Biorb Water Changes

[BioJess]

Hi everyone,

I'm new on here and am also a new Tropical tank keeper. I've been reading some other advice all over the net and am looking for some advice here, because I'm getting really confused.
I've had the 30L Tropical BiOrb for I'd say a few weeks now and I'm braving my first water change. I started the process off with 4 hardy Danios, who were all fine. No problem with them. I've got 2 Umbrella plants in there which look healthy and great, not been eaten either. A week ago I added 2 little Algae eating Shrimp and on Saturday I added 2 Rams who have been fine so far. The Shrimps are so well hidden I don't often see them but I think they're good.

I know the instructions said every 28 days but many Fish stores have said they'll be fine. It's just so the filtration system can catch up with it. But fish need to be in to kick start the process.

So I've had the new water sitting there with the Stress coat overnight and have to wait til 8pm for it to be 24 hours. Others are saying that i don't have to wait that long for it as it won't harm them. What should I do? I've got all the equipment ready just needing to know how others experiences with cleaning and keeping this tank have turned out. I've seen some bad stories regarding this tank out there. But I've had no trouble as of yet and I don't want to lose my fish.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Jess

 

[Harlequins]

Hi & welcome

You don't need to wait 24hrs when you've added the stress coat to the water before you do a waterchange,once the dechlorinator is added you can add it to the tank

To be honest now you have added the rams,you may have problems,you are in a fish in cycle,have a read in the beginners section,theres a link under my signature pic,it has lots of good info on fish in cycle and the nitrogen cycle in general.
The cycle is referring to the filter having enough bacteria in there to handle the bio load of the fish.

The situation you are in now,i would advise buying a liquid master test kit (it you haven't already got one)and test the tank water for ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and the ph,the ammonia & ntrite are the two that can harm fish if the reading are not kept at zero...they poison the fish and burn their gills causing them a painful death.

Many test kits are available and Api is widely used by many,these can be bought on ebay for around £18,lfs tend to be nearer £30.Some lfs also test your water for free or a small fee.it you do this then make sure they write down for you the exact reading,otherwise they say they're fine and doesn't tell us anything.

For now do your waterchange and let us how you get on,

Good luck

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree, classic fish-in cycling situation. WD