Water Change Before Buying Fish?

[danaka47]

Fantastic forum, I am new to this game and learnt loads already. I almost puchased a BGK fish for a 10 gallon tank. But thanks to this forum i have learnt loads and have planned a (hopefully) successfully first tropical tank, complete with a nice variety of suitable species.

Just a few quick questions.... and i apologise for being dense.

• Once you are ready to put your first few fish in a new tank, should you do a big water change before you get them??? Am planning to cycle for a few weeks then purchase a small amount of fish, then keep this up for another month before i get a few more. I set up my tank a couple of days ago, and am currently cycling. I need to get a testing kit, but all seems well so far.
• On another note, I have sand in the bottom, and the tank was quite cloudy for the first few days. I added Filter Aid to clump the silt, but this has left a fine film over the ornaments in the tank. Is there an easy way of removing this? Does it matter? (apart from not looking to nice) I intend to stock with 2 corys in a month or 2, so will they clear this away?

On a final note i was told by the retailer that 2 weeks cycling is fine, and yet today i overheard another one say 1 week. Sounds like they shouldn't say anything, and instead recommend reading this site!!

Great stuff everyone and many thanks for any advice.

 

[kbekll]

you are on the right track cycling a tank is diferent for everybody some its 3 weeks others it's 5 weeks

a water change is done befor the purchase of fish due to the ammount of nitrate in the tank, should be nearly reach 60 ppm if not more, and is advisable to keep below 40 ppm. if you have read up on cycling you will know bacteria consume ammonia which creates nitrite as a waste which is consumed by a different bacteria which creates nitrate as waste, this is the main reason for water changes and also keeping the gravel/sand nice and clean

he silt should evetually dissapear with movement in the tank cory's will help keep the sand clear of debris but not clean

cory's need to be in bigger groups tbh

the shops are not really talking about cycling tbh

have you been adding ammonia to your tank ? if not then http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355 have a read

 

[danaka47]

Thanks for that. Not adding ammonia, just 'filter start' every few days. Going to get a test kit tomorrow then take it from there. Will prob post results to get opinions.

Thanks

 

[kbekll]

not too sure if that will work tbh

also it is pointless putting in the tank with no ammonia in it because if does have bacteria in it will die off due to starvation

is this the jbl poduct

if it is i would not trust it as they say on their website store @ 0-30*c at this temp they are active and will have nothing to survive on

from website
Concentrate of beneficial cleansing bacteria to activate filters and filter material.

Rapid breakdown of ammonium / ammonia and nitrite by cleansing bacteria

Results in clean water and healthy fish

JBL Filterstart: When?

* when installing new filter or filter material
* after cleaning filter
* after using medications

Living bacteria – do not store above 30°C or below 0°C

 

[fatheadminnow]

Agreed^^

Filter start is not how to properly cycle a tank.

Even if some how the bacteria in the filter start are a live in your tank right now, then they need an ammonia source to live, as ammonia is their food source.

Have a read in the Beginners section, how to do a fishless cycle.

-FHM

 

[danaka47]

Didnt realise that...what a newbie! Going to head out now and buy a water test kit. What ammonia product should i buy? Is that all i will need?

Thanks

 

[fatheadminnow]

Your Local Hardware shop should carry an ammonia cleaning product.

It will be a bottle and say ammonia on it, and then it should say ammonia 9.5%.

-FHM

 

[kbekll]

their are many ways to add ammonia to the tank

easiest is to add ammonia from a bottle

otherways are

fish food
raw prawns

 

[fatheadminnow]

True, but I would do the bottle way and not the food or prawn way.

First, I heard prawns MAY have a disease.

Also, fish food is not a reliable method to measuring ammonia output, same with the prawn as well.

If you got a bottle of ammonia, usually it is 9.5% diluted, therefore you will be able to use the Aquarium Calculator at the top right of this page to figure out how much ammonia from the bottle to add to the tank to get it to a desired level.

With fish food or prawns, it is just a guessing game, not accurate at all

-FHM

 

[shahrezsyed]

completely agree you just need a testing kits to moniter the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite and some ammonia.
dead simple.
shahrez

 

[danaka47]

Thanks everyone, just got a testing kit...results to be posted shortly. Couldnt find any ammonia will need to find somewhere tomorrow. Have got some fish flakes to make do for now.

 

[danaka47]

All results came back 0. PH was 7.......panic stations!

 

[kbekll]

what is their to panic about lol

it should read 0 ph is just about right


now need to find a source of ammonia

 

[danaka47]

Good times!! Would i be able to get some in an everyday store like asda/tescos etc. Not sure if i've got a hardware store near me. What sort of product would it be called?

 

[ellena]

Not sure if you have Boots in NI, but they stock it over here. You may have to persevere with the staff as they on't seem to know they stock it It's with laundry/cleaning stuff.