Your current Fish tank Setups!

A month isn't that long when it comes to cycling a tank really, Delvis. I mean, some people can find that they are at the right stage to add fish after only a few weeks, but it can take longer. As BigBruiserAl said, test strips are far from ideal; I do actually use them for ammonia, though I also have a proper ammonia test as well as a reading meter which sits in the tank water. I would buy a water test kit; these can be had for not much money (£25+ ish), and although I've recently learnt that the some of the commonly seen kits sold in stores can be mediocre at best, they are at least a starting point. Try to get a kit that tests for ammonia (obviously), nitrite, nitrate, pH, GH & KH. I've been informed that 'salifert' is a good make, & a well known expert in the industry, Bob Fenner, concurs with this (surprisingly enough, one of the chaps at my local store hadn't even heard of them!).

Another thing you could do is to pop along to a local fish store, and assuming they are reasonably experienced (in other words not clueless), follow the advice they give to get you started with the cycle again (be it adding ammonia or fish food). Kudos to you for not jumping straight into the deep end (no pun intended :D), and chucking in fish when conditions aren't suitable. Patience can be very useful and is indeed applicable when starting a tank up. :)
 
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Like I said before, I will be buying a full test kit just can't spend the money right now, for what its worth my ammonia IS a liquid test :)

I shall look online for a Salifert one though bud.
 
one of my two male pearl gourami - people say two male gouramis can be a problem but I have 2m 4f and never seen any aggression from the males. One of the females I can feed by hand and she's the most aggressive of them all

I have two males two females. 1 the females is the boss of the tank yet the other female had to put into tank of her own as the other 3 bullied her to point alost killing her. Now they all live happy. Thing with any fish-tank and species they all have different personality's and it is a balancing act getting them right. I have 7 fish tanks but luckily all pays for itself as I breed specialist fish,ramshorn snails and sell plant cuttings. I have given up on my shrimp tank tho cannot keep them alive grr.
 
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Argg, hate eBay. Thanks both :)

Gf has suggested it may be worth getting a couple of apple snails to put in to the tank? Or not?

Ammonia levels are dropping albeit slowly, will do another water change and monitor again.

While I'm sorting this out, how often should I be water changing while I'm sorting ammonia levels etc? Once all sorted, how often then?

X
 
Gf has suggested it may be worth getting a couple of apple snails to put in to the tank? Or not?

Ammonia levels are dropping albeit slowly, will do another water change and monitor again.

While I'm sorting this out, how often should I be water changing while I'm sorting ammonia levels etc? Once all sorted, how often then?

X

Negative apple sails will not help and can be a royal Pain in the butt sometimes, apple snails give off a lot of ammonia any way and don't eat algae as people think.

No water changes should be made unless it stalled or your ammonia is over 3-4PPM, even then another W/C is unlikely to help.

You really need to know what your Nitrite is at this stage

Water changes once done will depend on stock, size of fish, size of tank, and how well the bacteria's A & B can go through their cycle ;)


Go on to any fish forum and ask for help, the 3 things they will ask ammonia,nitrite,nitrate readings most wont even bother to reply without them :(
 
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Cheers rob.

So, tests today are as follows:

PH: 7.6+ / HIGH PH: 8.2
Nitrite: 0.5ppm
Nitrate: 5.0ppm
Ammonia: 0.50ppm
GH: 15 drops(dkh?) Should be between 3/11 = 50-200ppm
KH: 9dkh / 161.1ppm

So, Ammonia has dropped, it was mega green last week so its improving.
GH I'm not surprised, I think the water is pretty hard here amyway.

Tanknis 12 litre, for one betta (yes it should have been bigger but its better than what they're displayed in by an fair shot) currently its sat at 91f to kill off the ammonia apparently? Shall I lower this to 82f ish?

Noob here so be gentle

Edit:

Read this:

-Liquid Test Kit: A liquid Test Kit will help keep you know your Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels. Ammonia and nitrite should always be 0, nitrates under 20ppm, and pH at a level of 6-7.5.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=20058

Sound about right?
 
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Yeah. For the nitrates, under 20 is ideal, but don't panic if it goes towards the 40 level. Also, properly acclimatised fish can tolerate a slightly wider PH range than what you Think.

I would always try to keep it 8 or below though. But as indicated, a neutral of 7 would be perfect if you can achieve it.
 
My Corydoras have had babies. I spotted around 3-4 of them on Friday night. Hopefully they will survive and I'll transfer them to another tank when they are big enough.
 
Cheers rob.

So, tests today are as follows:

PH: 7.6+ / HIGH PH: 8.2
Nitrite: 0.5ppm
Nitrate: 5.0ppm
Ammonia: 0.50ppm
GH: 15 drops(dkh?) Should be between 3/11 = 50-200ppm
KH: 9dkh / 161.1ppm

So, Ammonia has dropped, it was mega green last week so its improving.
GH I'm not surprised, I think the water is pretty hard here amyway.

Tanknis 12 litre, for one betta (yes it should have been bigger but its better than what they're displayed in by an fair shot) currently its sat at 91f to kill off the ammonia apparently? Shall I lower this to 82f ish?

Noob here so be gentle

Edit:

Read this:



http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=20058

Sound about right?

I've heard the best temp for cycling is 28c. not confirmed myself but that's what I use

Yeah. For the nitrates, under 20 is ideal, but don't panic if it goes towards the 40 level. Also, properly acclimatised fish can tolerate a slightly wider PH range than what you Think.

I would always try to keep it 8 or below though. But as indicated, a neutral of 7 would be perfect if you can achieve it.

from the advice I've read and my own experience it is best to find fish to fit the ph and leave the ph alone. mine is pretty much always solidly 8 and very hard, so I've avoided anything that likes below 7. a lot of species that have been bred/aquarium raised will tolerate a fairly broad range with decent acclimation as you say, as long as the ph is kept stable.

also it is important when doing water changes to make sure you let the water you are putting in reaches its 'gassed out/natural' ph before doing a change, otherwise you can cause the ph to drop and then come back up - I used to use a python type water changer straight from the tap on my first aquarium and I'm pretty sure I killed a bn pleco doing that.

although with a small tank like this using RO water for changes should be pretty feasible and easy to keep consistent. ask the fish store what they are using, especially if they are local and likely on the same water supply...

I thought it might have been what was killing my celebes rainbows as well, but I couldn't keep them alive in my new setup either so I just gave up trying to keep them. All my other fish seem pretty damn hardy.

there are some nitrate-removing filter media - I used some on my first tank and it really seemed to help a lot. I put a little in my new tank as well but it is so heavily planted that helps a lot anyway, I'm only just starting to see levels above tapwater now that I'm pretty well stocked (overstocked according to aqadvisor but it doesn't account for planted tanks and seems conservative anyway.
 
So things don't seem THAT far off then? I was more wondering about the GH and kh as people have been asking about them.
 
So things don't seem THAT far off then? I was more wondering about the GH and kh as people have been asking about them.

gh and kh are unrelated to the cycle if that is what you are asking. otherwise I wouldn't worry about their levels, on the high side but that can be good as it'll keep the water buffered so ph won't start to drop. my water reads harder than that iirc.

but as I say with such a small tank and for a betta you might want to consider using reverse osmosis mixed with regular tap to keep a consistently lower ph
 
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