Absolute Noob To Fish Keeping Needs Help!

[kingjeff 4th]

Hi guys,

Very new here (both to fish keeping and this forum!) and I've come up with more questions that i have answers i think!

Having read all of the article of cycling i am utterly confused and in need of some sound advice! (I dont think i got any from my LFS)

Here are the stats:

- Fluval edge tank 23l or 6 US gallons
- No fish yet, doing (trying) a fishless cycle
- Tank was setup 2 days ago, added local water (@PH7.0) and some washed gravel / rocks
- Also added 30ml of Nutrafin cycle and 10ml of Nutrafin Aqua Plus (on advice from LFS)

Taken my first readings today from my Nutrafin test kit results as follows:

PH: 7.5
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0.1
Nitrate = 110


So essentially the PH is up slightly, ammonia and nitrite are nothing and nitrate is very high.

I've no idea what im doing some need some friendly advice as to what to do next!

Help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[fatheadminnow]

to TFF!!!!

First of all, stop using Nutrafin cycle, as this will have little to no effect on your tank. It is just something that the fish store wants you to buy so they can get your money.

You are going to do a fishless cycle, which is great! Not a lot of beginners do so as they are told other wise by their fish store people. A fishless cycle is hands down the BEST way to cycle a tank! The first thing you need to get is some ammonia. Ammonia can be found at your local hardware store in the cleaning section. It usually comes in 9.5 or 10% diluted. Make sure the ingredients only include ammonia and water. If there are no ingredients listed, shake the bottle vigorously and if there are a lot of bubbles that stay around for a while and don't disappear, then that ammonia is not good. It is okay if the ammonia has a couple of bubbles that disappear right away. After you found the ammonia, go ahead and ad that to your tank up to 5 ppm! Use the "Aquarium Calculator" at the top right of this page to determine your desired level of ammonia. Also, take a test of your water straight from the tap; test of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and post your readings on here. This will give us a better idea of your starting point. Also, I would personally drain all the water out of your tank and refill it without adding any Nutrafin cycle, but your really don't have to if you don't want.

I will be back on later to answer further questions, and I am sure other members will reply as well!

-FHM

 

[kingjeff 4th]

to TFF!!!!

First of all, stop using Nutrafin cycle, as this will have little to no effect on your tank. It is just something that the fish store wants you to buy so they can get your money.

You are going to do a fishless cycle, which is great! Not a lot of beginners do so as they are told other wise by their fish store people. A fishless cycle is hands down the BEST way to cycle a tank! The first thing you need to get is some ammonia. Ammonia can be found at your local hardware store in the cleaning section. It usually comes in 9.5 or 10% diluted. Make sure the ingredients only include ammonia and water. If there are no ingredients listed, shake the bottle vigorously and if there are a lot of bubbles that stay around for a while and don't disappear, then that ammonia is not good. It is okay if the ammonia has a couple of bubbles that disappear right away. After you found the ammonia, go ahead and ad that to your tank up to 5 ppm! Use the "Aquarium Calculator" at the top right of this page to determine your desired level of ammonia. Also, take a test of your water straight from the tap; test of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and post your readings on here. This will give us a better idea of your starting point. Also, I would personally drain all the water out of your tank and refill it without adding any Nutrafin cycle, but your really don't have to if you don't want.

I will be back on later to answer further questions, and I am sure other members will reply as well!

-FHM

Hi FHM thats great many thanks for your answer.

Just a quick questions before I head out to get some ammonia,

When i put in the required amount, what should I then do / expect to happen?

I assume the ammonia reading will rise, what then?

Thanks

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yes, the ammonia level will indeed rise accordingly to the amount added. Over time, autotrophic bacteria will begin to colonize in your filter. These bacteria eat ammonia. When ammonia is processed by these bacteria, the ammonia turns into nitrite. Then you will see your ammonia level drop and your nitrite level rise. Then another type of bacteria will begin to colonize in your filter that process nitrite to nitrate.

We will discuss this process though out the cycle. It take son average 4-6 weeks for the cycle to finish. You will be finished when you add 5 ppm of ammonia and 12 hours later it will read zero. That means you have colonized enough bacteria in your filter.

Sorry for the short response, I am short on time right now.

-FHM

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with FHM. When you add an amount of ammonia and then use your ammonia test to confirm that you are about at 4-5ppm concentration, you may then find that... nothing happens. ...At least as far as you can tell. But you just have to trust that the process of autotrophic bacterial growth will have started, as FHM has outlined. It sometimes takes a week, or two weeks, or, rarely, even 3 weeks before that very first dose of 4-5ppm of ammonia drops all the way down to zero ppm. Its only at this later time when its dropped to zero ppm that you'll be ready to add some more ammonia.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[kingjeff 4th]

cheers guys really useful stuff.

Any reason why my nitrate is so high at the moment then?

 

[coldcazzie]

It may be that you have a high tap nitrate reading - test your tap water and you will get baseline comparison results.

Once you have finished your cycle the nitrate reading is usually best maintained at about 20ppm above what your tap reading is. So if you've a tap reading of 0ppm, then you would expect your tank nitrate before your weekly water change to be around 20ppm. But if you've a tap reading of 40ppm, then you would expect a reading of 60... iyswim?

Some people have high nitrate in their tap water, some have ammonia or nitrite in their tap water as well, or instead. It just depends on the area but best to have the results so you know where you're starting from!

 

[kingjeff 4th]

It may be that you have a high tap nitrate reading - test your tap water and you will get baseline comparison results.

Once you have finished your cycle the nitrate reading is usually best maintained at about 20ppm above what your tap reading is. So if you've a tap reading of 0ppm, then you would expect your tank nitrate before your weekly water change to be around 20ppm. But if you've a tap reading of 40ppm, then you would expect a reading of 60... iyswim?

Some people have high nitrate in their tap water, some have ammonia or nitrite in their tap water as well, or instead. It just depends on the area but best to have the results so you know where you're starting from!

Ok brill thanks!

Good to know I'm not doing anything wrong to get them that high!

Thank you all. I shall almost certainly be back!

 

[kingjeff 4th]

Just a quick update for you all

I have tested again this morning and the results are very similar apart from Nitrate which is now down to 20.

I have added 1.2ml of Ammonia as per the calculator and will re test the water in a short while once it has circulated around the tank.

Thanks again!