empty and cloudy

[Mumma.of.two]

ok so i've been looking for the right ammonia for a week and can't do it so my lfs about a hour and a half away from where I live and actually trust ,told me to just use the tlc start smart supplement and add some starter fish at the same time the bottle is 4oz of bacteria for every 50 gallons my tank is 29g...they told me to pour the whole bottle in my tank and put my fish in there to feed the bacteria ....it being so much bacteria im afraid alot will die without a sufficient amount of fish so would it be a bad idea to get all my tetras at once to start my tank with then give it a couple weeks to start adding the rest a couple fish at a time probably my corys and pleco next the the guppys and swordtail then my gourami

I wouldn't bother with the bacteria starter. IMO a waste of money. You can do a fish in cycle. It takes as long as a fishless 4-8 weeks but you need to test everyday and do PWC as needed.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html
After the tank is cycled you can introduce new fish slowly (2-3 per week).

 

[librarygirl]

I wouldn't bother with the bacteria stuff either. And if you add too many fish at once you're going to be doing a lot of water changes to combat all the ammonia. If your LFS wants to help you cycle the tank ask them for some filter media from one of their tanks.

If you are going to attempt cycling with fish I'd add just a few small fish and you'll need to test the water daily and do water changes as needed for 1-3 months until the tank fully cycles or else the fish will likely suffer and die. There are two links in my signature: new empty tank (fishless cycling) and new tank with fish (fish-in cycling). Read both and see which one you'd rather do.

 

[blizowman1]

so my lfs only has rosy barbs rasbora het and and the regular like neons or cardinals are any of these ok

 

[blizowman1]

so I ended up getting pristella tetras

 

[Mumma.of.two]

so I ended up getting pristella tetras

How many did you get? Remember to test every day and if ammonia or nitrite are .25ppm or over do a PWC. As library girl said, get some seeded media if you can. If you get enough you might only cycle for a week or two. I, just recently, instantly cycled my 10g with media from my 70g.

 

[blizowman1]

I actually got to many lol I got all eight but I work second shift so I can check it everyday and next week im off all week so I should be able to stay on top of it since I wont have anything else to do

 

[blizowman1]

im not sure of they are scared but they all huddled up under my log and have been there all day they haven't swam anywhere yet is it normal for them to do that till they get used to it

 

[Mumma.of.two]

im not sure of they are scared but they all huddled up under my log and have been there all day they haven't swam anywhere yet is it normal for them to do that till they get used to it

It's normal. They are scared of the new environment. Leave the lights off for a day. They will be fine by the end of the week

 

[blizowman1]

ok so check it out I put 8 of the tetras in this morning around 11:30 - 12:00 with half a bottle of TLC Start Smart bacteria in a bottle...4oz for every 50 gallons...it is now 1:00 a.m. and my test reads like this

*PH 6.8 to 7.2 (this is the one that gives me alot of trouble I just can't tell the colors apart)
*Ammonia 0
*Nitrite 0
*Nitrate 0 - 5.0

so something in this bottle must work right I figured id give it a week or two and when I add my 6 corys put the other half of the bottle in just or should I go ahead the guy at my lfs said the whole thing and most places in my little town are mom and pop shops the one that told me about this place is the real deal the gutted a full strip mall and the whole thing is some of the most beautiful tanks I've seen I think I trust them lol

 

[Mumma.of.two]

ok so check it out I put 8 of the tetras in this morning around 11:30 - 12:00 with half a bottle of TLC Start Smart bacteria in a bottle...4oz for every 50 gallons...it is now 1:00 a.m. and my test reads like this

*PH 6.8 to 7.2 (this is the one that gives me alot of trouble I just can't tell the colors apart)
*Ammonia 0
*Nitrite 0
*Nitrate 0 - 5.0

so something in this bottle must work right I figured id give it a week or two and when I add my 6 corys put the other half of the bottle in just or should I go ahead the guy at my lfs said the whole thing and most places in my little town are mom and pop shops the one that told me about this place is the real deal the gutted a full strip mall and the whole thing is some of the most beautiful tanks I've seen I think I trust them lol

I wouldn't add any more fish until you KNOW it's cycled. Consistent 0 ammonia and nitrite and climbing nitrate. IMO your not going to know at the very least 4 weeks.

 

[blizowman1]

im going to continue to test daily I just didn't expect it to test like that so soon ....hopefully the bottle of stuff actually works

 

[Mumma.of.two]

im going to continue to test daily I just didn't expect it to test like that so soon ....hopefully the bottle of stuff actually works

I hope it does for you! I know there are a couple of brands that actually do work (apparently) but can't think of them at the moment.

 

[blizowman1]

so after my first week with my 8 tetras I have done my first water change. I changed 10 out from my 29g. my ammonia is 0 nitrite 0 and nitrates is between 5 and 10....and I have yet to lose any of my fish