Please Help...

[LolaLouie]

I have had a tank set up for 2 weeks, I was told by my fish shop that I could add fish after a week (added 4 neon tetras and 2 ADFs).

I now know about cycling but it was too late by the time I added them.

I added bottled bacteria and other products (e.g toxivec) to reduce nitrites etc. and help build bacteria. I did a 100% water change on the advice of my fish shop. I have just tested my tank and got the following results.. could someone please explain what they mean (I'm pretty sure they're bad):

Nitrite: 0.3-0.8
Nitrate: 50
pH: 7-7.5
Ammonia: 0


Thanks

Gemma

 

[pauly]

They're not too bad for a with-fish cycle. Keep up the water changes so your Ammonia is below 0.5ppm and you should be ok. Might take four weeks of daily water changes though.

Paul.

 

[raptorrex]

I have had a tank set up for 2 weeks, I was told by my fish shop that I could add fish after a week (added 4 neon tetras and 2 ADFs).

I now know about cycling but it was too late by the time I added them.

I added bottled bacteria and other products (e.g toxivec) to reduce nitrites etc. and help build bacteria. I did a 100% water change on the advice of my fish shop. I have just tested my tank and got the following results.. could someone please explain what they mean (I'm pretty sure they're bad):

Nitrite: 0.3-0.8
Nitrate: 50
pH: 7-7.5
Ammonia: 0


Thanks

Gemma

ammonia is the result of your fish doing their toilet. you need close to 0 without actually being 0 for a healthy tank

so the nitrite figure shows that the first stage of your filter is working, the filter bugs take ammonia and turn it into nitrites.

the nitrates show that the second stage of your filter is working too. the second stage bugs turn nitrite into nitrates.

the Ph indicates the "alkalinity" of your water and is a feature of the water supply in your area, that said things you put in the tank can effect this, so whilst it is going to be pretty much the same all the time, its still worth checking just in case.

i wish i could say how good your reading are, but as a fishless cycler, i am not sure. but if i had those readings, i would be adding fish to my fishless cycled tank. indeed i did a couple of months ago. popping in some Firebelly newts to the tank. these guys need nice clean good quality water, and they are very happy bunny's/newts, all three have shed their skins at least once.

as stated though, keep an eye on the ammonia, if it builds up dump some water and replace it.
All the best with this keep us posted
regards Tylor

 

[chrisdoesntmiss]

The ammonia is fine and being converted by the bacteria in the filter.

The nitrite is still a little high but nothing a little more time in the filter wont fix.

The Nitrate on the other hand is much too high, should be around "20". To fix this do a 50% water change with dechlorinated water, this will lower the nitrate in theory to "25". Still a little high but better than it currently is. Changing some of the water will also help to lower the Nitrite.

Chris

 

[CrashingWaves]

Being that the other questions have already been answered, I'm just going to throw in my two cents on something. First of all, I don't think a 100% water change was a very good idea, it kind of defeats the purpose of cycling . Secondly I would like to point out that very few people who work in the fish section at pet stores know what they're talking about. Generally you can tell which ones are actually experienced fish keepers themselves. In the 7 years I've been keeping fish and going to pet stores for fish, I've only run into two people I would actually trust for reliable advice.

God Bless,
Joshua

 

[LolaLouie]

Thanks for you advice, retested again this morning and got better results. Did a 20% water change and took my water to the fish shop to test and got what was apparently good results:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.3

I agree about the fish shop not knowing what they're taking about but it's hard to know who else to ask. I do ask on here but obviously when I'm actually at the shop I can't run to my internet with my concerns.

But this forum really helps.. I'd probably have a tank with 20 dead fish in right now if it weren't for here!

Thanks guys!