Confused?

[Ginga@139]

Back again
Ok got 65L tank

set up about month ok
was going well nice clean water
temp settle down to a steady 24 ( not sure wat happened there was up down like yoyoy)

took water sample to fishie shop about 2 weeks ago
all ok level not good but dropping
did 25% water change added nothing other than treated water
was lead to beleive things would sort self out
been working away came back yesterday
popped water in to fishie shop
not ok~???

asked him to recommed respecable water test
gave me Tetra dip stick test 6 in 1

seems simple enough

No3 sorta between 75 and 100
No2 25
GH 8
KH 6
PH 8
Cl2 0

am i going in right direction

or what to i need to do

serveral other questions that ive had completely different answers too

1, when is best to plant out my tank ? before , as in now or after i put fish in>>>
ive been today by 1 place wait until tank has settle and matured then add plants after fish,
another shop has said add plants now to help tank settle and mature??

any advise on nice plant and compinations , would be gratful


2, Was told i could use fresh rain water to help balnce out tank as not full of chemicals ....True or False
was also told ... NO way you need to buy this water here in the shop or buy tape safe chemials

3. FISH,

i know every body has there own opinion,
But here wat im looking to achevie

As i old have a smallish tank 65L
i dont want bundles of small mad fish

would like a mix of medium size fish range of colour

this is a really head ache for me as every were i go i get hugely different answers
so i open this question up to all of you

thanks for reading woud love all your opinions

cheers
Ginga

 

[sjolliff]

Id buy the API master kit,
An LFS will say yeah the levels are right just sp you buy fish etc,
Have a read of this
things will be alot clearer for you

 

[OldMan47]

You have gotten some not very good advice from your LFS. The test strips are considered good enough to use for kindling by most of us here. The test tube type kits, like the one made by API, are much more accurate. Your present readings of nitrate, GH, KH and pH would be OK for many fish but the nitrite reading with live fish in the tank means the test is not accurate. If you really had nitrites at 25 ppm, all of your fish would be dead. In addition, if you have not been adding ammonia to the tank, there is nothing present that would produce levels that high.
1. The most pressing thing to do is get your tank cycled, not worry about plants. If you have no fish yet, the cycle can be done easily using only pure ammonia and a decent test kit. The plants can make things a bit more difficult to interpret during a fishless cycle but can help remove ammonia if you have fish in the tank.
2. I use some rain water to reduce the hardness of water in tanks that I will be using for soft water fish. You cannot afford to use straight rain water because it does not have enough mineral content for the fish's health, not even for soft water fish.
3. Fish are a very persoanl matter . If you can give us an idea of which fish you like, we can probably help steer you to a group of fish that are compatible with each other.

 

[sjolliff]

In what way do plants interrupt a fishless cycle?

 

[OldMan47]

Plants do not interrupt a fishless cycle but, by absorbing nitrogen for growth, they make it more difficult to interpret test results and trends. When somebody has ammonia going lower and no new nitrites showing up, what is the interpretation? If I know about plants being in place, I figure the plants ate the ammonia and there are no bacteria yet. If I see some nitrites but not as much as there should be, again I know that the plants are doing much of the heavy lifting, not the bacteria. Once the ammonia is all disappearing in 12 hours and there are no nitrites, is it because of the plants or because the filter is cycled? It can be hard to say because plants eat nitrates like candy too so there may not be any. As I said, it can make things a bit more difficult to interpret during a fishless cycle but can help remove ammonia if there are fish in the tank.

 

[Ginga@139]

Ok
right still bit confused
Had good look round the forum
Looks like i should be buying some Ameonia
and a good test kit

Is it worth starting totally again ???
empty tank and start fresh
or can i get my tank to mature from were i am


Ginga

 

[Ginga@139]

back again
right just look a water again
NO3 at 100mg/l
NO2 at 5 mg/l

been advised to do 25% water change , good advise or bad advise

 

[OldMan47]

If you have no fish in the tank, there is no reason to do a water change. Are you adding the ammonia to your tank to develop the filter? If you do not have a source of ammonia, the filter is just sitting there doing nothing. It will be no closer to being able to support fish a year from now than it is today. The ammonia source does not need to be pure ammonia solution like most of us use, it can be a bit of rotting fish food, a prawn decaying in a cloth bag in the tank, a piece of dead plant or almost any other organic matter. The key point is that without some source of ammonia, nothing is going to happen to mature your filter.

 

[Ginga@139]

Thanks for all advise.
ok
I current do not have any fish in the tank,

i have a 3 y/o daughter , might be a bit distressing for her to suddenly see dead fish that were seemingly happy the night before, so im not adding them until im sure it mature

Going back to the ammonia

i was given with the tank 2 bottles
1 off tap safe.. easily understood
1 of filter start.. added about 2ml per day for first week then LSF told me to stop
this is the stuff that confuses me

is this the sort posh manufactures version of ammonia??

right now im stuck on what to do


The water reading have not change from above
i have no fish in the tank
tempeture steady 24c

Some one tell me what to do next to sort my self out!!!!

I think i need to buy some ammoina
think i need to go on to Ebay buy myself Kit as mentioned ..API master Kit


But then what???


I need a dummies guide to this..lol

ALL help gratefull recived

 

[OldMan47]

If my memory serves me, there is a product sold in the UK that is basically ammonia in a bottle. If that is what the filter start is, it will be fine to use to get your filter going. Ammonia is ammonia. Do you know how high the ammonia concentration in the tank is? I have not seen that posted here yet.

 

[Ginga@139]

This is where i think LFS sticthed me up a bit
asked them for a good all round kit to help me set the tank up
think i was sold a booby
the dip sticks test every thing but ammonia
and by reading all the different post
ammonia is the one thing i should be testing for

the bottle is Interpet filter start
loking at boyyle now
does not say ammonia anywhere?!?!?!?!

my LFS guy is starting to annoy me now

 

[BecciMac1987]

Easy option hun, where abouts do you live? Then Im gunna have a miracle cure for you

 

[Ginga@139]

Easy option hun, where abouts do you live? Then Im gunna have a miracle cure for you

miracle cures

well ok
i live just outside brighton
what have u in mind???

 

[BecciMac1987]

Mature filter media donation of course!
What filter are you using?
Im gunna put a shout out for you now. It seems that you've wasted a month doing diddly due to crap advice from the shop, so if you put already mature media into your tank you can add fish that day

 

[BecciMac1987]

Right Ive started a thread asking for a donation. Then hopefully you wont have to waste anymore time/money.
Im soooo impatient that I always do this, the whole cycling with ammonia thing is far to complicated for me! What Im suggesting is called cloning, and its instant.
All you will need to do (assuming kind people donate!) is add the media to your filter immedatley, turn it on, then add a couple of fish. Then buy your test kit off Ebay (about 15 quid), and keep checking the water for the next 2 weeks. The NitrIte and Ammonia should be 0, and the Nitrate should be above 0 (this could be anything up to about 59 without being a worry). If the NirtIte or Ammonia ever go about 0, just do a 30% water change-easy!
Then after a couple of weeks, start a weekly 10% water change routine, and add fishies to your hearts content....