Newbie Needing Help And Advice Please!

[Miss Wiggle]

 

[B13]

Just a quick update:

Ammonia, pH and Nitrite are looking 'normal' for now and the fishies look happier, but I'm still gonna keep an eye on things and do regular water changes, etc. Nitrate is still a bit ...er... whacky, but not as whacky as m'new wellies...

(Yes, I HAD to buy a pair!!)

 

[waterdrop]

o perfect, we presume you plan to use those to advantage on collecting trips for African lake species, those should get you safely past the herds that drink there, in fact they may mistake you for one of them!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ha ha awesome wellies

So are ammonia and nitrite both holding steady at 0 then?

 

[B13]

o perfect, we presume you plan to use those to advantage on collecting trips for African lake species, those should get you safely past the herds that drink there, in fact they may mistake you for one of them!

I may have to swap to the leopard print ones if I'm going past any big cats en route to the lake shore. Don't wanna be mistaken for meals-on-legs in the zebra ones...

So are ammonia and nitrite both holding steady at 0 then?

I've got 'em both down to zero according to the old-and-possibly-dodgy test kit, so I'm gonna switch to the new API test kit and do a comparison. Then I'll be testing and water changing regularly to make sure it's staying at zero!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oh well this is certainly cause for a celebratory pair of shoes then!!!

as you say get the api kit and re-confirm the test results, test it every day for the next couple of weeks but if they hold steady at 0 then you just need to do a weekly water change of about 30%, there's a link in my sig about weekly maintenance which may be beneficial for you to read now you're getting into the nice normal part of fishkeeping.

with regards to more fish, remember that the cycling process is a supply and demand thing, you now have enough bacteria to clean up the waste of the fish you had, if you were to go and add the same amount of fish again you would be in this position again, the longer you leave the bacteria colony the better it is at growing quickly to adjust to the extra waste. there is always a temptation after the immensley frustrating cycling period where you think 'wow i'm finally done, now the fun can begin i can go fish shopping' and people can really un-do all their hard work. Now you don't need to be silly about it, but make sure you hold off for at least 2/3 weeks before you get anything else for the tank and when you do just add a small amount of fish.

 

[B13]

. there is always a temptation after the immensley frustrating cycling period where you think 'wow i'm finally done, now the fun can begin i can go fish shopping' and people can really un-do all their hard work. Now you don't need to be silly about it, but make sure you hold off for at least 2/3 weeks before you get anything else for the tank and when you do just add a small amount of fish.

Yup! Will do!!



I'm gonna let the whole tank 'do it's thing' for a bit ...and then I'm gonna probably start by swapping my (rapidly expanding...) Sailfin plec for a bristlenose fella and also replace the dead danio that somehow got stuck under a rock (?) and expired...



P.S. How's the eye, by the way?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

good, i thought you would but it never hurts to say these things, just don't always realise which little tidbits of info have splieed through the net while you're learning.

the eye's getting there, got my MRI scan next week, it's still dodgy but seems to be improving now i'm taking buckets full of ibuprofen every day