Hi everyone
- Thread starter Liamsdad
- Start date
PlasticGalaxy
Fish Gatherer
Welcome!
What size aquarium have you got? There's a lot to learn about fish keeping, but it's a great experience!
What size aquarium have you got? There's a lot to learn about fish keeping, but it's a great experience!
Welcome to the forum.
First and foremost, read this: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
First and foremost, read this: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
Its a 94 litre tank. We havent got any fish yet as the tank has only just been set up but hopefully the cloudy water issue will resolve themselves soon.
PlasticGalaxy
Fish Gatherer
Ooh, sounds nice. What are the dimensions?
Did you wash the gravel before putting it in the tank?
Cloudy water could be due to a bacterial bloom, which is common in newly set up tanks.
Yeah washed the gravel before it went in. Takes a long time ha. The dimensions are: 53 x 51 x 44cm. During bacteria bloom, should i be doing any water changes?
It can be a bacterial bloom without ammonia. The bloom bacteria feed on organic matter and there could well be some organics in the tap water as well as all the plasticiser leaching out of everything plastic. As soon as chlorine is removed, they start multiplying, and unlike the beneficial bacteria they multiply very fast.
www.fishforums.net
Bacterial Blooms Explained
Bacterial Blooms - Explained Every fishkeeper has experienced a bacterial bloom at some point. They are common in new set-ups which are cycling, but can happen at any time. The water goes cloudy, almost like someone has poured a drop of milk into the tank, and no matter how many water changes...
www.fishforums.net
PlasticGalaxy
Fish Gatherer
My 170L got a bacterial bloom from just having an airstone in it...
@Liamsdad
Take your time. Read the link that SlapHppy7 gave you. It may take a few read-throughs to follow what it is saying. It explains what cycling is, why we need to do it, and there is a step by step guide on how to do it. Don't listen to the fish shop which will say to let the tank run a few days, then get fish, possibly adding some miracle product as well. The miracle product (a bottle of bacteria) will not cycle the tank instantly but can reduce the time it takes.
If you want a lot of live plants, there is another way to set up the tank, so let us know if that's your intention.
The most important lesson in fish keeping is - ignore everything a shop worker says. There are some good workers but the majority haven't a clue and are trained only in how to make a sale.
The second most important thing is patience. Fish keeping is not a 'fast' hobby.
Take your time. Read the link that SlapHppy7 gave you. It may take a few read-throughs to follow what it is saying. It explains what cycling is, why we need to do it, and there is a step by step guide on how to do it. Don't listen to the fish shop which will say to let the tank run a few days, then get fish, possibly adding some miracle product as well. The miracle product (a bottle of bacteria) will not cycle the tank instantly but can reduce the time it takes.
If you want a lot of live plants, there is another way to set up the tank, so let us know if that's your intention.
The most important lesson in fish keeping is - ignore everything a shop worker says. There are some good workers but the majority haven't a clue and are trained only in how to make a sale.
The second most important thing is patience. Fish keeping is not a 'fast' hobby.
PlasticGalaxy
Fish Gatherer
Yes!! This 100%, and never go to Pets at Home if you can help it. Deformed fish, disease, clueless workers... If you do a bit of digging you'll quickly find some horror stories across the forum from these pet store chains.
Thanks everyone. Yes, we bought the tank through pets at home and were told to wait 1 week before introducing fish. We've got no live plants and apart from a few ornaments, there is nothing else in there. We added tapsafe to the water but nothing else.
Hopefully the water clears up soon. Would you suggest buying a water testing kit?
Hopefully the water clears up soon. Would you suggest buying a water testing kit?
Hello! Welcome! 
A test kit is definitely worth the money. I would get one if I were you!
The tank will likely take more than 1 week to cycle. I am not very good at explaining it, but others are. There are tons of articles and threads full of information that you can find by searching around! I don't know how to post a link though, sorry.
My Number one piece of advice would be to thoroughly research the fish you are interested in, to make sure you have the full ability to care for them and their home to provide them with the best possible life!
A test kit is definitely worth the money. I would get one if I were you!The tank will likely take more than 1 week to cycle. I am not very good at explaining it, but others are. There are tons of articles and threads full of information that you can find by searching around! I don't know how to post a link though, sorry.
My Number one piece of advice would be to thoroughly research the fish you are interested in, to make sure you have the full ability to care for them and their home to provide them with the best possible life!
Definitely, a must-have: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NCI/?tag=ff0d01-20
Ignore what Pets at Home said, you can't add fish in a week. Well you can, but that means you would be doing a fish-in cycle which means doing big water changes every day for weeks - and risk your new fish dying. It is much easier - and safer for the fish - to cycle the tank before you get fish even if that does take a few weeks.
In a cycled tank there are two colonies of bacteria and the process of growing the bacteria is called cycling.
Fish excrete ammonia but this is poisonous to fish. In a cycled tank, the first of the bacteria colonies 'eat' ammonia and 'poop' nitrite. Nitrite is also poisonous to fish, but in a cycled tank, the second bacteria colony 'eats' nitrite and 'poops' nitrate. This isn't nearly as poisonous, and we keep the levels low in a cycled tank by doing weekly water changes.
But a brand new tank has virtually none of these bacteria so we have to grow a lot more of them.
You can use fish to provide the ammonia, but as I said above, this involves testing the water every day for ammonia and nitrite and doing a big water change whenever there is a reading above zero. At first ammonia will rise but there'll be no nitrite; then once the first bacteria start making nitrite that will go up. It takes several weeks to grow enough bacteria so you'd be doing big water changes just about every day for weeks.
So that the levels of ammonia and nitrite don't get too high, you can only get a few fish to start with. Once ammonia and nitrite stay at zero, you get get a few more fish, and again do water changes if either ammonia and/or nitrite test above zero. When they stay at zero, you can get a few more fish.......and so on until the tank is fully stocked. It's hard work with all those water changes, and there is a risk to the fish.
The alternative is fishless cycling. This uses ammonia from a bottle to simulate fish waste. With this method, there are no fish to come to harm so you don't need to do water changes. With this method, you add ammonia then test as in the method in the link in post #3. When certain targets have been reached, you add more ammonia. Once the cycle is finished, almost all the proposed fish can be added at the same time. [Note - not from Pets at Home as they only let you buy 6 fish at once - find another shop]
This is much easier - just testing the water and every so often adding a bit of ammonia. And no fish get harmed.
SlapHppy gave you a link to the American Amazon, this is our Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000255NCI/?tag=
it's on a time limited deal at the moment so you need to be quick
Liquid testers are more reliable than strips, they do more tests so work out cheaper, and they include the all important ammonia which strips don't have.
In a cycled tank there are two colonies of bacteria and the process of growing the bacteria is called cycling.
Fish excrete ammonia but this is poisonous to fish. In a cycled tank, the first of the bacteria colonies 'eat' ammonia and 'poop' nitrite. Nitrite is also poisonous to fish, but in a cycled tank, the second bacteria colony 'eats' nitrite and 'poops' nitrate. This isn't nearly as poisonous, and we keep the levels low in a cycled tank by doing weekly water changes.
But a brand new tank has virtually none of these bacteria so we have to grow a lot more of them.
You can use fish to provide the ammonia, but as I said above, this involves testing the water every day for ammonia and nitrite and doing a big water change whenever there is a reading above zero. At first ammonia will rise but there'll be no nitrite; then once the first bacteria start making nitrite that will go up. It takes several weeks to grow enough bacteria so you'd be doing big water changes just about every day for weeks.
So that the levels of ammonia and nitrite don't get too high, you can only get a few fish to start with. Once ammonia and nitrite stay at zero, you get get a few more fish, and again do water changes if either ammonia and/or nitrite test above zero. When they stay at zero, you can get a few more fish.......and so on until the tank is fully stocked. It's hard work with all those water changes, and there is a risk to the fish.
The alternative is fishless cycling. This uses ammonia from a bottle to simulate fish waste. With this method, there are no fish to come to harm so you don't need to do water changes. With this method, you add ammonia then test as in the method in the link in post #3. When certain targets have been reached, you add more ammonia. Once the cycle is finished, almost all the proposed fish can be added at the same time. [Note - not from Pets at Home as they only let you buy 6 fish at once - find another shop]
This is much easier - just testing the water and every so often adding a bit of ammonia. And no fish get harmed.
Yes. Without a test kit, fishless cycling is impossible, and with fishless cycling you won't know when to do a water change.
SlapHppy gave you a link to the American Amazon, this is our Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000255NCI/?tag=
it's on a time limited deal at the moment so you need to be quick
Liquid testers are more reliable than strips, they do more tests so work out cheaper, and they include the all important ammonia which strips don't have.
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