Beginners Questions....

[wwpecker]

Hi all, I have a 180 litre tank filled and running for three weeks, no fish until two days ago.. I now have 4 platys (nice fish)) which seem to be doing well)) anyway Questions!

Being an absolute beginner, I took advice from the Local shop who sold me something called Stress Zyme.. which I duly put in about two weeks ago, and dose week ago (I had previously treated water)

I have test kits and Ammonium has always been zero... but there IS Nitrate levels showing........no Nitrite... has tank cycled??

I have read that Platys need salt? And if I put salt in will I be limited in my choice further fish? Will they die without salt?

Lastly, are these fish ALWAYS hungry?)) I feed twice a day, which is eaten in about 3 to 4 minutes... but every time I go to the tank they swim up to the top looking for food))

Sorry if I made any mistakes, I am very new to this..

Thanks

 

[Cheffi]

Hi all, I have a 180 litre tank filled and running for three weeks, no fish until two days ago.. I now have 4 platys (nice fish)) which seem to be doing well)) anyway Questions!

Being an absolute beginner, I took advice from the Local shop who sold me something called Stress Zyme.. which I duly put in about two weeks ago, and dose week ago (I had previously treated water)

I have test kits and Ammonium has always been zero... but there IS Nitrate levels showing........no Nitrite... has tank cycled??

I have read that Platys need salt? And if I put salt in will I be limited in my choice further fish? Will they die without salt?

Lastly, are these fish ALWAYS hungry?)) I feed twice a day, which is eaten in about 3 to 4 minutes... but every time I go to the tank they swim up to the top looking for food))

Sorry if I made any mistakes, I am very new to this..

Thanks

From what I've read of your post your tank is not cycled. Please read here Cycling so that you will get an idea of what to cycle a tank is all about.

You will probably have nitrAte levels as most tap water has them. Test you tap water to see the level of nitrAte it contains. You should also test tap water for ph gh and kh levels. This will help you to decide what fish you can keep with your particular tap water without too much adjustment. Of course it is possible to keep any fish providing you know how to adjust your water chemistry, but I wouldn't recommend this for a beginner.

Don't know about platy's but my fish are always pretending to be hungry and would eat whenever they were offered food. However as your tank is not cycled you will need to keep feeding to a minimum. More food = more fish waste = more ammonia = nitrite = nitrate. Personally I would feed them once a day.

Regarding the water testing you have already done. You would not get ammonia or nitrite levels as there would be no or few bacteria in your filter. When there is bacteria they must be fed on ammonia which they convert to nitrite and then the nitrifying bacteria change that to nitrate which you get rid of by doing water changes. As you've only just put fish in there would have been no food for the beneficial bacteria you need. In effect you are now cycling your tank with fish. You'll need to keep a close eye on your water stats and at the first sign of any ammonia or nitrite you will need to change a percentage of your water.

If you would like to get a kick start check out the thread on my sig where you may find members in your area willing to donate some mature filter media to give your filter a supply of bacteria. If there's anything you don't quite understand please ask some more, it is a complicated subject Good luck.

 

[Glod]

Platys don't need salt as such, they will be quite happy if your tank is brackish tho. Unlike Mollys they will cope quite happily in fresh or slightly salty water. Adding salt will indeed limit your choices of fish, some fish are very intolerant of salt in the water.

 

[wwpecker]

Cheffi - thanks for advice, I have checked my tap water and yep, its showing Nitrate.... seems I have a tank with fish to cycle, I think I need to do bit reading.... I will monitor on daily basis, and see what happens,, as far as the bit I have read , it's water change water change!

Seems the stuff the shop sold me has not done anything............swizz..... I will check link for anyone kind enough to donate some established filter material,,,,,

Glod,, I think I will leave water as is at moment,,,, I think you are saying they will be OK with no salt? I not sure what you mean regards "Brackish water" ?? Thanks anyway)))

 

[Cheffi]

Cheffi - thanks for advice, I have checked my tap water and yep, its showing Nitrate.... seems I have a tank with fish to cycle, I think I need to do bit reading.... I will monitor on daily basis, and see what happens,, as far as the bit I have read , it's water change water change!

Seems the stuff the shop sold me has not done anything............swizz..... I will check link for anyone kind enough to donate some established filter material,,,,,

Glod,, I think I will leave water as is at moment,,,, I think you are saying they will be OK with no salt? I not sure what you mean regards "Brackish water" ?? Thanks anyway)))

It's unfortunate you didn't know about fishless cycling but hey you've got the fish now and if you monitor your water stats carefully you should be able to cycle your tank although I'm not sure that platy's are the best fish to do it with. I believe that people recommend Danio's but don't quote me on that.

Definately check out the donor thread as that would be a great help if you could find someone in your area.

 

[wwpecker]

Yeah, I really did want to start off right,,, and don't want dead fish,,,, I checked the link but I am from East Yorkshire England, there does not seem to be anyone from this area

Also,,, my test kits are not so good I was sold test strips - which don't even tell you ammonia levels, and so had to buy separate test for ammonia.... I think I will buy a better kit. I think I read on here "Master Kit" is best?

Thanks

Woody

 

[Loobie]

I'm from East Yorkshire, you're not on your own!!!!

I unfortunately didn't do a fishless cycle first time round and bought a tank put my 3 platies in and cycled it that way, they are hardy fish and coped well?? got thorugh it more like, but it was time consuming doing the water changes all the time so the fish didn't become too poorly. They survived the cycle, a good fish to start with, I think.

However I bought another tank and have done a fishless cycle and it is less stressfull and more fish friendly.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

where abouts in east yorkshire are you? we're in leeds and would happily give you some filter media to sort your tank out, pm me if it's not too far for you to travel.

yeah we really like the API Master Test Kit, and plenty of others seem to as well. it's a good buy. normally about £18

brackish water is slightly salty water, the salt content of water is measured in degrees of salinity, a freshwater aquarium has none, a marine aquarium has a high degree of salinity, a brackish aquarium is somewhere between the two. there are some fish that will only survive in brackish conditions, some which will be happy in that or marine, some in that or freshwater, some marine or freshwater only. Platy's will be fine either in freshwater or slightly brackish, however with a standard community aquarium i wouldn't make it brackish unless you get something that really needs it, if you do you will be limiting your future fish choices quite a lot.

you can get through a cycle with fish with platy's, they're not the hardiest but they're hardy enough. however this can lead to health problems for the fish later in life. so you should try and kick start the cycle with some mature media if you can, that will give them the best possible start. If not then do daily 20% water changes until your test readings have shown ammonia then stopped showing it, have shown nitrite then stopped showing it and end up at ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate less than 40ppm

 

[wwpecker]

Loobie

York is not to far mmmm, do you have any spare media? You are right about water changes, I did a 20% yesterday,,, I bought a small submersible pump which has made it a lot easier to do, )) I was flirting with the idea of taking the fish back to the shop, and then doing a fishless cycle, can't decide, but probably not. I will let you know what happens)))

Miss Wiggle - Yeah that's the kit I read about, I will get one ASAP,, at the shop sold me test strips... don't even test for Ammonia - so back I went and bought am Ammonia test kit. (Ching ching))

I will keep the water fresh, don't want to complicate things later))

I have just checked ammonia again Zero, so it seems I will be changing water for a while yet)

Thanks all for advice


Woody

 

[Glod]

Sorry, Brackish is slightly salty water. The Platys will be fine with no salt.

 

[andyt_uk]

Lastly, are these fish ALWAYS hungry?)) I feed twice a day, which is eaten in about 3 to 4 minutes... but every time I go to the tank they swim up to the top looking for food))

Sorry if I made any mistakes, I am very new to this..

Thanks

platties are good for 2 things, eating and breeding

follow all the advice above and i am sure things will be ok
good luck

 

[littlelegs]

The same thing happened to me at the petshop. I was sold test strips, then realised, then went back to the shop to buy a ammonia test kit
Then 2 days later i went back and bought the api masterkit.
That is defiantely worth the money, and defo reccommend it to anyone. Just make sure you read the instructions correctly for the nitrate test.

I made that mistake and done the test wrong for days, until someone on here told me to read the instructions again.

HTH

 

[wwpecker]

Update, and correction.... I originally thought that I had four Plattys but Im pretty sure now they are two platys and two mollies This came from not asking at shop properly... anyway I don't think this will make much difference.......

And,,,,,, last night while watching TV, and of course glancing over at the tank now and then , I suddenly spotted something that looked like a flea in the tank??! Closer inspection showed me that one of the mollies was busy pumping out offspring and because I was feeding very sparsley, the adults started feasting..... I think they may be one/two fry left in there, but I don't know,, and catching them?? now i did think that fish looked a little plump.....

I bought a Master test Kit today,, and took readings,, Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 10-20 PH 8.0 .. I did a 20% water change after,, still no beginnings cycle?? Wonder how long it takes to start? PH seems high...

Will keep you updated.. and thanks again

Woody

 

[sparklefuzz]

Update, and correction.... I originally thought that I had four Plattys but Im pretty sure now they are two platys and two mollies This came from not asking at shop properly... anyway I don't think this will make much difference.......

And,,,,,, last night while watching TV, and of course glancing over at the tank now and then , I suddenly spotted something that looked like a flea in the tank??! Closer inspection showed me that one of the mollies was busy pumping out offspring and because I was feeding very sparsley, the adults started feasting..... I think they may be one/two fry left in there, but I don't know,, and catching them?? now i did think that fish looked a little plump.....

I bought a Master test Kit today,, and took readings,, Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 10-20 PH 8.0 .. I did a 20% water change after,, still no beginnings cycle?? Wonder how long it takes to start? PH seems high...

Will keep you updated.. and thanks again

Woody

Hi Woody Nice to see you here!

It's a pain to do, but check your water stats daily and watch for your ammonia rising then falling - same with the nitrite. I'm not 100% certain you're not already cycled, but Cheffi would know better than me. How long have your fish been in there?

Did you check your PH before? 8.0 is as you say, high, but may be normal for your tapwater... I'd only worry if it had changed dramatically itself. What substrate have you got in there? Any rock or anything?

Hope it all settles down for you, and I'm jealous of you 'glancing over now and then' at your tank!! we're missing having a tank while we're buying everything ready for our marine!!


Bye for now!

 

[wwpecker]

Hi sparklefuzz - I put fish in on friday... less than week, .. so doubt tank is cycled, my PH reading is still about 8.0 I checked tap water , and it's defo lower, about 7.4 - ?? I have only gravel , plastic plants and Ornaments from fish shop in there, the only thing I can think it could be is I bought some white pebbles from Wilkinsons (look good)) Maybe its these? Anyway, I not sure if it matters? but I might take out pebbles just in case,, I read somewhere if you put vinegar on them they can tell you if they are leaching anything,, mm tommorow job))

I have readings: Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0??? PH 8.0

I don't understand why Nitrate level has dropped... any ideas anyone?

Fish are fine and dandy, perky, eating well, I managed to catch 4 fry and put in breeder trap,, there is some still in main tank...

Possibly water change tommorow..

Oh, has anyone got one of thoses plastic sython gravel cleaner things? Any good? (Don't want waste money))))

Thanks all