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Noxidgiarc

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
3
I'm new to all this tropical fish keeping, but I'm getting used to it I think learning about ammonia and nitrite and nitrate etc, I've currently got a 64 litre tank and added the first lot of fish today I have 3 platys and 3 guppys my LFS has advised these as hardy fish and told me to take a water sample in a few days and possibly add a few more fish to the cycle does this sound like good advice or not?

Fish are friends not food!
 
Honestly, I wouldn't rely on what they say about stocking or the quality of your water. Not discounting the knowledge of your LFS, but putting more fish in there may or may not be a good thing depending on how long your tank has been running.
 
Its been running for 4 days now. The fish have gone in 2day what are your thoughts on amounts of fish to cycle my tank then at the moment I have 6 in a 64 litre tank
 
If you just set that up, then NO! You really need to cycle that tank first, either return those fish and do a fishless cycle, however if you do keep the fish then you'll have to do daily testing and pwcs! Eco knows a lot about this and will hopefully comment soon. Also welcome to A.A. :welcome:
 
Aha I knew Eco would arrive when cycling help was needed! And defiantly listen to him when it comes to cycling he is probably the most knowledgeable person on cycling here.
 
AquaKai said:
Aha I knew Eco would arrive when cycling help was needed! And defiantly listen to him when it comes to cycling he is probably the most knowledgeable person on cycling here.

Eco is always hiding in the shadows, lol.

IMO, cycling your tank is the most important aspect of fish-keeping (there's obviously other vital aspects like stocking compatibility), but cycling safely and humanely for your fish is the time that requires the most commitment, effort and patience. It's a breeze after that...but it always helps to have people on your side during the process :)
 
Thanks for the advice, I think I no where I'm up 2 now then. Is there anything else I need to do that I have missed. How long on average does it take to cycle a tank
 
Noxidgiarc said:
Thanks for the advice, I think I no where I'm up 2 now then. Is there anything else I need to do that I have missed. How long on average does it take to cycle a tank

Cycling can take weeks or months depending on lots of factors. The absolute best way to deal with a fish-in cycle is to find seeded media from an established tank. If you can search all over town and get some nice, dirty filter pads from healthy tanks that have been running for a while, it's the best way to introduce healthy bacteria that your tank needs.

Having a quality liquid test kit is also pretty much mandatory for the hobby. We all recommend API Master kits. The other tools you need are a bottle of Seqchem Prime water conditioner, which is a dechlorinator and also neutralizes ammonia and nitrIte (but still leaves it available for the bacteria to consume) to protect your fish between water changes.

No matter what the people tell you at the fish store, other than dechlorinator...there are no chemicals you should need for a healthy aquarium. Specifically bottled bacteria is useless in most cases and there is also potential negative consequences with certain brands.

Have a bucket for water changes, a gravel vac, a bottle of Prime and a test kit..land you'll be on your way to a healthy aquarium :)
 
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