Ooops I Didn't Cycle My Tank! (is This An Okay Plan?)

[Erin8D]

I recently bought new gravel, filter, hood light, the whole ten yards(well ten gallons actually) and then.. i bought some fish. I moved my betta into the ten gallon from his bowl thinking he would be happier, but I am not sure if he is I also have two cory cats, and two ghost shrimp. I have a 1.5" rubberlip plecco but I am giving him back when day comes, so he shouldn't be a ig problem. ANYWAYS I have read some guides on "fish-in-cycling" and think this is a good plan... DO YOU?

I am going to buy a liquid test kit, to watch out for the different levels in my tank. To my understanding if the levels are high (amonia >0) I should do a 20% water change? I think I have that covered.

To help the certain baceria grow, I think I am going to add in soome live plants and driftwood. The plants I want to add are...
-Anubias Nana
-Java Fern
-Willow Moss
-Anubias Barteri
Which plants do I tie to the driftwood? (with fishing wire right?) The moss? And how long do I boil driftwood if I don't want it to ad a brown tint to the water?

I have a full spectrum florecent light, and I think its 15-20watts, not sure. The temp is aout 78, should I heat it up a bit more? I think I read bacteria will grow faster in warm water? Does natural sunliht help at all either?

Ugg! As you can tell I am quite new, but I think this is what I should be doing to help the tank grow. Should I put my ghost shrimp in my fishbowl since they are subject to bad water quality? I have heard corys and bettas are strong little troope, so I think they will be okay. After the tank has been cycled (How do I know when?) I want to ad a third and final cory.

Anything to change? Sugestions? I NEED answers, and fast THIS IS THE LAST TIME I do something stupid! 9well at least without research)

P.S. I am too attached to return myfish, so I really hope that isn't the only option \because I might not be able to do it! haha

 

[-L-O-T-T-E-]

Hey... your water may not be as bad as you think Mine wasn't

If you have the money get a test kit and then you know for sure.... but if you can't afford one yet, fish shops do it for free so take ur water there.

My pH was a bit low on Sat so I added some pH upa nd now it is perfect... there seemed to be many posions etc in teh fish shop to help fix many water problems.

I also got some tetra safe start... that is meant to be good

I am only a beginner as you can proberly tell.... but have faith it will all turn good in the end x x

 

[frida]

Hey... your water may not be as bad as you think Mine wasn't

If you have the money get a test kit and then you know for sure.... but if you can't afford one yet, fish shops do it for free so take ur water there.

My pH was a bit low on Sat so I added some pH upa nd now it is perfect... there seemed to be many posions etc in teh fish shop to help fix many water problems.

I also got some tetra safe start... that is meant to be good

I am only a beginner as you can proberly tell.... but have faith it will all turn good in the end x x

I think the general consensus is that the tetra safe start doesn't do anything... In fact, most of the "bacteria in the bottle" products are a scam.
I also think that it's not a good idea to be messing around with the pH too much!
Probably the most important thing for Erin8D is to purchase a good test kit (like API master kit) and follow the fish in cycle. I think the pleco is a bad idea as they produce loads of waste... If possible, I really would return it. Or get a bigger tank. Ten gallons is unfortunately very small.

 

[-L-O-T-T-E-]

Hey... your water may not be as bad as you think Mine wasn't

If you have the money get a test kit and then you know for sure.... but if you can't afford one yet, fish shops do it for free so take ur water there.

My pH was a bit low on Sat so I added some pH upa nd now it is perfect... there seemed to be many posions etc in teh fish shop to help fix many water problems.

I also got some tetra safe start... that is meant to be good

I am only a beginner as you can proberly tell.... but have faith it will all turn good in the end x x

I think the general consensus is that the tetra safe start doesn't do anything... In fact, most of the "bacteria in the bottle" products are a scam.
I also think that it's not a good idea to be messing around with the pH too much!
Probably the most important thing for Erin8D is to purchase a good test kit (like API master kit) and follow the fish in cycle. I think the pleco is a bad idea as they produce loads of waste... If possible, I really would return it. Or get a bigger tank. Ten gallons is unfortunately very small.

Helloooooooooooo

Well aslong as my water stays like it is... its all good

You can get a chemicaly lab off ebay for £18

Oh yeah she is going

 

[greenscooby]

If your doing a fish-in cycle then you should be doing DAILY water changes of around 35% - 40%, sometimes 2 twice a day, just because your levels look good now they won't stay that way for long, as your fish produce waste and the uneaten food thats in your in tank then your ammonia will go up, this is harmfull for your fish, once that starts to settle then your nitrItes will start to rocket up, you need to do DAILY water changes for at least 5 maybe 6 weeks until your media has sufficient bateria growth to be able to process the waste, after that it'll only be a 20% - 25% water change once a week.

Mark.

 

[Whitester]

Don't get discouraged. I too made the mistake of buying fish the day after I set up my tank. I am currently on the start of week 7 and still no signs of NITRITES! I just wanted to tell you, it might take longer than the normal 5 to 6 week mark. I am hoping I see some change very soon.

 

[mickspark81]

Just wanted to add that suggesting any new hobbiest to buy chemicals to alter things like ph is nearly always a very bad idea

Even some of the experts i have spoken to really struggle sometimes to avoid a sudden swing in ph levels when using chemicals. This can be fatal to all your fish

A great tip for ALL new hobbiests is...

Provided your water stats ie, hardness and Ph are not at intolerable levels then most fish species will be fine as most have been bred and raised in tank water and are really quite hardy in general.

However..Sudden changes like rapid temp change or wild ph swing has the potential to kill your little friends . ie, You do say a 30 % water change but forget to alter the ph in the new water as you have been using chemicals to maintain the level in your tank. This could result in a fairly severe ph fluctuation which is far far worse to your fish than them being aclimatised to the natural tap water.

Simple natural ph adjusted are recommended but only if you feel you must. (You can check out the ph posts in these forums for what to add)