Australian Freshwater Noobie

[The chilly dipper]

ONCE YOU HAVE CYCLED AND YOUR TESTS ARE READING 0
FOR A WEEK THEN YOU ARE CYCLED.

YOU WILL ONLY NEED TO CHANGE 35% OF THE WATER WHEN YOUR CYCLED.
YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO DO A 100% WATER CHANGE.
TRUST ME YOU DONT ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR FILTER LOL.

WHEN YOU ARE CYCLED, YOU ARE CYCLED FOR GOOD, THE PROCESS DONT STAR AGAIN.
YOU ONLY NEED TO CYCLE ONCE.
UNLESS YOU KLL YOUR BACTERIA WITH UNTREATED WATER STRAIGHT FROM THE TAP.

DOES THIS HELP?
SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS LOL

 

[7.62]

Yes that does help. It was pretty loud, but I got it

Would this be why the water is slightly cloudy at the moment? or is that just cause its new, or because of the yabbies still flushing their system out. Are there any ways to test the water right now without the kit to see if its safe for the fish before the kit arrives?

End of silly question

 

[The chilly dipper]

Yes that does help. It was pretty loud, but I got it

Would this be why the water is slightly cloudy at the moment? or is that just cause its new, or because of the yabbies still flushing their system out. Are there any ways to test the water right now without the kit to see if its safe for the fish before the kit arrives?

End of silly question

i was woriied about the cloudy water too mate but it is called a bacterial bloom.

this means that ,bacause the tank is new, the bacteria are growing alraedy and this shows up as a harmless cloudy water .

my water cleared in2 days or so.

the best way to make sure your fish are ok is to change your water 40 -50% each day until your kit gets to you.

you will end up doing this anyway.

i cant stress enough ..do not feed them too much as this will make the ammonia higher. give the fish a few flakes or pellets or whatever you are feeding them and take out what they dont eat.
just a litttle pinch will do

 

[7.62]

Yep I have been doing that.

I cant see him eat, but 1 of my little guppiues was not there this morning, and he wont eat the matchhead size of steak I dropped in there.... no points for guessing what happened there!!
I can see the yabbies eating. They were eating carrot, and now I have taken the last of it out.

 

[The chilly dipper]

Yep I have been doing that.

I cant see him eat, but 1 of my little guppiues was not there this morning, and he wont eat the matchhead size of steak I dropped in there.... no points for guessing what happened there!!
I can see the yabbies eating. They were eating carrot, and now I have taken the last of it out.

you have guppies?
you do have an heated tank ?

dont feed guppies steak pal
use fish food.
or small live food like blood worm but dont feed too much

 

[7.62]

No its not heated. Maybe they are not the same guppies as you guys have.

Edit - I did only buy them as food for the Cod anyway.

 

[The chilly dipper]

No its not heated. Maybe they are not the same guppies as you guys have.

Edit - I did only buy them as food for the Cod anyway.

thats ok then lol

 

[7.62]

Ok.

So I have my Nitrite/Nitrate/ammonia tester.

Ammonia it readed below 0.5 mg/l, and the Nitrite well, it turned green, and there is not a green on the chart. Its only yellow and red. I did the test twice to make certain, but same result. It must have something to do with the water conditioner or clarifier.

Anyway, I followed the destructions, and added 35ml of Bio Starter to the tank, we will see over a few days how that is going.

I have put some logs in there, I beleive they are wattle. Is that a bad choice of wood for a tank?

Here are the pics of today, and the new timber. Water seems to be getting clearer, and clearer!

 

[CrazyAirborne]

yeah just to clarify, regardless of your tester, you should be doing large water changes every day to keep the ammonia levels down while your tank cycles. this is going to take a few weeks. also, throwing steak in, or other non fish foods is only going to make your ammonia lvls worse.

ammonia should always be a zero, on ur test, and .5 or higher is bad, and can have negative effects on ur fish. that means a large water change is in order, 50-75% and then test again after to make sure its as close to 0 as possible.

What kind of test kit did u get? is it a liquid reagent type test kit? Idk whats available to you in your location, but surely online u can purchase an API Master Freshwater Kit or another like it to give you more accurate readings.

when u do water changes, you dont need to remove ur fish, they will be ok for the short time they are in shallower water.

the only thing u really need to add to your water is a water conditioner usually a dechlorinator, to remove harmful chlorine in most water systems.

the filter sponges (media) in your filter is where the good bacteria will grow, and u need to make sure to never wash it out in the tap, only swish it out in old tank water once in awhile if u see that ur filter flow is reduced.

those are just some things that came to mind while reading your thread. good luck and keep up on those water changes!

 

[7.62]

Wouldnt the water changes take the tank back to the start of cycling?

 

[CrazyAirborne]

no, the bacteria are growing in your sponges or filters or whatever media u have in your powered filter. water changes are a must with a fish in cycle, or else the fish will be swimming in their own waste!

cycling literally means your tank has gone thru the "cycle" of growing the right bacteria to process fish waste into stuff that doesnt hurt them. you HAVE to do lots of water changes or your fish will suffer.

water changes are a GREAT thing for all tanks, even ones that are cycled.

 

[7.62]

Here are the testing kits I bought.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

im not personally familiar with those. whats inside the boxes as long as they arent "test strips" they should be ok, u want something that gives u an exact readout.

 

[7.62]

Inside the boxes are little bottles. So you get 5ml of tank water, and then add 5 drops of reagent A, and 5 of B Let that sit and it gives you a colour that you compare against a chart.

 

[StandbySetting]

Strips are no less accurate than most liquid test kits, this is apparent with the API and Hagen ranges, unsure about aquaone however as I've not sampled them.

Just test your Ammonia (NH3) and Nitrate(III)(NO2) and if the levels rise above 0.25Mg/L then do a water change, 50% would be a good amount, test every 24 hours.

EDIT: Still in chemistry mode from an exam Nitrate (III) is nitrite.