Nitrites And Nitrates In My New Tank

[PennyHardie]

I have decided to start keeping fish. I have set up my tank with real plants and used Tapsafe when I added the water. I put in flints from the garden which I washed thoroughly having checked that they are suitable for tropical fresh water tanks. The nitrate and nitrite readings are really high after 3 days. I did a reading with my tap water directly from the tap and there were none showing so they have only appeared once in the tank. I am going to add some filter bacteria to see if this helps but would I be better just starting again? I have seen articles suggesting the addition of ammonia or some hardy fish to get the cycle started but I don't want to kill fish getting started and adding more chemicals just feels as thought this could go on forever!

 

[Akasha72]

Hi Penny and 

 
Have a look at our beginners section. There's lots of useful info there on cycling your tank. Also can I ask what test type you are using? If it is the dip strips these are really inaccurate and that may be a reason for the Nitrite and Nitrate reading. I'm assuming by your post that you havn't added any fish yet (which is great news) and so there has to be a source for the Nitrite and Nitrate and if there are no fish I can not see where the source is 

 
Just a note on the Tapsafe - is this the Interpet tapsafe? If so this is what I used to use and so I know it contains Aloe Vera. There has been research to show that Aloe Vera damages fishes gills and so once you have used this up I'd suggest looking for a conditioner that doesn't contain Aloe Vera - I know that the API Tap Water Conditioner doesn't contain it as I've just switched over on to that myself. It's also really economical and will last you much longer than the tapsafe
 
Hope that helps somewhat 
 
Akasha

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hmm, assuming the plant is still pretty healthy and also not having the tank stocked yet then there should not be any real readings of anything, most likely its your tap water thats giving these readings as in the UK its pretty commin to have nitrate in the tap anything from 10 to 40ppm is usual.
 
As Akasha has already mentioned, a half decen test kit will prove invaluable for the new fishkeeper as this tests the water to ensure you tank water is safe for potential stocking in future. API master test kit are ok and a popular choice amongst keepers on this forum.
 
 
 
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Then I would urge you to start doing a 'Fishless Cycle' this basically means you are adding good bacteria to the tank and filter to make the water safer for fish.
 
Fish produces ammonia basically simply by being alive in the tank. Therefore this ammonia needs to be converted into nitrite then this nitrite needs to be converted into nitrate.
 
The only sure way of doing this is to cycle your tank to have the relevant bacterias needed to consume ammonia and making this ammonia into nitrite and then a different type of bacteria consumes this nitrite and produces nitrate.
 
All this ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are actually toxic to fish in varying degrees, so by doing this cycle this we are actually help to create a system that works for the fish you keep inside your tank.
 
The end result of this sytem is nitrate, as already mentioned, this can be toxic to fish, especially at high levels, so we fishkeepers do a once weekly water change of at least 25% but I would recommend 50%, this water change is what reduces the nitrate level to a safer level for the fish.
 
Live plants are a good additions in the sense they can consume some nitrate as well as ammonia so that is a nice bonus

 
i would recommend you to read this article, it will prove to be useful information to learn, its a lot to take in at first but given time and practical fishkeeping, you will surely begin to understand what all this mean.
 
Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!
 
Our first priority in fishkeeping is the welfare of our fish, shrimps and inverts we choose to keep in our tanks.
 
 
Btw, if you do go ahead with doign a fishless cycle, then you will need a source of ammonia, we usually use a bottled ammonia, like Kleen Off or specially made ammonia for fishtank cycling, both these as well as other brands can easily be obtained online as well as the test kit already mentioned earlier.
 
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NOTE - these pictures are what I have used personally without any problems in the past, however, do not feel you have to purchase any of these and there are many other brands that are probably perfectly fine.
 

 

[PennyHardie]

Thank you. A proper testing kit  it is and then I will see how to proceed from there, also thank you for the link to tank recycling. It is worrying that in Pets at Home where I bought the tank said just set it up and leave it for three days... I could have dead fish all over the place. They don't know what they are doing but thankfully I have been told about somewhere local where they do.

 

[Akasha72]

I wish pets@home would stop selling all live creatures. The advice is random dependent on which store you visit. At the end of the day the staff are mainly just general sales staff with the odd animal lover here and there. I hear bad advice on fish at my local store on a regular basis. 
 
If you want good advice on fish keeping find yourself a small independent store as the staff are generally fish keepers themselves. Alternatively ask here. Nothing is a silly question and there's always someone around who can help ... and if they can't they will usually say 'I don't know' and wait for someone that does.
 
Good luck with your new tank

 

[Shabba82]

I would agree with some of the comments, I am new to fishkeeping as well. For my tropical tank, I added the Hardy fish, neon Tetra is a good fish to start on, an active shoaling fish. You need to do the fishless cycle, I use the api range. Api quick start is good bacteria to help the filter, a good 3-7 days running without fish. It's true that the nitrites and nitrates came harm fish and the tester kit pic will help you. I added lots of fish and now I have some issues with ammonia and I'm told I am overstocked. What size tank do u have? Also watch for fish compatibility. Which fish were u thinking of?

 

[Ch4rlie]

I would agree with some of the comments, I am new to fishkeeping as well. For my tropical tank, I added the Hardy fish, neon Tetra is a good fish to start on, an active shoaling fish.

 
Well, not neccessarily, Neons like soft water, 6 - 7pH,though they can adapt to higher pH but its still a soft water shoaling species that do best in groups of at least 6.
 
To be honest, they actually are not all that hardy anymore, blame that on overbreeding as well as inbreeding, same goes for guppies and endlers.  One thing to look out for when you have neons, is Neon Tetra Disease which is usually fatal to neon tetras and this is becoming more common now.
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/93850-neon-tetra/
 
Despite their small size, they need a tank of at least 2 feet long as they are pretty active little fish.
 
If you want good stock, then a breeder is your best bet, though finding them is not all that easy and sometimes you have to pay more, but its usually worth it for good stocking fish.

 

[fluttermoth]

I've also found that neons do very badly in new tanks; even ones that are fully fishlessly cycled. It seems to be to do with the development of a biofilm that only matures in tanks that have been set up for six months or longer.

 

[Akasha72]

I had some neons and would agree that they're not as hardy as I believed. I had the black variety and they only lasted about 3 years which didn't seem all that long for a tetra
 
My Dad has kept fish all of my lifetime (over 40 years) and he keeps telling me you can't beat barbs at the moment for hardiness ... given what I've seen of his barbs I am inclined to agree somewhat

 

[PennyHardie]

I live in a hard water area. I have a 55l tank and after doing some research was thinking about 6 guppies (male) a couple of dwarf gouramis and 3 or 4 Cory (these are pretty hardy). I was going to start with the cory and then add the others. There is a great place near to me that has been recommended so no more Pets at Home! I grew up with tropical fish as my Dad has had one since I was born (50 years) and he never had much luck with tetra so I was going to avoid them

 

[Akasha72]

with hard water you might find that the cories and the gourami struggle. Both are soft water fish. There's also a serious problem with dwarf gourami at the moment which means they are best avoided. They are affected by a virus which there is no cure for and sadly it's rife within the trade. If you can find a local private breeder that would be the best bet to finding a dwarf gourami free from the virus but there's no real guarentee.
 
If you really want soft water fish it's best to look at ways to soften the water you have  

 

[PennyHardie]

Thank you, maybe i will take a look at the place where I am going and see what else they recommend. I am glad you didn't rule out my guppies though... I love them!

 

[Akasha72]

guppies love hard water, as do platies, mollies and swordtails. I'm not an expert on hard water fish as my water is the opposite to yours but I do know your choices are a bit more limited with hard water, but that shouldn't stop you from have a nice, bright and interesting display

 

[Shabba82]

I have guppies and swordtails in my new tank, but I've have a few issues with them as I've lost a few, people say it's to do with the cycle and set of the tank. The thing to bear in mind, guppies and swordtails are livebearers, they breed regularly and in high quantities like mice, so only a few to start with, ratio of 3 females to 1 male, as the male will chase and harass the females. Their quite active and colourful you'll nice a large tank. But there not hardy, so be careful of ur setup. Read up on livebearers.

 

[Akasha72]

it is true that the livebearers we used to have (hardy and long lived) are no longer what they were. It is because of the mass breeding that they have become weaker specimens and many only live for around 2 years. 
 
If you don't want hundreds of mini guppies swimming around your tank then a bachelor group is fine. If you buy females though, please bear in mind that most are pregnant when you buy them and so you'll need to read up on sexing so you can remove any males as male guppies will breed with their mother and sisters and this weakens the species further
 
The same applies for platies, swordtails and mollies