Need some urgent help!

[onemanandhisfrog]

yes and i think you definatly need to use a dechlorinator do not use it straight from the tap, you should be able to get stress coat from most fish shops/pet shops, i had a report from my local water board and my water contains only chlorine with no chloramine being used. but im pretty sure stress coat covers both chlorine and chloramine. worth gettign a water report from your local water authority, just ring them and ask for the water technician or for them to send you one.

[Pearson Design]

obviously this isnt gospel, but ive never treated any of my water for any of my tanks. freshwater, turtles, marine etc. all tap water, or with marine its RO now.

people do seem to get over-worried (is that a word lol) about water from tap. ive found as long as you dont use the hot tap, or a bathroom tap you will be ok

[annabel]

Originally Posted by Pearson Design

obviously this isnt gospel, but ive never treated any of my water for any of my tanks. freshwater, turtles, marine etc. all tap water, or with marine its RO now.

people do seem to get over-worried (is that a word lol) about water from tap. ive found as long as you dont use the hot tap, or a bathroom tap you will be ok

I would say it's fine to not use any additives, IF you leave water to stand out for 24hrs before use BUT I personally do this and also use stress coat, and have had not very many problems at all with tank cycling.

I've also used amquel + and had no significant problems either.

Could it be that your substrate isn't very encouraging for bacteria build up? This sounds all back-to-front put like that but I personally favour a layered humus, sand & gravel substrate.

You might also think about adding a small snail? I know there are mixed opinions on this - some claim they produce more waste than they dispose of - but I'm a fan.

[Snailgirl]

Originally Posted by annabel

I would say it's fine to not use any additives, IF you leave water to stand out for 24hrs before use BUT I personally do this and also use stress coat, and have had not very many problems at all with tank cycling.

I've also used amquel + and had no significant problems either.

Could it be that your substrate isn't very encouraging for bacteria build up? This sounds all back-to-front put like that but I personally favour a layered humus, sand & gravel substrate.

You might also think about adding a small snail? I know there are mixed opinions on this - some claim they produce more waste than they dispose of - but I'm a fan.

The only issue I've got with that is that I won't be able to keep the water at 28*C for 24 hours, it'd be cold by the time I added it which would cause shock.
I have gravel as my substrate, I can't really change it now because it'd involve removing the fish from the tank for a few hours and causing them even more stress.
I'm going to do a test with just the amquel+ added, to see if that's what's skewing the ammonia reading.
I thought about snails but I don't want the reproduction issue, they're hermaphrodites so there's a risk of even one alone reproducing.

[Snailgirl]

I tested the amquel+ in tap water and it's produced an ammonia reading of about 2.
Shall I just go ahead and add the amquel+ and trust that it's just skewing the reading?
Or shall I risk it and add pure, ammonia-free tapwater (wouldn't that kill the bacteria?)

[annabel]

Originally Posted by Snailgirl

The only issue I've got with that is that I won't be able to keep the water at 28*C for 24 hours, it'd be cold by the time I added it which would cause shock.
I have gravel as my substrate, I can't really change it now because it'd involve removing the fish from the tank for a few hours and causing them even more stress.
I'm going to do a test with just the amquel+ added, to see if that's what's skewing the ammonia reading.
I thought about snails but I don't want the reproduction issue, they're hermaphrodites so there's a risk of even one alone reproducing.

Snails do almost invariably reproduce but I remove the small ones & keep them in a tank with only weed in it. I like watching them mooch along th tank glass in their own right, though.

Couldn't you add a small amount of kettle boiled water? That's what I've done for my tropical tanks in the past & regularly for my betta water changes (e.g. every few days), not had any problems?

Your gravel should allow the tank to cycle quickly so no need to change the substrate, I only favour my mix because it's readily available & much less expensive than the 'developed' substrates- and doing all this now will really be worth it in the long run, for sure.

[Snailgirl]

I think I'm gonna have to give the water change a miss now, it's too late to boil the kettle and have it cool down enough to add I'll stop in pets at home tomorrow and get some stress coat, just hope it doesn't produce the same ammonia reading - but if it does, at least I'll know it's the test kit that's at fault!

[Cleopatra the Royal]

Originally Posted by Snailgirl

I'm easy to persuade. LFS guy managed to persuade me, a fishkeeping newbie, to use tetra safestart and add 3 harlequin rasboras a day after to cycle the tank, then return them and get my siamese fighter.
I'm using a nutrafin master test kit.

Started off with 0.5 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates. Water changed last night 50%, stats were exactly the same.
Tested this morning, still the same.
To try and get the ammonia down, I did another 50%.
Tested, and ammonia was worse. About 1. What am I doing wrong?! My tapwater has 0 ammonia, the only thing I added to the WC water was Amquel.
One of the fish jumped out last night and this whole mess is making me really stressed.

Am I doing something stupid? Is my test kit not working properly?
Help! I want to cause these fish the least pain possible!

First things first, remove the Harlequins! they are probably the most delicate fish in the hobby and won't survive more than a week in that kind of tank state. They should also be kept in 10 or more. Their poo is breaking down into the ammonia, and there are no Nitrobacter or Nitrosomanas bacteria to break it down, hence the high levels. Changing the ater won't get rid of ammonia, as the bacteria grow in the filter. In short:

"In a biologically immature aquarium, waste will build up as there are not the necessary bacteria to break it down. This will result in a large ammonia surge, followed by the colonisation of Nitrosomonas bacteria. A large nitrite surge will then occur, followed by the lengthy process of a colonisation of Nitrobacter bacteria. The nitrites will then be assimilated by the plants, and removed in a water change. Only now can the nitrites be converted into nitrates, and the aquarium is safe for use."

The process should take around a month to complete, only then is it safe to add fish - and more like 6 months to add Harlequins.

Harry

[hippyhaplos]

Originally Posted by Snailgirl

I'm easy to persuade. LFS guy managed to persuade me, a fishkeeping newbie, to use tetra safestart and add 3 harlequin rasboras a day after to cycle the tank, then return them and get my siamese fighter.
I'm using a nutrafin master test kit.

Started off with 0.5 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates. Water changed last night 50%, stats were exactly the same.
Tested this morning, still the same.
To try and get the ammonia down, I did another 50%.
Tested, and ammonia was worse. About 1. What am I doing wrong?! Using fish to cycle a tankMy tapwater has 0 ammonia, the only thing I added to the WC water was Amquel.
One of the fish jumped out last night and this whole mess is making me really stressed. The fish sound as if they're having a blast!

Am I doing something stupid? yes Is my test kit not working properly?
Help! I want to cause these fish the least pain possible!Or you could have caused no pain at all...

I'm not being funny, but ultimately the fish are your responsibilty! The shop is there to make money, that's how it works, and by buying fish which will be lucky to last another week you're keeping him in business. Return the fish tomorrow, even if it means walking away from your money! Then cycle the tank properly and without fish. Then you can add a betta.

[Snailgirl]

I am receiving so much conflicting advice. People telling me not to worry cause they're hardy, people telling me to be doing 50% twice a day, and now people telling me to take them back. This isn't really an option, I'm at college all day tomorrow and I can't rely on my parents to catch them and take them back for me, since I don't drive.

The amquel+ is CLEARLY distorting the ammonia readings, I'm getting high levels of ammonia in pure tap water with the amquel in it, and I'm still getting a reading of 0 nitrites and 10 nitrates in the tank, so clearly something good is happening.

Hippohaply or whatever your name is, your rude quote clearly isn't going to help at all, arrogance is not the solution to helping a nervous beginner!