setup questions and help

[fakdd]

i am very new at this to start with, so if i seem a little udmb about this, please forgive me.
first off, i have a 44 gal tank with a penguin 330 bio wheel filter, rock for substrate, 2 cory cats, 2 catfish (no idea what kind they came with the tank, 3 neon tetras, 3 black mollies, 3 white mollies, 1 blue gourami, 1 large pleco (maybe a tiger he came with my tank also), 1 african frog, and 2 black strip tetra.
my tank has been set up about a week and the filter was used in a 10 gallon tank for about a week and in the 44 for i don't know how long. the substrate was transferred from the 10 gallon.
my wife bought a wardley mater professional water test lab.

now for my questions:

1. My ph is at 6.2, and from reading in the forums i have not seen this value mentioned. Is this low?

2. My nitrite is 1.0 and nitrate is 10.0. Is this good?

3. the ammonia in the test set reads between 1.0 ~2.5 (not quite 2.5 but more than 1.0) and says to multiply by.0011 (the equilent of 78 degrees and 6.2 ph) when i do i get .00275, is this alright?

4. I have 3 sand stones, i fake rock formation, 2 trees (fake), and 1 tea pot (at least that what it looks like). Is this enough for the fish?

Now that i have this test set my wife bought (she works at a lfs) i am really lost. i have done alot of reading and thought that i had a grasp on this i am confused. could someone point me in the right direction.

thanks in advance.

fakdd

 

[Keeper]

hey there. I'm quite new at this as well but I do know that Ammonia of any kind is harmful. The PH might be a little low. Check this site out, it might help you a bit.

Good luck and welcome to AA.

 

[Keeper]

oops...here is the link

http://www.fintastic.us/articles/basics.html

 

[fakdd]

thanks i am reading it now.

 

[Allivymar]

*nods and agrees*

Measureable levels of ammonia and nitrites are not a good thing; both are deadly to fish. You want the levels of both to be below .5ppm while the tank is cycling.

Some other important articles to read:
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html

 

[fakdd]

ok i have that twice now. once before placing the fish in the tank and now.
do i need to do a water change? one of the catfish is not as active as the other three. he happens to be the biggest one. will ammonia clear help with the ammonia?

 

[Allivymar]

I suggest water changes; thats the best and safest way of reducing ammonia and nitrite levels. Amquel is another option, but some tests will register the converted ammonia as deadly ammonia and it will be hard to tell how much water to change. A 20-30% change daily should help keep those levels down.

Water changes are definitely necessary during the cycle process. Once the tank builds up a sufficient nitrifying bacterial colony, once week or so changes will reduce the nitrate levels (you want them below 40ppm, and since nothing eats it except plants, its up to you to get it out of the tank). Don't do a gravel vac yet, unless there is a lot of detritus and rotting food down there. The bacteria colonizes surfaces, and gravel has a lot. Again, once there is enough bacteria in the tank, gravel vaccing is fine.

 

[Keeper]

do a water change immediatly.....30% i'd say. Keep doing water changes daily until the ammonia level is at 0. HTH

 

[fakdd]

thanks guys. i have just one more question.
can you put the water declorinator in with fish?
have not done this just wondering cause i don't have water ready for the tank.

 

[Keeper]

yes you can...i always put my conditioner in the tank right before I add my new water.

 

[fakdd]

ok thanks
going to do a water change here in a few.

 

[fakdd]

okay, i did a half water change and added the dechlorinator.
how long before i should check the water?

 

[Menagerie]

You can check it now. Doing a 50% water change is the highest I would go. Once your numbers (ammonia and nitrite) hit 0ppm, go with 25% water change once a week.

[center:73f4fb3ad9] Welcome to AA, fakdd!! [/center:73f4fb3ad9]

 

[fakdd]

thanks mena.
i have tested the water no traceable amonia or nitrates.
suitable nitrites.
this is according to my kit.
i also have a ten gal tank.
right now the nitites are 5.0 and the nittrates are approx 15.0 and no traceable amonia.
my next question is a friend of mine who used to have two 55 gal saltwater tanks said i can take something out of the 10 and put into my 44 to make the cycle happen quicker, what is he talking about?

oh yeah, it has only one male beta, ugf and no live plants. just gravel, a sunken ship (don't know if that helps or not) and one big sandstone (not from the beach but here local).

 

[Menagerie]

If your 10 is an established tank, then you could try to seed the other tank with established tank water. The same can be said for filters.

However, I'm not sure what's going on. Is the beta in the 10 with a nitrite reading of 5???

I just reread the whole post. You need to keep checking your ammonia and nitrite levels and keep up with the water changes. This will stop once the levels are constantly at zero. THEN you can go to weekly changes.

 

[fakdd]

yes beta is in there.
there were 2 ghost shrimp in there and then i could not find them. guess they got buried by the kids and died. not to mention found out they were over feeding. did a 1/3 water change and have not checked as of yet.

 

[fakdd]

i have got another question.
what would cause the ph to rise?
i checked the 44 just a few minutes ago and it went to 7.4.
i had to add ph down and am going to check in the morning.