Riding The Air

[imajes]

OK. two-week old tank. 10g. first cycle. I have 3 cardinal tetras, two balloon mollies and one cory reticulatus. None of the fish were added till the ammo etc readings were all 'good'.

Saturday morning i noticed high ammo smell, got it tested and it was pretty bad. (two days from adding fish to seeing such a change... amazing).

Now my fish are hanging out ALOT on the walls of the tank, are a lot more active and seem to keep trying to ride the filter air. I noticed it has bad ammo smell again.

If i need to do daily water changes then fine - but I need to understand what my fish are telling me better!

any advice?

thanks.

 

[Torrean]

What do you mean by the amoo readings etc. were all good. If you haven't been adding ammonia to the tank you should not have had any ammonia reading at all until you after you added fish. you have three options that I can see.

1. buy a master test kit with ammonia nitrite and nitrate tests, other tests are good to have but those three are essential. test your water every other day. if ammo or nI get above .25-.5 do a 25% water change. keep doing this until 1 week after your ammo and nI reach zero and your nA is above zero. after this point do biweekly 25% water changes. Or do a water change every time your nA hits 40-50.

2. do daily 25% water changes

3. option 1 with a twist. do as I said earlier but try to think of anyone you know who owns a fishtank. If you know someone who owns a healthy established (more than 3 months old) fishtank then ask them if you can have some filter media. This is the sponge stuff that is in your filter. If they'll let you have it then swish it in your tank and then put it inside your filter. This will speed your cycle a great deal.

If you wait for your fish to tell you that your ammonia is too high then you will have serious problems. once they start showing symptoms of ammonia poisoning it is already severly damaging them. Invest in a test kit plz.

 

[imajes]

Thanks Torrean -

definitely agree about the test kit, and it's on my list of things to buy. It's only when it's the weekend and you can't just pop down the road to the lfs and get your water tested!

When I said the ammonia was high, that was me possibly not checking what test was high. Tomorrow I'll get the test kit and actually do it and therefore get proper results.

thanks.