New Tank Setup & Checks

[glarion]

Hi all
 
I have been "surfing" your site for a number of weeks now and after following the advice about buying tanks & pumps & test kits etc etc I just wanted to check that all is ok with our new tank setup. We are completely new to all this (which is a long way beyond my original experience with pet fish...goldfish won at a fair, kept in a traditional goldfish bowl!).
 
So the setup we have is:
 
Aqua 30 tank
SuperClean 40 tank
 
We purchased the tank a fortnight ago and I wanted to run through all that has been done so far and then ask my question at the end...
 
We purchased the tank on 26th August
Setup the tank the same day with 23ltr of water & the gravel & furniture (both the gravel & furniture were rinsed through first) (it is a 25ltr tank)
Added appropriate amount of TapSafe to the water in the tank
Added appropriate amount of Stress Zyme to the water in the tank
Installed the Filter to 3" below the water line
Filter has the API Crystal in it.
Left it for a week and then started to test the water using the API Freshwater Master Test Kit
Results so far are:
2/9/13 pH 7.4 / Amonia 0.25ppm / Nitrite 2ppm / Nitrate 10ppm
4/9/13 pH 7.4 / Amonia 0.25ppm / Nitrite 1ppm / Nitrate 10ppm
6/9/13 pH 7.4 / Amonia 0.25ppm / Nitrite 0.5ppm / Nitrate 5ppm
9/9/13 pH 7.4 / Amonia 0.25ppm / Nitrite 0.25ppm / Nitrate 5ppm
 
Obviously we are encouraged to see the nitrite falling.
We have not added to or taken away anything from the initial fill-up and treatments mentioned above (including no water changes as yet).
 
So our questions are:
 
1) Is this what you would normally expect to see happening in a new tank set-up?
2) Is the fact that the amonia hasn't changed at all yet ok?
3) Is it ok to put the fish into the tank yet? (We are looking at getting a couple each of Oranda (sp?) & Platys)
 
Many thanks for your time (and patience lol)!

 

[daizeUK]

I am confused by your readings.  You didn't add any ammonia or fish to the tank so where is the ammonia and nitrite coming from?
 
Are you trying to do a fishless or fish-in cycle?  If you haven't already seen it, have a read of the 'Cycling a Tank' link at the top of the page which will explain a lot about what you should expect ammonia to do.

 

[Ninjouzata]

No, you don't want to put fish in the tank yet. As Daize said have a read of the cycling article.
 
In regards to the kind of fish you're wanting, Oranda..are you talking about a goldfish?
If so, fancys need a minimum of 30g for the first, and another 15g for each additional fancy goldie.
Meaning..this tank is much too small.
 
It's also too small for platys, which I think the minimum tank size for them is 15-20g.
 
Here is a good list of fish for nano tanks such as yours: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/418749-nano-fish/
To clarify on how to use the list, you'd pick one. Such as under the 5g, you could get guppies OR puffers, not everything on the list. 
Some of them I don't agree with, but what you pick off there will be up to you, ofcourse.

 

[glarion]

I read the cycling article, but to be honest was a little confused by it all! From what I'd read on here, the amonia can come from almost any source? Including taps, pipes etc etc so didn't think I would actually need to add any as that would work against what we're trying to achieve? Misguided on the fish size by Pets at home then...well have a rethink about what to get now thanks.
 
Cheers

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Ammonia can come from taps etc. but the ammonia is not in a large enough quantity to be of use in a cycle. That is why it is so much better to add pure ammonia to get it to the right level.
 
Some stores can give wrong information to make a sale.
The most important thing to do is to research before you go ahead and buy any fish.

 

[daizeUK]

It's quite unusual to get high levels of ammonia in tap water although some unlucky people do!  A reading of around 0.25ppm is not a great concern since you can use a product such as Seachem Prime to help detoxify it before adding to a cycled tank.
 
What concerns me is where this reading of Nitrite 2ppm came from!  The legal limit for nitrite in UK tap water is 0.5ppm and more than 1ppm can seriously harm infants who drink it.
 
Also your nitrAte readings aren't making sense to me.  If nitrite really fell from 2ppm to 0.25ppm then more nitrAte should have been produced in the process, not fallen from 10ppm to 5ppm.  I suspect these may be spurious.
 
If you want to make your tank safe before you add fish then a fishless cycle is the way to go and that means adding ammonia, ideally starting with a concentration of 3ppm.  If you have any questions about fishless cycling then please ask and we'll help you through it!

 

[Ninjouzata]

You definitely want to add a source of ammonia & fishless cycle the tank. As has been said there is not enough in the tap to really cycle the tank.
Please feel free to ask questions about cycling, if you're worried about sounding dumb or something, I promise you're not. Everyone here is happy to help!

 

[Blondielovesfish]

The only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked