Wannabe Fish Owner With Questions

[fshinggrl]

Ok...
1. We have well water here. I have had fish before and they did fine (just not here). I was all excited and got the tank set up, ran the filter and added conditioner & stuff before we got the fish. Got 4 Mollys. 2 died. I gave away the other two, one was acting fine, but other was so-so. The store worked with me in trying to get my amonia levels safe. No matter what I try, it doesn't get safe. I do the amonia lock stuff, every couple days and my levels still seem horrible. I don't understand. Any ideas? I have soft water. I went over to my parent's house and got some water from them (tested safe right out of faucet). I added it to my tank and it isn't as bad as my water, but it isn't good (hard water). I don't know what to do.

2. My kids chose mollys as their choice of fish. I found that they were semi-aggressive. We had 4 but two died.. the Male was the aggressor. Could it just be that he was picking on the ones because they were not doing well? The store clerk said that the higher the dorsal fin, the more agressive the fish. Another store clerk (different store) had never heard of that and would not say that Mollys were aggressive at all.

Thanks! I would like a peaceful, relaxing tank of fish but need to get my water right. Nitrates are great. It is just the amonia levels that suck. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[fatheadminnow]

to TFF!

You are in a good position to get your tank off to a good start.

I am sure you have found out that ammonia is poison to fish, and that is why they died unfortunately...

What you need to do now is what is so popularly known as cycling a tank!

There are two different methods to do so, but I am only going to let you know about one of the methods since this is the better method and does not put fish in harms way. This method is called "Fishless Cycling."

Have a read here:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=271928&hl=
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

These articles are a bit lengthy, but it is essential that you read and understand what is happening here.

If you do that, you will get off to a good start.

So, read those topics, and then let us know what questions you have, because trust me... lol... you will have questions!

Welcome again! There are tons of members on here that are very nice and willing to help!

-FHM

 

[fshinggrl]

Thank you on all fronts. I haven't had fish for a couple weeks and have basically emptied my water out (this last time most of it) twice. I will read your links more thoroughly again. I have a syphon to clean and have moved the rocks around so I don't understand why I am still having issues with ammonia (I knew it didn't look right when I was typing it!) Thanks for the information.

 

[fatheadminnow]

You still have ammonia in your tank water right now?

What kind of test kit are you using?

-FHM

 

[fshinggrl]

Jungle brand Ammonia Quick Drip.

eta: I have also brought in water samples to the pet store.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Jackie.

The first thing you need to understand about this place is that we are a bit anal about only using liquid type test kits. We never do believe what we read on a test strip.

Ammonia from a well source of water is exceedingly unlikely but not impossible. Try measuring your tap water with your tester and see what you come up with. FWIW, none of us much believe pet shops either. They will tell you whatever they think will sell something to you. The high dorsal thing may be an example, my guess is that his males were looking pretty sad and he wanted to steer you to his fish. A high dorsal is a male that is very interested in the female and is displaying at his best to get her to cooperate. He may or may not be a good looking specimen but is on his best behavior, fish are really not that different to people in that way.

If your well water tests high in ammonia and it is not a very shallow well, I would guess that the tester is wrong. A very shallow well could possibly be picking up some ammonia from farm fertilizer runoff.

Soft water is not going to make keeping mollies easy. Mollies like liquid rock with a high pH, not soft water. I have great molly water with hardness over 10 German degrees, total dissolved solids over 225 ppm and a 7.8 pH. I have some trouble sometimes with angels, cories, neons and similar fish because my water is so far from ideal for them.

Please read through the cycling threads and see if you have any questions after that reading. In general we discourage people from doing a fish-in cycle because it turns out to be so much work to do and dying fish can quickly dishearten new people in the hobby. On the other hand a fishless cycle can take some time but does not threaten any fish at all.

 

[fshinggrl]

Thanks for the info Oldman! I am definitely frustrated. I didn't have this many issues when I had fish before at a different location. I have a lot on my plate right now and that is why I got rid of the two surviving mollys.. so they could live. I'll keep working on the fishless tank hoping for a day that I can bring life to it. If I have any questions after I read the links, I will jot them down and respond here. Thank you so much for helping me out!

 

[fatheadminnow]

I am sure you are going to have many questions on the matter at hand.

If you read everything, understood everything and did a fishless cycle with your tank without asking any questions, you would most likely be one of the first not to ask any questions about your cycle...lol...

The reason why you did not run into this with your previous tanks is most likely because the method of a fishless cycle has not been around for that long.

I am not sure when it was "invented" but it was most likely just getting off to a start when you had you other tanks.

In the past, before fishless cycling was so evident, people who started out in the hobby of fish keeping would set up their tank and just throw a couple hardy fish in to get their tank started. Most likely not knowing much, or anything at all, of the the nitrogen cycle.

On average, I hope this does not dishearten you, it takes 4-6 weeks for a tank to finish a fishless cycle. Yes, that means 4-6 weeks until you can safety add fish.

-FHM

 

[fshinggrl]

On average, I hope this does not dishearten you, it takes 4-6 weeks for a tank to finish a fishless cycle. Yes, that means 4-6 weeks until you can safety add fish.

-FHM

Oh man!!! Thanks.

 

[fatheadminnow]

On average, I hope this does not dishearten you, it takes 4-6 weeks for a tank to finish a fishless cycle. Yes, that means 4-6 weeks until you can safety add fish.

-FHM

Oh man!!! Thanks.

Maybe I should not of said anything...lol...

Most people on here like to make a new thread completely dedicated to their personal cycle of their tank, which they update everyday as the cycle progresses.

This not only helps you out on where you are at, but it also lets us watch your progress as well! Then we will be able to help you out if something goes wrong!

First thing is first, you need to get a good liquid test kit! Strip test kits are inaccurate and no good!

The API Fresh Water Master test kit is one that a lot of people on here like to use, myself included!

We will be here with you throughout the whole process.

As for myself, when I did my cycle, I can honestly say that it was really exciting watching my tank come around! Yes, it was frustrating at times, but I got through it and so will you!

And man, when the cycle was done, it was awesome to start adding fish, knowing that you did everything the right way!

Here is a thread I made a while back talking about my cycling experience!

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=276222&hl=

-FHM

 

[fshinggrl]

On average, I hope this does not dishearten you, it takes 4-6 weeks for a tank to finish a fishless cycle. Yes, that means 4-6 weeks until you can safety add fish.

-FHM

Oh man!!! Thanks.

Maybe I should not of said anything...lol...

No by all means, I'm glad you said something. At least I know what has to happen and how long to expect it to take!

 

[coldcazzie]

In the past, before fishless cycling was so evident, people who started out in the hobby of fish keeping would set up their tank and just throw a couple hardy fish in to get their tank started. Most likely not knowing much, or anything at all, of the the nitrogen cycle.

My mum passed me on a book a couple of days ago which was published a good many years ago, and in the setting up the aquarium section it explains about the nitrogen cycle, and the bacteria that live in the filter, then says to set up you add a couple of fish and stick it out through the ammonia and nitrite spikes:

It can be tempting to do dismantle the tank and start again, or do a large water change, but this will set the tank back a stage and deaths will occur. By removing water you will be removing the bacteria."

this is recommended despite the fact that it previously said that the bacteria live in the filter, not the water! Interestingly though, it seemed to recommend a fishless cycle while setting up a marine tank, although it didn't say anything about adding an alternative source of ammonia, just that fish should not be added at all until the cycling is complete and that it usually takes until around day 30 for the ammonia to drop, and day 40 for the nitrite to drop.

Needless to say, I won't be passing it on to any newbies because of the terrible advice, (that and it reeks of cigarette smoke!) but I thought it was interesting. It's not surprising really that most people don't do a fishless cycle when most authors don't know about it and therefore detail it in books, and most LFS have never heard of it either....

 

[mrspnut]

I've recently set up my tank and used a fishless cycle after reading these forums for ages and it was a real doddle.

It was especially good because we were away a lot over the summer and by adding ammonia to the tank when I could test it in order to get it cycled rather than having to be here constantly and testing every day in case fish were suffering was a godsend.

I added my fish (18 of them) last weekend and my water stats have been rock solid all week. I'm planning a water change over the weekend because my nitrate is getting near the 40ppm mark but the ammonia and nitrite have stayed at zero. Fishless cycling makes all the difference to starting the hobby.

 

[fshinggrl]

Now I picked up the test for ammonia today. I saw the tests for nitrate & other stuff, but it was all $11.00 each! So in order to do this, I am looking at putting in another $50? Does that sound right?

 

[fatheadminnow]

Now I picked up the test for ammonia today. I saw the tests for nitrate & other stuff, but it was all $11.00 each! So in order to do this, I am looking at putting in another $50? Does that sound right?

What kind of test kit did you get?

API makes a master test kit, which includes ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH for like $28.00.

-FHM