few days, had water tested, again advised to add bacteria, and water change and gravel clean because ammonia high. So did a 30% change and clean. My fish have been looking really good, normal behaviour.

So now it's 2 days since last water change. Had water tasted today at pah Still same ammonia high (not sure if they said 6). Went through with the staff on everything, and they say everything I'm doing is right. Not over feeding.
Feeling annoyed after I bought my own test kit. Came home and tested it and got the following:
PH 7.2
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 0.25
Nitrate 0

Just wondered if anyone can suggest anything to help. (My 2 Bettas look lonely lol)

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ah, the curse of LFS advice strikes again
 
Sorry, but you have fallen for bad advice given by your LFS, for a start the fish you got, the swordtails and cardinals are not really suitable for a 55 litre / 15 gal tank, due to this tank being a cube, so there is less length of swimming space.
 
Secondly, female bettas are best in groups of at least 5, they are aggressive specie so need to have numbers to spread aggression rather than betta picking on the other which is usually not good news in the end. Again, 5 female bettas would not really be suitable for this particular tank as space is needed for them to stay apart and to quickly swim away should needs be.
 
And lastly, this tank is not cycled with enough bacteria to be able to deal with ammonia which fish gives out by breathing and poop basically.
 
I'd advise you to read this article, which will help explain how a cycle tank should work and how to do so.
 
Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!
 
That particular article is aimed at doing a fishless cycle, basically meaning to cycle a tank without any fish in the tank, this serves 2 purposes, no fish will be harmed or suffers during the cycling process and also doing a fishless cycle is quicker to do than doing a cycle with fish in the tank.
 
So at this point, I would recommend you take the fish back, the 2 bettas, to the LFS. And then start doing a fishless cycle.
 
If for any reason you are unable to or unwilling to take the fish back to LFS, then you will need to start doing the rather laborious method of doing a fish in cycle, this will take quite a while longer to do than a fishless cycle as well as doing many water changes pretty much daily.
 
Be warned, this is not a easy path to take for the beginner and for those not fully understanding how a cycle works and many fail to save their fish
 
These two article are directed for those doing a fish in cycle -
 

Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part I
 

Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part Il
 
A lot of information to take on am afraid.
 
You are certainly not the first nor will be the last for this to happen, don't worry, we will help and advise as much as we can 
 
 

 

 

[AmtotheBurr]

Good luck with the tank. I mirror ch4's sentiments above. Your fish will not be able to fight ammonia/nitrite for long. I lost my fish trying to do a fish in cycle after she was in their for a few weeks and thought she was doing well. Unfortunately it's not enough sometimes to be actively working on the tank if you have fish in the tank that are adding to the issues and also being damaged by the same things. I wish you luck and let us know what you decide to do.