My Tank Stock

[InaneCathode]

Man. I dont want to seem like i'm jumping on the 'jump on the newbie' bandwagon but here goes:
How did you 'lower' your pH? If it was adding acid buffer or just straight acid you more than likely nuked your alkilinity which will make your pH incredibly unstable in the future...

 

[Nick Bramley]

im quite new to the hobby too chap, i watched my mum keeps tropicals for a about three years then when i moved out when i was seventeen i got an eight gallon tank. the way i did it and everyone recommended was to leave the water without fish for about 5/6 weeks, adding bacteria to the tank at first and then on a capful every week to jump start the process, unfortunately all your fish will probably die as the ammonia and nitrite sky rocket, there toxic to fish. get your fish out of there mate, if you take them back to where you bought them then maybe they will give you store credit so you can always buy more later when water is fine.

Nick

 

[MegTheFish]

as i stated, i wasn't trying to be rude, i was just curious. i didn't get fresh gravel, i also used some from a previously cycled tank that's getting restocked with new gravel.

You weren't being rude, you were asking an important question that you didn't understand because stupid me did not explain it really lol
That is very good that you got the established gravel, that will help your tank cycle, however it would be great if you could get your hands on some established filter media as it holds lot more good bacteria then the gravel. But again, with that amount of fish the tank is going to crash and burn Those fish just won't be able to handle it, you really need to talk to your friend and ask if you can "unload" some fish on him or something.

im quite new to the hobby too chap, i watched my mum keeps tropicals for a about three years then when i moved out when i was seventeen i got an eight gallon tank. the way i did it and everyone recommended was to leave the water without fish for about 5/6 weeks, adding bacteria to the tank at first and then on a capful every week to jump start the process, unfortunately all your fish will probably die as the ammonia and nitrite sky rocket, there toxic to fish. get your fish out of there mate, if you take them back to where you bought them then maybe they will give you store credit so you can always buy more later when water is fine.

The guy at the LFS sold me some "Instant Cycle" product that contains the beneficial bacteria. Do I still need to cycle my tank?

There are a variety of bacteria products on the market which claim to be able to increase the speed at which your tank cycles (note: none of them claim instant cycling, whatever LFS employees may say). Personally I can't see how they could work, since the bacteria require a source of ammonia and oxygenated water, but even if they can be held in some sort of "suspended animation", that still doesn't get around the fact that they can't instantly colonise your gravel and filter. Colonisation takes time!

The "bateria in the bottle" has not been proven that it actulaly works, and has been labeled as a waste of money. However for these things to "work" (not that they do) they would have to have an ammonia source to feed off of, and by pouring this stuff in a tank with no ammonia source does nothing If these bacteria were alive (which, can I state again, are not) then they would just be dying off. So during those 5/6 weeks that you let the tank sit there it would of been a better idea to get a head start on your fishless cycle

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

one problem is, the store's about fourty-five minutes away and we're never out there. and about lowering the Ph, we had a kit for the tank and it was "Ph Down".

 

[Mako Man111]

I wouldn't worry about ph as long as its not super high or super low. Stable is most important as most fish adapt quite fine to different levels of ph.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

okay, thanks. i was just reading the thing that came with the tank and it said they should be between two Ph levels and it was at the higher one so we lowered it just a little bit.

 

[n3ont3tra]

The thing that came with the tank wants you to spend money on PH stuff that you don't really need. The only reason you would want to change your PH is if it was really low (lower than 5.5) or really high (higher than 8.5). If it is, then there stuff other than chemicals that you can use and it's completely safe for fish and plants, that's usually a lot cheaper. I believe peat lowers your PH. If it's on the 8ish side, try putting a little bit of peat in your filter.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

sounds awesome. i tested it just now. Ph was fine, no different than it was before (7.6). for the other things, I have a TetraTest kit - it says for NH3 and NH4 on the box. the reading on it today (day three?) came out as 0. the box also says do a water change (i believe 25%, i don't have the box in front of me) on the fourth day to prevent this. good idea or no?