Love Having Fish..

[jennster]

Hi, have wanted fish for ages and finally done something about it.. a freshwater tank..

We currently have tetra's & a siamese fighter!

Just thought i'd start off with my info as i'm new to keeping fish and so thought joining would be an excellent idea.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Welcome to the forum!

How big is your tank? How long have you had it up and running, and did you cycle it first?

You'll find lots and lots of people here with great advice and good wishes.

Cheers!
Lisa

 

[eaglesaquarium]

+1

Welcome.

Hopefully, you fully cycled your tank before adding fish. ("Cycled" is the term we use, meaning that the filter has an established bacteria colony capable of dealing with the waste, aka ammonia/nitrite, produced by the fish.)

Hopefully, you did cycle it first. If not, then we can all help you through the "fish-in" cycle process. You'll want to read the fish-in cycle link in my sig, if what I am talking about is completely foreign to you. The entire Beginners' Resource Center is full of great information. Also the others here will be happy to help you along the way.

 

[waterdrop]

Welcome to TFF!

It's always fun to have someone who has really wanted a tank and thought about it for a while! You are in good hands, there are lots of fun people here ready to help.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[jennster]

Aww thanks everyone! It was my hubby that took the plunge.. Tbh my gramps had fish for years and so he gave us his tank! It's a 2ft tank we have, had it now about 2 weeks. Just asked the hubby and we didn't cycle it! However, before adding the fish he kept regularly testing the water and making sure the ammonia/nitrite levels were right..

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Keep testing then. Ammonia is probably building up, as the unless the tank was being run right up until you got it, chances are that you don't have a fully mature bacteria colony just yet. Read the link in my sig on fish-in cycling. The key is frequent testing and water changes as necessary to keep the values under 0.25ppm for both ammonia and nitrite.


The problem with testing the tank without fish, is unless you are adding ammonia yourself, there is no source for the tank, so there will never be any when you test. That doesn't mean that it is ready for fish, unfortunately.