New Fish Keeper

Harlequins · Oct 29, 2009

Hi there

Its sounds has though you are in a 'fish in' cycle,have a read in the beginners section,there's lots of useful info there,
You are better off having your own liquid test kit,so you can test the ammonia/nitrite levels,otherwise if the lfs tests it again,ask for the readings from their testing.
Ideally you need to test daily and preform water changes depending on the results of the ammonia/nitrite test results.if the lfs has told you to perform a waterchange then your readings aren't good.

It sounds as though your cloudy tank is bacteria bloom,this is caused by a new set up.
When did you first set the tank up?
The filter in the tank is the bit thats cycles,this can take anything up to 6-8 weeks.

Good luck,let us know how things go

waterdrop · Oct 29, 2009

Agree with Harlequins and the other members up above. This sounds clearly like a Fish-In cycling situation that has hardly begun and will need a lot of large water changes with good technique (conditioner and rough temperature matching.) A good liquid-reagent based test kit will need to be ordered (this should almost be the first thing a beginner buys even before a tank!) Many of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.

You'll need to read the Fish-In article in Beginners Resource Center carefully and ask questions of members if you're not sure of all the things it says. Its difficult sometimes to save fish subjected to this situation but the technique in the article gives you the best chance, assuming you're able to keep up with the testing and water changes.

~~waterdrop~~

dass170280 · Oct 30, 2009

hi all my fish have all died got test kit the readings were 7.7.4 very bad i think. went 2 the shop which done test 4 me yesterday and kicked off at the man big time he then admited he dosent no what he is doing he is just filling in while other man is away so i hve now started all over again washed tank out...stones filter and got new filter pads....used tap safe liquid and filter start so every 2 days have 2 put filter start in filter and gonna leave it a couple of weeks thanks again 4 all your help

Curiosity101 · Oct 30, 2009

Filter start doesn't work. And even if it did, if you aren't adding ammonia then so there is no way it could work.

I think what you're hinting at is doing a fishless cycle? Ie. Getting the tank ready and safe for fish before you add them?

If so, here is the link --> Fishless Cycling

waterdrop · Oct 30, 2009

Agree with CC101, filterstart doesn't work.. in fact there is no shortcut substance that we can reliably recommend.

What the temporary fellow at the store didn't know to tell you was that a new aquarium filter that you've just bought is really just a "hardware kit" and it takes some hobbyist knowledge and possibly as long as a couple of *months* before a carefully prepared filter is ready to handle fish. That is what "fishless cycling" is all about, its the transformation of a non-functional (biologically) bunch of hardware into a correctly functioning "biofilter."

Its pretty weird stuff when you're new to it :lol:

. You actually sit around growing two specific species of bacteria for weeks on end, making up a special "bacterial growing soup" (we're working on an orange and black version for halloween.. sorry, just kidding.) Looking on the bright side, its really rather fun learning all about this stuff and getting to know the members who help you, and you've stumbled on one of the best possible places to learn all this stuff (think of the vast majority out there who will never have a clue.. you can see them daily in the isles of the LFS!)

Anyway, its a tried and true process: You start your fishless cycling thread here, study the article, interact with the members to get steady help and while you're waiting for your filter to cycle, you learn other startup basics and work on a good stocking plan for which fish to put in the tank. Good luck and hope you decide to give this a try!

~~waterdrop~~

dass170280 · Oct 31, 2009

thanks am gonna try the fishless method so fingers crossed i spoke to some one in fish shop today and he said he used fish pond water in his tank half a tank of normal tap water and half pond water and said his test were all correct with in a week

? but gonna try fish less method and go from there where do i get amonia from

thank you all 4 info helped me out loads darren

OldMan47 · Oct 31, 2009

If you just fill the tank with dechlorinated tap water and test it 5 minutes later it will test good. The problem is not the water source Das170280. The problem with a new tank starts to happen after you put a biological load, such as fish, into the tank. Then you need the biological filtration and using pond water will no more develop the right bacteria in the filter than using plain tap water. A part of the filter from the pond or from an established and functioning tank filter will give your tank a big boost at getting started. Unfortunately, far too many people think of the water as the thing that gets their system going and do not realize how temporary good water in the tank really is. I have great water right from the tap for any of the common livebearers but they won't last long in that water until I also get the filter established by doing a filter clone. Have you had a look at the people willing to donate mature filter media to a new fishkeeper? There may be someone in your area that could get your filter going much faster than a typical fishless cycle would. Filter cloning is the only current method for extremely short fishless cycling. There is a donor link in my signature area.

Curiosity101 · Oct 31, 2009

You can get household ammonia from a few places in the UK. Boots being the easiest as you can order it online or instore if you wanted to

But there is also hombase, B&Q and practically all places with a 'home cleaning products' section.
It is normally called 'Household ammonia', and has to just be pure ammonia, so no perfumes or anything added. You can normally tell if something has been added to it by shaking it up. If it bubbles quite alot and the bubbles are really long lasting then it's a good sign the ammonia has things in it other than the ammonia.

Oh and if you ask someone in a shop if they know where it is (say if you were in boots or homebase), don't take 'we don't have that' as an answer. More often than not it's more that they have never needed to know where it is, so they're just not aware they stock it.