Help With My New Tank :)

[kazzybabes]

Hiya, sorry if im being a bit dumb, but i was just wondering if anyone could give me advise on my new tank, i set it up last wednesday and didnt really do anything with it, then on saturday i woke up and my tank was cloudy (not really cloudy, you could still see the plants and stuff), when i read up on this i thought it might be a bacterial bloom? Today it is clear again so i thought i would test the water (i got the api master test kit), the results were 0 for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, im not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing? Thank you for any advice on what i should do next (btw the tank currently has no fish!)

Karen

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Karen.
It was probably a bacterial bloom. The bacteria in such a bloom are not the ones that we are interested in culturing when cycling a tank. The next thing you should do is to start cycling the tank. I prefer the fishless method because it is so much less work and less stress than doing it with fish in. There is a link in my signature area to a thread about fishless cycling.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, Welcome Karen. Agree with OM47, all looks normal - bacterial bloom and zero readings on new water.

Time to read all about fishless cycling and start asking questions (understanding it improves with dialog!) You'll want to mention in detail what filter materials are in your filter (often, aquarists suggest doing something different from what the manufacturers say!) Its great that you've got a good test kit, that's one of the most needed things and I'd also test the tap water at your house and post up the results so its here in your thread for future reference.

If you decide to fishless cycle then one of the next tasks is to locate the right kind of "pure household ammonia." Its found in the mops and brooms section of various stores and members here can often help with this depending on where you live. Its important that the ammonia not have soaps, dyes or fragrences added. Make sure it doesn't foam when shaken.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[kazzybabes]

Oh okay, thank you so much for explaining that to me i will go and look for some pure ammonia then, im from northern ireland so hopefully ill find some in tescos lol! the only test i did to my tap water was for the ph and it was 7.0, is there anything else i should test on it? Thank you for that link on cycling, i think i understood it lol, i will definately do it without the fish! I really cant wait to be able to get some, its only a small tank though! Im also not sure what materials are in my filter though, i will have to look at the manual to see what it says, does this affect the cycling process? Oh and ive also been adding some filter start liquid which is supposed to have some good bacteria in it, does this make any difference?

Thanks so much for your help!

Karen

 

[OldMan47]

I don't know if they have them in Ireland but the UK folks talk about finding ammonia in Boots.

 

[MartinL]

Yes, It's in Boots (the larger stores) in the laundry section, labelled Household Ammonia and is 9.5% which is the standard strength listed on this forum.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, and it appears there are Boots stores in various cities in Ireland (amazing what Google Images and wikipedia will do for understanding a store chain in another country you are unfamiliar with!) If you do find it in a Tescos (which appears to be a large grocery chain!) it would be interesting information for the members here I think.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. The "detective work" is part of the fun, not just the fish!

 

[kazzybabes]

i was at tescos tonight and couldnt find any lol! i will have a look tomorrow in boots as ive to finish my christmas shopping so ill be in belfast! thanks so much everyone!

Karen