New Fish Tank, But Keep Failing Water Test!

[Alex79uk]

Hi all! Firstly, apologies if this is being posted in the wrong section but it seems like it should go here.

After months of being hounded, I've finally relented and allowed my 7 year old daughter her first fish tank. My only experience of keeping fish was as a kid 30 years ago winning goldfish at the fair and having them die about a week later! So I thought I'd rather do it properly - or at least try to. She picked out this tank from the pet shop :

http/www.petsathome.com/shop/disney-little-mermaid-aquarium-48503

I was a bit dubious at first, but it actually seems like a pretty decent tank, it's proper glass rather than plastic and has a filter. Since it's quite small we decided it's probably suitable for maybe two goldfish. Anyway, at the pet shop it says to set the tank up and leave it for 3-4 days and take them a water sample before they will sell you the fish. So we set the tank up, washed all the gravel and the figurine, got the filter working, blowing bubbles in to the tank and left it to be. Oh yeah, we also added the correct amount of Tap Safe to the tank for the amount of water it had in it.

4 days later we took a water sample to the pet shop, but they said the nitrate levels were just a little bit high, not too much, but to leave it another couple of days, maybe add some more Tap Safe to the tank, and try again. So we did. Then I went back to the pet shop today (another 3 days later) but they are still saying the nitrate levels are too high.

Does anyone have any idea where we're going wrong here? It's a fishless tank, set up one week ago. The filter has been running non-stop since then. I'm not really sure what we can do. Could it just be bad water in our area? Does anyone have any ideas!?

Thanks!

 

[london_kev]

I've been cycling my tank for about 60 days now or shall I say trying to. All I can suggest is ammonia from boots and nothing else the shop tries to sell you.

 

[stevensykes]

I would get a bottle of filter start, to start to mature the filter. It is bacteria that colonize the filter media and they start breaking down the nitrite and turn in into nitrare.

 

[Tolak]

Have a look at the Beginner's Resource Center; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

Best place to start is this article on cycling; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/271928-the-nitrogen-cycle/

A tank will never cycle without an ammonia source. Every product that states that it will cycle your tank is money out the window, best bet is some mature media from another tank.

That tank is way too small for goldfish, which are messy and grow quite large. One advantage of fishless cycling is that it allows you time to research stock for the tank.

 

[librarygirl]

Be careful of what the lfs tells you; letting a tank "sit" for a few days does nothing. You have to properly cycle it before or else the fish will be living in ammonia and you'll have to test the water frequently and do water changes every day to keep the levels safe. Fishless cycling can take a little while but it's worth it in the end and safe for the fish. I also suggest getting a liquid test kit, like API, to test your water parameters yourself. The link above will help. Also I believe goldfish need a minimum of 20 gal tank, so yours is probably too small to house them properly. Good luck

 

[Randi]

+1 As to your nitrate level, since there is nothing in your tank, it must be coming from your tap. Once you have your own test kit you can test your tap water.

 

[Alex79uk]

Thanks for the replies all. Definitely some good advice there. Aside from me now starting to look in to cycling the tank, can anyone suggest some ideal coldwater fish for a tank that size then? Thanks!

 

[Box]

How much water does it hold?
You might be able to put White cloud minnows in it But they are best in shoals