Couple Of Queries

[SOOTY]

Tank has been setup for a couple of weeks now.

I have had two guppys in there for the last week.

The stones and wood are starting to get green on them. I am assuming this is algae growing??

Now the ammonia level is showing as non existant practically. Is this right or should there be some level of ammonia in there after two weeks of cycling and the fish being in there for a week.

Now I thought it could be that because the fish are only small they are not producing enough waste to cause ammonia, or they are but the ammonia level is going to take a while to rise with there not being much waste.

Is it worth putting a couple more fish in there to help it on it's way??

Also, can I treat the water with anything to keep the plants in good condition or will the plants just stay in good condition anyway?

Thanks

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

a. You should test for nitrites and nitrates as well, as sometimes during a cycle one is present without the other (like having no ammonia, but having big signs of nitrites, or having no nitrates at all which is often a sign the tank is still cycling etc)- its best to test all three stats while a tank is cycling to get a clearer picture .
b. How many gallons is the tank?
c. It depends on the plants really, most plants sold in shops for aquariums are fine without any particular special care for them and will thrive in any tank, while other plants need a lot to thrive. You must be careful about certain plants sold in local fish stores (lfs) though as not all are actually aquarium plants and will just rot after a couple of weeks or months of being submerged.

 

[SOOTY]

It's a 16 gallon tank.

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Sooty,

I am not the plant expert in any sense of the word, but trust me, you will not want to put more fish in your tank since you will only be hurting the fish and risking their lives.

Your ammonia levels could be low right now because you are in a later stage of your tank's cycle. What this means is that there is enough bacteria in the tank to eat the ammonia and change it into nitrites, which change into nitrates and so on and so on.

The answer to your ammonia question is no, you absolutely do not want to have any ammonia (or just very trace amounts) in your tank. It is lethal to your fish and when you are done with your cycle, you should have no trace of ammonia or nitrites, and very low readings of nitrates.

I believe, but am not sure, that plants will help you a bit in getting rid of some ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, but in a way this is bad becasue you need those things in there to get your good bacteria established and strong. But this is just a semi-educated guess based upon things I have read, but not really paid all that much attention to.

 

[SOOTY]

Thanks for the help fellas.

Now with the ammonia level being the way it is. I put it down to two things.

1. The tank is cycling quite quickly and the ammonia level has been high since putting the fish in, but as you say it's at a later stage of it's cycling process so it's dropped now and the nitrites are kicking in. Only thing, is that I didn't realise that the tank could cycle that quick, but from what I have read there isn't really a fixed time scale when cycling. So it could be it's cycling quickly.

2. The ammonia level is showing low because the ammonia level is just started out so it will rise over the next couple of weeks then drop when the nitrites come into play.

Will do a water test today I think and test everything. Get a clearer picture.

Glad there is green showing though on the rocks etc, to me that is showing that there is more life in there than just the fish.