hi i bought a 5ft fish tank two weeks ago which came with about sixty fish mostly tiger barbs,when i went to pick it up the tank was completly emptied with the fish in a large bucket.When i got the tank home i put all the fish in my mates tank with no problems filled the tank back up and left it for a week put the fish back in it on thursday,friday morning six of the fish were dead then got up this morning another seven but none of the barbs.so i took a sample of the water to the local fish store where they tested it and said that it contained no bacteria can anyone advise me what to do next thanks.
New Tank
- Thread starter chris1977
- Start date
Hi chris1977 
Welcome to the forum!
Your new tank has to undergo a process called cycling during which beneficial bacteria will grow in your filter media. Here's a link to read until some of our members come along and help you get started. Since you have access to another fish tank it will not be difficult.
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355
I'll move your thread to the New to the Hobby section where members who like to help with this will see it.
Welcome to the forum!
Your new tank has to undergo a process called cycling during which beneficial bacteria will grow in your filter media. Here's a link to read until some of our members come along and help you get started. Since you have access to another fish tank it will not be difficult.
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355I'll move your thread to the New to the Hobby section where members who like to help with this will see it.
arobinson1984
Fish Gatherer
Agree with inchworm.
If the tank was mature and you bought it from somebody else then more than likely the filter will have been cycled previously but as you filled up the tank and left it for a week, the beneficial bacteria will have started to die off without an ammonia source so you may be experiencing a mini cycle.
One thing you really need now is a good liquid based test kit such as the API freshwater master kit, this will tell you along with our help exactly what is happening in your tank
Andy
If the tank was mature and you bought it from somebody else then more than likely the filter will have been cycled previously but as you filled up the tank and left it for a week, the beneficial bacteria will have started to die off without an ammonia source so you may be experiencing a mini cycle.
One thing you really need now is a good liquid based test kit such as the API freshwater master kit, this will tell you along with our help exactly what is happening in your tank
Andy
Hi i am running a fish in cyle at this time i am on day 16 frist thing i did was to use hagen cycle for the frst three days and use NUTRAFIN AQUA PLUS
TAP WATER CONDITIONNER has well but before you do all that please do a 80% water change now. then use the hagen cyle afther the frsit 3 days change 50% of the water until you get down the levels buy a good test kit hagen or api
you need to be testing for
Ammonia 0.25
NitrIte 0.1
NitrAte 5
try to keep the levels down 0 for ammonia nitrite 0.1 and nitrate 5 afther few days nitrtae will go up but try to keep it in the safe zone
If you do all of this you should have no problems i am doing the water changes and fish are ok so far.
rember when water changing use the NUTRAFIN AQUA PLUS
TAP WATER CONDITIONNER.
P.S. you have to do a 50% water change for the frsit 7 days everyday until the levels drop down.
Then testing the water everyday you can deside if a water change is needed. this will take upto 4 weeks ather that time when you test the water the levels should be zero
That means your tank is cyle.
TAP WATER CONDITIONNER has well but before you do all that please do a 80% water change now. then use the hagen cyle afther the frsit 3 days change 50% of the water until you get down the levels buy a good test kit hagen or api
you need to be testing for
Ammonia 0.25
NitrIte 0.1
NitrAte 5
try to keep the levels down 0 for ammonia nitrite 0.1 and nitrate 5 afther few days nitrtae will go up but try to keep it in the safe zone
If you do all of this you should have no problems i am doing the water changes and fish are ok so far.
rember when water changing use the NUTRAFIN AQUA PLUS
TAP WATER CONDITIONNER.
P.S. you have to do a 50% water change for the frsit 7 days everyday until the levels drop down.
Then testing the water everyday you can deside if a water change is needed. this will take upto 4 weeks ather that time when you test the water the levels should be zero
That means your tank is cyle.
Welcome to the forum Chris.
I wish all cycles moved along that easily Dave, or even that the "cycle" products worked at all. We could all spend the rest of our time watching our fish instead of answering questions. Most, perhaps all, of the cycle aid products have the single virtue of providing their manufacturers with an income. Almost all of the dechlorinators, like the Aqua plus, work about the same but some are much cheaper to use than others. I find the Seachem Prime as the cheapest to use although the products made by most manufacturers will work if used as directed. The month to cycle a tank is typical, with or without the special cycling aids but there are a large number of things that can go wrong along the way depending on what your tap water chemistry is. You are right that our target is to keep the ammonia and nitrites as low as practical and that a fish in cycle almost always requires large water changes almost daily for quite a long time.
There is a rather good thread on this site that gives instruction on a fish-in cycle. I have a link to it in my signature area.
I wish all cycles moved along that easily Dave, or even that the "cycle" products worked at all. We could all spend the rest of our time watching our fish instead of answering questions. Most, perhaps all, of the cycle aid products have the single virtue of providing their manufacturers with an income. Almost all of the dechlorinators, like the Aqua plus, work about the same but some are much cheaper to use than others. I find the Seachem Prime as the cheapest to use although the products made by most manufacturers will work if used as directed. The month to cycle a tank is typical, with or without the special cycling aids but there are a large number of things that can go wrong along the way depending on what your tap water chemistry is. You are right that our target is to keep the ammonia and nitrites as low as practical and that a fish in cycle almost always requires large water changes almost daily for quite a long time.
There is a rather good thread on this site that gives instruction on a fish-in cycle. I have a link to it in my signature area.
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