Just Set Up New Tank, Questions

[DanielG]

Hi all,

I successfully set up my new tank last night its a Rio 125, i removed the carbon and nitrAte sponges and replaced them with a coarse blue.

I washed the gravel as best i could but there is still some dust in the water and on the glass inside, can i just wipe off the dust with a cloth???

Also i have got bactinettes and the lfs guy told me that i could fully stock immediately using it, has anyone ever used it before and how long do you wait after introducing the bacteria to put the fish in??

Thanks for the help

 

[2day]

[\QUOTE]Also i have got bactinettes and the lfs guy told me that i could fully stock immediately using it, has anyone ever used it before and how long do you wait after introducing the bacteria to put the fish in??[QUOTE/]

If i were you, i'd rather do a fishless cycle.. It puts less stress on your fish and for yourself!

 

[DanielG]

bactinettes is live bacteria to add to you filter, essentially cutting out the waiting of a fishless cycle

 

[alessasavoca]

i have used bactinettes and i will say they worked for me, but i still did a fishless cycle to check the levels, if you get yourself a bottle of pure ammonia and a good liquid test kit it's easy enough.

Edited to add: it took 1 week to cycle, that's not long to wait really.

 

[DanielG]

ok thanks for the advice alessasavoca, so you used them do speed the cycle up rather than replace it?

Also did you then put your full stocking in the tank?

 

[alessasavoca]

i used it to speed it up- bactinettes and biospira are the only two products that actually work. I checked the levels first by doing a fishless cycle, the ammonia level never went that high- just about showed on my test kit.

It went down again and then after a week i started to stock. I didn't add all my fish at once, this was mainly because I was still a bit wary and I didn't want to shove loads of fish in the tank all at once and cause stress to all of them. All in all I added 7 fish to begin with, then slowly worked my way up to my current tank inhabitants.

Hope it helps, all i can say is you can never be too careful.

 

[mark7616]

Just go ahead and stock your tank trust me. I fully stocked a 5x2x2 over 3 days using 6 pots of bactinettes as long as you bought enough bactinettes you will be fine just go ahead and add your fish if you dont your bacteria will die off and it will be a waste of moey.

 

[DanielG]

Just go ahead and stock your tank trust me. I fully stocked a 5x2x2 over 3 days using 6 pots of bactinettes as long as you bought enough bactinettes you will be fine just go ahead and add your fish if you dont your bacteria will die off and it will be a waste of moey.

so if i put the bactinettes in tonight can i start putting fish in tommorrow?

say about 8 then another few at the weekend?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok thanks for the advice alessasavoca, so you used them do speed the cycle up rather than replace it?

Also did you then put your full stocking in the tank?

yeah, absolutely

add the bactinettes, add ammonia up to 5ppm each day, when the ammonia and nitrite readings both drop to 0 in 12 hrs then you're ready for a full fish load. it should jus take a couple of days and gives you the confidence that the product is working correctly

 

[DanielG]

ok thanks for the advice alessasavoca, so you used them do speed the cycle up rather than replace it?

Also did you then put your full stocking in the tank?

yeah, absolutely

add the bactinettes, add ammonia up to 5ppm each day, when the ammonia and nitrite readings both drop to 0 in 12 hrs then you're ready for a full fish load. it should jus take a couple of days and gives you the confidence that the product is working correctly

great thanks for the advice Miss wiggle

 

[mark7616]

Or just listen to people who have used the product and add you fish why waste your time messig about with ammonia. I know that it works.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Or just listen to people who have used the product and add you fish why waste your time messig about with ammonia. I know that it works.

mark the reason i advise as above is no one can 100% vouch for the conditions the bactinettes have been transported in which can greatly affect their effectivness.

in some cases it'll be fine to add fish immediately, in some there may have been some die off of the bacteria and you'll need a few days of fishless cycling to bring them back up to full capacity.

IMHO it's best to give it a ouple of days fishless cycling which really isn't much work, and gives you an accurate picture of your individual circumstances before you add fish.

 

[alessasavoca]

i know it works, you know it works, but you never know if you have a bad batch as it always has to be kept refridgerated otherwise the bacteria will die. I would recommend ammonia use to do a cycle, for the welfare of your fish, which is what Miss Wiggle was saying

 

[Nosnibor]

i know it works, you know it works, but you never know if you have a bad batch as it always has to be kept refridgerated otherwise the bacteria will die. I would recommend ammonia use to do a cycle, for the welfare of your fish, which is what Miss Wiggle was saying

Spot on, that is so true. I have heard of batches of this stuff being completely useless due to the lorry that transported the load had issues with his on board fridges and didn't tell the shop.

What's a week of waiting, rather that than killing fish and wasting money. I did a 5 week cycle and it was fun learning about bacteria and developing it - but that's just me...

Martin