Very Annoying

[fatfishman]

Today i went down to a LFS with a sample of water to test for me and with the intent of buying some fish.

However when i got there and told them i had been cycling my tank for two weeks they said that there is no point testing the water if there is no fish in it. I said what about nitrate and ammonia they said there cant be any with out any fish. So i asked some one else who worked there if they could test the water so i could know if i could buy some some fish today and they also said that there is nothing to test. Still unconvinced i asked ok if there is no ammonia etc than what about the water hardness, pH etc. They assured me it was all ok without even glancing at the water and then persisted in trying to sell me some fish. So i left quickly without buying a thing

I went to another lfs and a very helpful guy tested the water for me revealing levels of nitrate he told me to keep up my water changes and to come back soon with a another sample of water to see if i could get some fish.

This how a lfs owner should be and i found it very annoying that the first place i went to more ar less refused to help me out
Am i wrong ?

 

[littlest]

Hey, have you read up about fishless cycling?

In a way the first shop was right. If there are no fish in the tank, and not other source of ammonia, testing the water isn't much help to you. You need to add a source of ammonia to start your cycle, so the bacteria you need build up. Some people use a few hardy fish to do this, but it is recommended to do fishless cycling instead and add either ammonia from a bottle or something like fish food or frozen prawns.

I suggest you read up about fishless cycling here and buy yourself your own liquid test kit. It's pretty difficult to cycle a tank with your own test kit and you should really always have one on hand when you have fish too.

 

[fatfishman]

Hey, have you read up about fishless cycling?

In a way the first shop was right. If there are no fish in the tank, and not other source of ammonia, testing the water isn't much help to you. You need to add a source of ammonia to start your cycle, so the bacteria you need build up. Some people use a few hardy fish to do this, but it is recommended to do fishless cycling instead and add either ammonia from a bottle or something like fish food or frozen prawns.

I suggest you read up about fishless cycling here and buy yourself your own liquid test kit. It's pretty difficult to cycle a tank with your own test kit and you should really always have one on hand when you have fish too.

I have been cycling i started out by adding some flake food as a source of ammonia

 

[sarah86]

Hey, have you read up about fishless cycling?

In a way the first shop was right. If there are no fish in the tank, and not other source of ammonia, testing the water isn't much help to you. You need to add a source of ammonia to start your cycle, so the bacteria you need build up. Some people use a few hardy fish to do this, but it is recommended to do fishless cycling instead and add either ammonia from a bottle or something like fish food or frozen prawns.

I suggest you read up about fishless cycling here and buy yourself your own liquid test kit. It's pretty difficult to cycle a tank with your own test kit and you should really always have one on hand when you have fish too.

I have been cycling i started out by adding some flake food as a source of ammonia

we went to our lfs a couple of months ago with a water sample, i had tested it at home and knew it was ok but for the sake of the garuntee i took in a sample. the pH was 6.7 and i was told that i wouldnt buy any fish unless the pH was 7 as it would kill the fish, i told them we already had a couple of corys in the tank who seemed happy enough and she told us that they were lucky because the pH was dangerous to them. anyway we ignored her and went to a different store who said the pH was fine for corys and let us have some

 

[synodontis]

A water sample taken from a fishless tank will have varying levels of nitrate, depending on regional water, none of which will be too high for any fish to survive. The only thing I would insist on getting would be a PH test. Make sure it's very close to your LFS water.

 

[omega59]

it sounds like the sotry i had.

i went to the local petshop and i had my tank runing only 3 days, i told the guy this but he still sold me fish, sure enough they all died but 2. now when i saw this i went to a local shop (smaller place) and the guy actually asked me for a water sample and he told me he would NEVER of sold me any fish without settin gup the aquarium properly. but it's been almost 4 months now and my tank is working okay.. i need to buy a water kit soon tho to test it cus the water seams to be holding some particles of dirt or cloudyness.

so you see, somtimes large franchise shops don't know anything or they just want to make a buck!
but it could also happen to a local small shop. it's just a matter of seeing how they talk to you i guess

 

[littlest]

Hey, have you read up about fishless cycling?

In a way the first shop was right. If there are no fish in the tank, and not other source of ammonia, testing the water isn't much help to you. You need to add a source of ammonia to start your cycle, so the bacteria you need build up. Some people use a few hardy fish to do this, but it is recommended to do fishless cycling instead and add either ammonia from a bottle or something like fish food or frozen prawns.

I suggest you read up about fishless cycling here and buy yourself your own liquid test kit. It's pretty difficult to cycle a tank with your own test kit and you should really always have one on hand when you have fish too.

I have been cycling i started out by adding some flake food as a source of ammonia

ah I see. The lfs probably either didn't realise you were adding fish food, or didn't understand why. Most lfs don't know what you are talking about when you talk about fishless cycling.

Was it only nitrate that was high in your water? It suprises me that you aren't showing ammonia or nitrite after only two weeks. How often are you adding a source of ammonia?

 

[Amunet]

A water sample taken from a fishless tank will have varying levels of nitrate, depending on regional water, none of which will be too high for any fish to survive. The only thing I would insist on getting would be a PH test. Make sure it's very close to your LFS water.

It doesn't have to be close to your LFS water. That's what acclimating is for. Float the bag, take some water out of the bag, add in your tank water.

Wash rinse and repeat. After a while, most of the water in their bag will be your water so they'll be fine. *nodnod* I'm sure someone else can go into the details about this... I'm too tired to think alot right now heh...

 

[fatfishman]

Hey, have you read up about fishless cycling?

In a way the first shop was right. If there are no fish in the tank, and not other source of ammonia, testing the water isn't much help to you. You need to add a source of ammonia to start your cycle, so the bacteria you need build up. Some people use a few hardy fish to do this, but it is recommended to do fishless cycling instead and add either ammonia from a bottle or something like fish food or frozen prawns.

I suggest you read up about fishless cycling here and buy yourself your own liquid test kit. It's pretty difficult to cycle a tank with your own test kit and you should really always have one on hand when you have fish too.

I have been cycling i started out by adding some flake food as a source of ammonia

ah I see. The lfs probably either didn't realise you were adding fish food, or didn't understand why. Most lfs don't know what you are talking about when you talk about fishless cycling.

Was it only nitrate that was high in your water? It suprises me that you aren't showing ammonia or nitrite after only two weeks. How often are you adding a source of ammonia?

There was some ammonia but mostly nitrate i had been adding a small amount of food every few days.

Everything else was ok though the pH was between 7 and 7.5

Your right most fish shops dont have a clue what you mean by fishless cycling.