Need some urgent help!

[annabel]

Originally Posted by 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!

I think what that tells you is there's no right or wrong way to do it. Yes in an ideal world you'd have cycled first, but honestly, you'd still have gone through some of this when you added your fish.

I've never had Harlequins, but if they're as fragile as ^ above suggests, then they were quite frankly a bizarre choice for the shop to suggest but you have them now & you're being conscientious so don't worry too much. It just takes time.

Some of the best fish shops I've been to have told me there's no substitute for cycling a tank with hardy fish - unfortunately for you, your cycling fish are LESS hardy than your betta.

Leave your water out overnight, and boil a bit in the morning & add it. 12hrs & no amquel + is preferable to amquel + by the sounds of it.

[hippyhaplos]

Originally Posted by 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. Can you not net them just before you go, and get someone to return them?

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 hippyhaplos, your rude quote clearly isn't going to help at all, arrogance is not the solution to helping a nervous beginner! Arrogant? I'm many things, but not arrogant. You asked for advice and you've got it. Of course people are going to give different advice, but from where I see it, this is a welfare issue. There would be absolute uproar in the lizard section if something was kept without a heat source, so why should a fish be any different? Clean, suitable water is a basic requirement for fish!

Merely my opinion...

[hippyhaplos]

Originally Posted by annabel

Leave your water out overnight, and boil a bit in the morning & add it. 12hrs & no amquel + is preferable to amquel + by the sounds of it.

For now it may be... I'd run the water from the cold tap hard into a bucket, and this should help dissipate chlorine as well.

[Snailgirl]

I'll try and make time to do a water change with the aged water tomorrow morning, but I have a very early start. I'll be getting stresscoat in the afternoon on the way home so hopefully all will be ok and the readings will be accurate!

[Cleopatra the Royal]

All I can say is, having had sooo many beginners come and ask questions about these things, DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST. never buy or act on impulse strait away, back it up with something else, then it would save so many people so many more problems.
but again,

DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST!

[annabel]

Originally Posted by Cleopatra the Royal

All I can say is, having had sooo many beginners come and ask questions about these things, DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST. never buy or act on impulse strait away, back it up with something else, then it would save so many people so many more problems.
but again,

DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST!

Not really her fault tbh - she was given poor advice from a shop assistant. I would say almost all the people I know who are new to fishkeeping buy fish without cycling properly first & it puts them off doing it again. There's no need for things to end up being so complicated! The sellers are meant to be the 'experts'!

[Snailgirl]

Water has been changed 40% with the aged and boiled tap water.

It's not like they've gone in there with nothing at all, they're in there with a bacteria solution which was added and seems to be working - which I'll find out when I do my water changes later.

[Snailgirl]

Good news!
I bought some stresscoat, tested the pure tap water with it added and the ammonia reading was 0
Just did a 40% wc and now the levels are at:
Ammonia: 0.3
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2

[Pearson Design]

yay!
glad to hear it

[Snailgirl]

Excellent news everybody!

I got home today after a 2-day trip, my mum did a 50% WC for me yesterday and fed the fish, took measurements today, and I'll let them do the talking!

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 1
pH: 7.7

Looks to me like it's cycled! If it stays the same for the next few days, I will hopefully be getting my betta very soon

All in all, I think the tetra safestart worked, I was putting extra amquel in each time because I'd read it didn't cause any harm in small overdoses and just helped to remove extra baddies from the water, and it was massively distorting the ammonia reading. If the readings stay stable, the tank has cycled in a very short amount of time thanks to the bacteria in the safestart.