Just Set Up First Tropical Tank...excited.

[rebrn]

You can keep the plants in clear plastic containers with some tank water and put them on a window sill or some place where they will get light.

I see that you are in the UK so you will probably find Hagen Nutrafin kits the easiest at the LFS. Hagen Nutrafin has a mini master kit that comes with ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph kits, they are around $30 in the US, not sure on UK pricing, initially the price may seem higher then using test strips, but in the long run it is cheaper the cost per test is much cheaper with liquid test kits. You may also be able to find Saliferts test fairly easily in the UK, but they don't have a kit so you will need to buy each test separately. Saliferts is very expensive in the US, but from my understanding much cheaper in the UK. There is also API (also has a master kit available), they are generally the cheapest and easiest to find in the US, but again, I hear the API kits are the most expensive in the US. But any of those brands will work well for you. I will let someone from the UK give you a better approximation of cost. When you get your test kit, test your tap water as well that way you will know what you are starting out with in terms of pH, nitrates and nitrates. Every water source is different, but it is a good idea to know what you are starting out with just as a reference point. Also if there is something really off with your tap water you can try to deal with it before it goes into your tank.

You can cycle your tank with the lights off, and is better that way you won't (or shouldn't) get as much algae buildup. I did mine with the lights off still got algae, but hardly any at all.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

thanks all, well I'm off to get testing kits tomorrow.... anyone able to tell me what to expect within the testing kits and how long does a testing kit last..e.g. months supply of tests etc..thanks again. my autistic daughter was already staring at the tank as its her birthday present. bless her, she doesnt realise there arnt any fish yet. x

 

[rebrn]

It really depends on what brand of test kit you get as far as how many tests per kit you get. It depends on how many drops of reagent each test requires. Also, if you get a master test kit, each kit in there will be a different number of test as well. For example you may get 100 tests from your Ammonia reagents, but only get 80 from the nitrite reagent, even though they were in the same master kit. I can tell you for API I get 130 ammonia tests/kit, 90 nitrate tests/kit, 180 nitrite tests/kit, high range ph 160 tests/kit, regular ph 250 tests/kit and those all came in my master kit, but if you run out of one you can just buy the refills rather than an entire new kit. As far as how long, in months, it will last you, it really depends on how frequently you are testing. When I was cycling, I used 3 ammonia kits, but I was cycling 3 tanks and the longest one took 101 days, the shortest one took 40 days. So that might give you some indication.

You might want to check out this post, it is not a perfect article regarding test kits but it might help you out some: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/315183-liquid-test-kits-how-to-perform-and-read-tests/page__p__2611010__hl__liquid%20test%20kits__fromsearch__1&#entry2611010

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Thankyou. i bought an 800 test API kit today (30.09p)in price. not bad really
my levels are pH 7.4. everything 0 ppm

 

[rebrn]

That API kit is the master kit, and should have everything that you need. The 800 comes from all the kits combined, so you may have to replace certain reageants before others. Everything looks like it is where it should be, you can start to dose with you ammonia now and start you fishless cycle. Just one word of caution with the nitrate kit for bottle #2 you need to make sure you shake it really really well, it has a tendency to form solids, so you need to shake it for at least a minute before you use it to make sure all the solids have been redispersed into the liquid. one minute is the minimum, as the kit is new you may want to shake it for 2 minutes, also if you haven't used it in a while (like more than 2 days) you will also want to shake it for 2 minutes at least. If you don't it may give you false readings.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Thanks for the advise on the nitrates bottles. I cant start the ammonia cycling yet as I still cant find a supplier for ammonia. went to band q and couldnt find it, asked the shop assistant and she said its not the right season to sell it, so I guess I'm still looking x

 

[rebrn]

I know a lot of people in the UK get it from Boots (hope I got the name right) you could try there, it is in the cleaning section I believe they said

 

[pjandnoo]

Hi,

I found ammonia in Homebase, its a white bottle with a blue lid in their cleaning section. Not easy for a bloke to find especially with mans eyesight lol. They had one of their 10% days on too so the bottle cost about £1.80

Hope this helps

 

[LilyRose Tank]

aww thanks guys, you've been very helpful x

 

[waterdrop]

Hi LilyRose,

Have you been able to find the right ammonia yet? We all enjoy hearing about that as each person seems to have a different adventure trying to find it. Often we recommend a dual approach in each store, both observing the mop&broom section shelves yourself (rather than taking a no from the clerk straight out) and also the opposite thing of asking the clerk even if you don't see it on the shelf. Some stores seem to be keeping it in back.

The goal is to find pure household ammonia that has no dyes, fragrances, surfactants or soaps. Usually its clear. If you can see in the bottle or open the cap you can do a shake test. It should bubble for 2 or 3 seconds like water but should not create lasting foam.

In the UK the stuff that works has been pretty well recorded here on TFF (and mentioned in some of the posts in your thread here).. you can even find pictures of the bottles sometimes here on TFF.

Another important thing to have is a simple aquarium notebook to record things.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Hello again guys....I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!!!! finally after trawlling around Boots, Wilkinson, garden centres and cleaning shops all day, I found it in homebased 500ml bottle £1.99. thank good ness. I have put 10mls of ammonia in 1 litre and the reading is 2ppm so to get 4ppm its 20ml per liter yes...therefore for a 64litre tank.... 20mls x 64litres= 1280mls to the tanks that cant be right can it? thats 2 1/2 bottles? help please ( the concentration of ammoinia soln is 9.5%)

 

[Matt T]

I dont think thats right. This calculator should help you.

Did you leave the ammonia solution you made to stand for a while before testing it? Im using the homebase ammonia and i need 1.8ml or something to my 35l tank.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

ok I have added 3.5mls of ammonia to my tank. how long should i wait to test it?

 

[waterdrop]

Usually we guestimate waiting at least 20 min or so, but any time from then on should have allowed a good mix. When you first start its a hit or miss thing whether the calculator amount actually ends up giving you the concentration you want. With the API ammonia test you're going to be staring at the shade of green (use incandescent, not fluorescent and put the light between you and your hand, which holds the tube against the white part of the color matching card.. you're interested the the "hue" of green not the contrast.) The important thing is to not dose the tank up at the 8ppm level. You want to match the 4ppm color as closely as you can or just a tiny bit darker but not 8. 8ppm encourages the wrong species of bacteria.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[LilyRose Tank]

I am starting to wonder whether I have the right brain for this haha