Started New Tank

[pumpkinnose]

Hi everyone,

I'm new and we just started an aquarium with 5 Sunburst Red Platies and 1 Panda Platy in a 10 gallon tank (Yes I know this will become to small once they get bigger) plus the algae eater that I have had for about 3 years now. The kids are so excited. Hopefully our red platies won't harass the panda to much since it is the only one that color.

 

[Easy]

Just gonna come out and ask if you know about cycling the filter? Might as well ask now before the "corkscrew Olympics"start.

 

[pumpkinnose]

I know I need to watch the ph in the tank. But now I have a new problem. I think I have more male fish in my tank then female. I think I have 4 males and 2 females which leaves me at a 2:1 ratio. I don't have an extra tank to separate the three extra males and I'm not sure if PetCo will take the extras back.

 

[Easy]

I know I need to watch the ph in the tank. But now I have a new problem. I think I have more male fish in my tank then female. I think I have 4 males and 2 females which leaves me at a 2:1 ratio. I don't have an extra tank to separate the three extra males and I'm not sure if PetCo will take the extras back.

Um cycling is not the same as watching the PH level. Is this a new tank? If so you need to read the fish in cycling thread in the beginners forum or your fish will start dying one by one.
I did the exact same thing and I bought from the same store. As long as the fish are alive and you have your receipt you have 30 days to return them. If the fish is dead you still can return but you will need to bring a sample of your water and of course your receipt.

 

[pumpkinnose]

The tank isn't new but the water and filtration is due to my Goldfish dying and me cleaning the aquarium totally out. I have plans in a couple of days of taking 2 gallons out which will give me almost a 25% water change in the aquarium.

 

[Easy]

The tank isn't new but the water and filtration is due to my Goldfish dying and me cleaning the aquarium totally out. I have plans in a couple of days of taking 2 gallons out which will give me almost a 25% water change in the aquarium.

That won't work. If you threw out your old filter you are gonna have problems. The old water isn't enough. Trust me I just went through the same scenario. 25% water change is enoug for weekly maintanence but will not save your fish from ammonia or nitrites. Do you have a water test kit? If not you should get one ASAP.

 

[dbanner]

The advise "easy" has given you is correct. If you have a new filter then you have no benifitial bacteria in your tank/filter. Please read the fish less and fish in cycling threads in the beginners section. Also know as the nitrogen cycle. A fish less cycle can take anywhere for around 8 weeks+. Basically you don't put any fish in until the cycle is complete. You dose the tank with the required amount of pure ammonia to the tank and then wait for the ammonia levels to go back down to 0 and then redose. You repeat this until the ammonia and nitrites (harmful bacteria) clear from the tank repeatedly after around 12 hours an turns into nitrates (benifitial bacteria). This is the bacteria that will live in your filter and break down the ammonia and nitrites which are toxic to fish. Only when this is complete will you be able to add your fish. It takes time and patience but is worth it in the end. If you were to get some filter media off somebody with a cycled filter then add it to your filter then your tank/filter will be almost instantly cycled

To give you an idea, my tank is cycled (with the help of a mature media donation from my lfs) and my tank reading are...

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 20 (benifitial)

PH 8.0

If you was too keep the fish in an uncycled tank like yours then you are doing what's called a fish in cycle. Basically the fish produce waste which turns too ammonia but because your filter is not cycled it has no benifitial bacteria to cope with the waste and so you need to do 90% water changes daily. Sometimes twice daily to keep your levels down. This is much more time consuming than a fish less cycle. Plus with fish less cycles your not putting any fish at risk in the process and they take longer (around 12 weeks)

Best advise would be take the fish back to the store, get yourself an all in 1 liquid water test kit, start your fish less cycle and test your water daily. Good luck

 

[pumpkinnose]

Ok. Here is what I've done today. I took 2 of my sunset platies back and traded them for 2 panda since the single female I had was being harassed but the sunset. (Last night I noticed she was hiding and took a closer look at her and it looked like she was missing scales. She seems happier now with the 2 additional pandas and is swimming around.) I bought an Ammonia Nh3/Nh4 Test Kit by API (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) which has a glass tube that draws 5 ml out and then put in 8 drops of the test stuff. I took a test at 12 pm Central Time. The test showed there was anywhere from 0-.25ppm (mg/L) in the tank. I will do a second test tonight around 8 pm Central Time before I go to bed.

P.S. I will keep a separate thread going in here to see if anyone else has any comments. Any help will be great thanks.

 

[OldMan47]

Daily ammonia testing and nitrite testing will be in order until your tank cycles, maybe 6 weeks from now. Any value of either chemical over 0.25 ppm calls for a very large, maybe 8 gallons, water change. I already answered your stocking question over in the livebearer section.