Cloned Tank Help

[Johnlenham]

Hey
I setup my new Fluval 600 (15 Gallon) tank yesterday, added in the sand, few plants and ive moved my common goldfish from his tiny old tank into this one.

I also move across a large chunk of filter media from thank tank that has been running since about august 08 into the new one.

Now ive done a water test this morning (11.45) with my api water test kit and the readings are

Ph 7.6 (Live in Kent where the waters very hard)
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 10ppm

Am I now aiming to get the Nitrate level to 0 (or as close to)?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nitrate often comes out of the tap at 10ppm, can be as high as 40ppm in the UK fairly regularly. test the tap water because that's the lowest reading you'll be able to get with nitrate.

nitrate will build up through the week, it's a good indicator of when a water change is due, when it has risen by around 20ppm from the level in your tap water then you're ready for a water change.

 

[Johnlenham]

nitrate often comes out of the tap at 10ppm, can be as high as 40ppm in the UK fairly regularly. test the tap water because that's the lowest reading you'll be able to get with nitrate.

nitrate will build up through the week, it's a good indicator of when a water change is due, when it has risen by around 20ppm from the level in your tap water then you're ready for a water change.

Yup just thought about that so im just waiting for a few more mins for the colour to develop but its looking like 10 at the moment.

If so does that mean my tank is cycled and I go go ahead adding one or two very small fish as to not overload the bacteria?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

test it by adding 5ppm of ammonia and seeing what the levels are 12 hrs later. if ammonia and nitrite both read 0 after 12 hrs then you're safe to add something like three quarters of your final stocking to the tank.

if you just want to add a couple of fish then add 2ppm of ammonia and test 12 hrs later, same applies if you get 0,0 then you can have half a load of fish or something around that.

 

[Johnlenham]

test it by adding 5ppm of ammonia and seeing what the levels are 12 hrs later. if ammonia and nitrite both read 0 after 12 hrs then you're safe to add something like three quarters of your final stocking to the tank.

if you just want to add a couple of fish then add 2ppm of ammonia and test 12 hrs later, same applies if you get 0,0 then you can have half a load of fish or something around that.

Ok done a test 24 hours later and the results are all 0 apart from nitrate has gone up to 20 (10 increase)

I assume as I plant the tank up it will start to get used up by the plants right as currently there's only a handful

Also would you say the amonia put out by my gold fish is enough to have it cycled for a tropical setup as ive read they can need up to 20 gals for one of the messy buggers! so surely 15 would get the ammo it needs?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

did you test at 12 hrs? it certainly sounds like it'll be fine but the qualifying mark is really at 12 hrs not 24, of course if you didn't test then it could well have been 0 at 12 but you just don't know!

sorry i don't understand what you're saying about the goldfish!?

 

[Johnlenham]

did you test at 12 hrs? it certainly sounds like it'll be fine but the qualifying mark is really at 12 hrs not 24, of course if you didn't test then it could well have been 0 at 12 but you just don't know!

sorry i don't understand what you're saying about the goldfish!?

Ah ok sorry I shall test at 11.45 tonight and see whats occurring.

What im saying about the gold fish is

Goldfish are very messy right? So the put out ALOT of ammonia which is filter food.

Soon this goldfish will be re homed but till then hes the only inhabitant of a 15 gallon tank.

Ive read gold fish need up to 20 gallons for just one.

So basically when he gets moved, will the filter be able to cope with a stocked 15 gallon of tropical fish which will replace him or will i need to add it species by species over say a month

Hope this is more clear and makes sense


Tests are in. 0 ammo 0nitrite and 20ppm of Nitrate (Will do a 10/20% change in the morning)

Guess the tank is full cycled right?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup tanks cycled you're good to add fish.

aaah i see, depends on the size of the goldie i guess, it' be one of those things that's very hard to preedict.

but you should just do the same as you've done now, after you move him you add 5ppm of ammonia to the water and test after 12 hrs, if it's 0,0 for ammonia and nitrite after 12 hrs then you can add a full load of fish, if it isn't then keep adding daily until it does reach that point (would only be a few days) then add fish.

 

[OldMan47]

A way that I look at it John is that what you are feeding to the goldfish is the amount you could get away with feeding to the new fish. If you have a very small goldfish that is not eating much, the new tropicals stocking should be very light. If it is a larger goldfish with a good appetite, you could add more tropicals. Ultimately the food we feed the fish is the amount of waste they produce. Even a big waste producer will not make much if they don't eat. By the same token, if you overfeed a fish, the waste in the tank will be the fish waste and all the rotting food on the bottom.