Hello And Help

[Chimp]

Hello to everyone

I have been given a 30 litre tank so I decided to start a tropical freshwater aquarium. I have got a internal filter, a heater.

I cleaned the gravel, added plants then added the water which I dechlorinated. I then used a product called nutracycle for 3 days and left the tank a further 3 days and then did a reading.

P.H 7.6 NO2 0.5 AMMONIA 0

I have now added a couple of 2.5cm platys. I feed them once a day on a product called nutrafin max. After 3 days they seem to be fine

Questions
Am I feeding the fish enough ?
Are the readings so far o.k
When should I take the next readings and what readings should I be looking for ?
When should I do a partial water change ?
Any other tips or helpful hints very welcome

Sorry for all the questions but it's a bit of an eye opener when you realise you can't just fill a tank up with water and put fish in.

Cheers
John

 

[CezzaXV]

Since you've already got fish, you'll need to read up on fish-in cycling (look in the beginners resouce center at the top of this forum). You'll need to do daily water changes and water tests until you've cultivated enough bacteria to handle all the fish waste, which can take weeks or even months. Fishkeeping isn't a hobby for the impatient, but the rewards are worth it!

Getting a reading of 0 for ammonia doesn't mean anything before you put fish or an artificial source of it in. Now you've got fish it'll be rising quite quickly, hence the need to cycle.

A fish's stomach is about the same size as it's eye, so bear this in mind when feeding. Also, only feed as much as they can eat in about 2 minutes and scoop any remaining out. Fish don't have the mechanism we have to tell them that they're full, so they'll quite happily eat themselves to death.

 

[fluttermoth]

Agree 100% with Cezza's advice there; a link to the beginner's resource centre is in my sig.

A far as your readings go; your aim with a fish-in cycle is to do enough large water changes to stop the ammonia and nitrite going above 0.25ppm before your next change; any ammonmia or nitrite above 0.25ppm can cause long term damage to your fish.

Don't be afraid of doing large water changes; as long as the new water is warmed and dechlorionated, you can do 80 or 90% changes if needs be (do make sure sure you switch your heater and filter off if doing large changes though!).

 

[Chimp]

Thanks for the reply folks.

I was told that by using the nutrafin cycle product that I would be doing a fishless cycle. The product said it would be o.k to add fish in 3 days but I waited for 6 days before I put the fish in. I'm assuming by your replies that you dont reckon this product works ?

 

[CezzaXV]

No, none of those types of products work. Living, breathing bacteria can't live in a bottle for any length of time. It won't have done any harm to use it - I did as it came with my tank - but the amount of good it will have done is little to none.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Thanks for the reply folks.

I was told that by using the nutrafin cycle product that I would be doing a fishless cycle. The product said it would be o.k to add fish in 3 days but I waited for 6 days before I put the fish in. I'm assuming by your replies that you dont reckon this product works ?

I used it in my first one and it didn't do anything to help. I lost fish because I didn't research. But you are in the right place, and we will do what we can to help your fish through the fish-in cycle