A New Tank

[fizzyfred]

having set up my 125L tank last week my ammonia and nitrite levels are now both 0mg just wondering if it would be safe to put a few fish in , cheers

 

[the_lock_man]

It sounds highly unlikely that your filter is fully cycled within a week. Have you introduced any ammonia to the water yourself?

 

[fizzyfred]

no not yet bit unsure how to do it to be honest. set up a 64 litre tank eight months ago and things go well with that,but still learning bit of a daft question but why add ammonia if levels are low . is it to do with the bactiria i,m a bit dyslecsic so dont understand about adding it.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Ammonia is added to start the growth of the bacteria in your filter media so, when fully cycled, that bacteria will "eat" the ammonia your fish produce. That's overly simplistic, but what it boils down to.
 
For a thorough explanation, click here.

 

[the_lock_man]

You are obviously aware that your filter needs bacteria to process the ammonia produced by your fish. Those bacteria won't live in your filter unless there's food for them, ie ammonia. Until there is ammonia in the water, the bacteria simply won't grow.
 
In the Good Old Days, there was only one source of ammonia, and that was fish. You put some fish in your tank, the bacteria grew, and 9 times out of 10, some fish died during the process.
 
In more modern times, fishkeepers don't like the fact that fish died, so a way of growing those vital bacteria has been developed that doesn't involve fish at all. You dose the water with bottled ammonia, and the bacteria feed off that. No fish are harmed during this process, and as an added upshot, once the bacteria are there, you can fill your tank in one hit, rather than adding a few at a time, as we used to do.
 
If you have a read of that link that TOS has posted above, it will go into a bit more detail.

 

[fizzyfred]

thanks for the advice will add some ammonia and wait for it to do its thing

 

[the_lock_man]

Good man! It's quite difficult to obtain pure ammonia these days, as I believe it's a critical ingredient in a home-made bomb, and we're all a bit sensitive about these things recently. However, the Kleenoff, available via Amazon or Ebay is good.

 

[fizzyfred]

that was my next question where to get it from once again thanks lockman

 

[This Old Spouse]

Do make sure you get that brand, as other brands have additives that make it harmful to your tank. 

 

[the_lock_man]

Do make sure you get that brand, as other brands have additives that make it harmful to your tank. 

 
Yeah, what she said ^^^^^^^