New tank be aware!!

[Seewaa]

Haha sorry I know you guys prob get a little nervous inside when you see newbies enter the forum not knowing what might happen to the next innocent fishy but luckily we have you guys and hopefully you can help me out
So I've been doing a lot of reading on here and I've learned a lot so far. But I do still have a few questions. So far I have my tank set up, decorated, filled, running, heated. It's been going for 3 days now and I had no choice but to add fish. I understand the benefits of fishless cycle but with it being partly shared with my cousin and she's the one buying the fish so she is calling the shots right now.
I was able to convince her in to only getting a few to start and to pick out some hardier fish.
I tried using a product called bacter vital which claims to help cycle a new tank in three days. And so far I have readings of 0ppm ammonia 0ppm nitrites and 0ppm nitrates with a ph of about 7.8(API master test kit used)
My question is this..if ammonia and nitrites are harmful to fish and should be at zero. Is it ok to have the fish in the tank?
Also, I have a ball of marimo moss from the LFS and planted a water onion if that makes a difference. This is my set up so far..
38 gal fresh water tank
Active(semi-aggressive) community
Mixture of rocks, driftwood, caves, 4 large fake plants, 4 med fake plants, 4 small fake plants, gravel substrate and I also planted a water onion and have a ball of marimo moss.
Fish in the tank right now are two about 1" tiger barbs andaims 1.75" bristle nose pleco.
Any feedback is awesome and criticism as well( just don't be too harsh..please)

 

[Viper]

If you are reading all zero's, your cycle probably hasn't started yet.

 

[Seewaa]

So does that mean that it is not safe for the fish or can I keep them healthy by doing PWCs.

 

[Bettababe1011]

PWC will help, but no in fish cycle is really healthy. The fish may be able to fight the ammonia with your help, but it will still affect the fish negatively.

Courtesy of Dakota's iPod.

 

[Seewaa]

Would it be possible that the moss that I introduced to the tank has the both the bacteria in it that takes care of ammonia. Also I used bacter vital that I've read contained the bacteria alive in the bottle. Ill test again later today for ammonia but if I get another reading of zero is it still ok?

 

[Bettababe1011]

The bacteria in a bottle is usually not worth the money. It has no food source, and dies in the bottle, so you are essentially pouring dead bacteria into the tank.

Courtesy of Dakota's iPod.

 

[jenatron]

Even if you still get 0's, your tank still isn't cycled. Perhaps you should read up more on the Nitrogen cycle. Almost all tanks (besides heavily planted tanks) should have some sort of Nitrate reading. Yours doesn't. Your tank will still have to go through the Nitrogen cycle. The only thing you can do to try to help your fish through is to perform PWC's to keep Ammonia and Nitrite around (or below) 0.25, once they start rising.

 

[Seewaa]

Here's a picture of the tank
One more question. Would it even be possible that I get a reading for nitrates? Or is that out of the question?

 

[1Vampiregirl]

Here's a picture of the tank
One more question. Would it even be possible that I get a reading for nitrates? Or is that out of the question?

You'll get nitrate readings as your nitrogen cycle progresses. First you'll see an ammonia rise, then - nitrite (both of these you'll keep at or below 0.25 with PWC), and then you'll get a reading of nitrates.

Nice tank, btw.

 

[Homedog98]

Lots of water changes, and do your research.

 

[eco23]

You should try to convince your cousin that since she's buying the fish, she should let you do a fishless cycle so the fish that's shes paying for don't die and will have a heathy home when the tank gets cycled.

 

[Homedog98]

One more thing. Sharing tanks doesn't work. I tried sharing my tank with my friend for a while, until I wound up doing all the research and she thought I was being bossy. When the tank finally came to my house, I took over after she stopped caring. I don't mind though. I like it!

 

[cichlidpaul]

im with homedog and viper here it will take a while for your take to cycle without fish never mind with fish (which is longer) with fish you are only doing them harm and they may not last , as much as you both want fish you have to hold back and get the tank to the right water conditions first off im doing a fishless right now and yes its killing me but its the fish that matter . Your amminia will peak and when it does it will be like putting soap in your eyes thats how they will feel

so the more fish the higher the ammonia = bad take a look at my thread to see how it works but my advice is to do a fishless cycle its the only way to go for me and many others on this site

one thing i have leanrt is not to be shy and ask this site is one of the best ive been on and we will all help if we can

 

[Pvtdgrif]

Welcome to the forum!

I agree with all the above. As a relative newbe myself (3 month old tank, fully cycled the wrong way) I've learnt that fishless cycle is the best so if you can convince your cousin to return the fishes to the store until you have a cycled tank that would be best.
If that isn't going to happen then return the bristlenose as they are very sensitive to ammonia and nitrite and it will most likely die. The barbs will be ok as long as you do a 40% PWC every day until ammonia and nitrite are 0.
Also look into "borrowing" some used filter media to speed up the cycle.
Following the above should get you through the cycle, but it will be a lot of hard work if you keep the fish.

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium

 

[Seewaa]

Thanks for the feedback everyone definitely will take this info into account. Much help