Putting My Neons In?

[xamy_valox]

Hi there,
I am currently in the process of transferring my fish from my 23 litre to my new 70 litre. So far the harlequin rasboras, cherry barbs and my betta are doing fine. However I am worried about transferring over my neons as I know they are not suitable for new set ups.
I did transfer the media from my old filter (well the sponge part) to the new filter along with some of the old water, will they be ok?
Amy xx

 

[Noahs ark6]

how much new water have you put in and how much old water have you put in

thnks

 

[StandbySetting]

As long as your water chemistry is stable and you're getting consistent 0's for ammonia and nitrite you should be fine to add them, just do water changes to get rid of any ammonia spike if there is one, I'd acclimatise them to your new set up also.

 

[xamy_valox]

Hiya, I added roughly 13/14 litres of the old water, and then filled the rest with new water. My test results are coming out fine with 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites. Some nitrates but this is obviously just the filter cycling? I will do another test tomorrow and if all is well I'll add them over. Would you recommend me putting over the rest if the tank water? As these are the last fish waiting to be put over.
Thanks, Amy.

 

[StandbySetting]

Nitrates are fine, they don't pose a danger until levels peak into the hundreds but constant exposure to nitrates above 100PPM isn't good, but I doubt your levels are that high, there shouldn't be any need to add the water in the smaller tank, just acclimatise as you would with new fish.

 

[xamy_valox]

Yeah that's great. My nitrates were at 0.5 I think, on the API tester kit it was the one after 0 anyway! I have had to net one of my cherry barbs and pop her back into the smaller tank after realising I have 3 males and 1 female!! I've had them for months and not a peep, but as from today in their larger tank they have been going crazy and won't leave the female alone!!! I think I may have to get 2 more females to balance out the aggression. Would this be ok even though the tank isn't properly stabalised as such? I'm just worried that they will kill her if they wont stop bothering her.
Thanks, Amy xx

 

[StandbySetting]

Are you sure you're not getting nitrite and nitrate confused? I thought the scale on the nitrate kit went 0PPM 20PPM 40PPM and so on.

 

[xamy_valox]

The nitrite is blue and the nitrate is yellow/orange? On the API, I haven't got it with me at the minute to check!! But I'm pretty sure the nitrite is blue when it's at 0 and the nitrate goes from yellow trough to red?
Amy xx

 

[StandbySetting]

Yes that is correct, it's just odd that there is a 0.5PPM marking for nitrate, unless they've changed their scale.

 

[Randomitity]

My api water tester which isn't even 2 months old starts with 5.0ppm but who knows seen strange things happen before

 

[xamy_valox]

No I think I'm wrong and it is 5.0 an I've just got it the wrong way round. So yeah my ammonia and nitrite are at 0 and my nitrate is at 5.0. Sorry for the confusion!
So if I add my neons tomorrow after another test, would I also be able to add 2 more (newly bought) female cherry barbs to take the pressure off my current female?
Amy xx

 

[StandbySetting]

That should all be fine yes.

 

[OldMan47]

The sky blue is a good color for nitrites, it indicates a solid zero. Nitrate readings are far less important to your fish's health. Anything that you can interpret as less than 80 ppm is probably fine although we often target lower numbers after a weekly water change.

 

[xamy_valox]

Yep, ammonia was yellow so 0 and nitrites were sky blue so again at 0. I did do a partial (15%) water change a little bit before adding in the neons and 2 new female cherry barbs just to make sure everything was ok as I was worried my ammonia would crank up. I will test again tomorrow and if it has I will do another partial water change.
Thanks, Amy xx