The guy at pet store said I have ammonia water, but I check. I do not.

[pettygil]

Wait. When I look at the color thing on the temp, sometimes, it looks blue, if i shine a light on it, but when I look further back it looks green, hard to tell and that is in the 84 degree range. I think it's green.

 

[pettygil]

Food is food and waste is waste . It really doesn't matter which food you use because any extra food will rot in your tank and produce ammonia . I have never used food to cycle an aquarium , but I can not see it as controlled than dosing with pure ammonia . I would say it is hit or miss on how much to use , but maybe someone who cycled with food could narrow it down for you .

As for your tank running hot , what kind of bulb do you use in the hood and how long do you leave it on ?

I know some people use raw shrimp to. I would need to know how many to use and if I leave the raw shrimp in the tank and for how long?

Right now I don't have any light on in my tank and I think I read the temp wrong, looked blue, but now looks green. 84 seems to be the temp. I am not used to reading that sticky temp thing stuck to my glass tank. If I shine a flash light on it, it looks blue, but if I walk back and look at the color, without a flash light, it looks green. Hey, this would be something fun to try at home. My eyes were tricked. LOL

I have a standing fan that blows air, would that hurt a fish to blow air like that on the water, if I had to cool the tank?

Can I just use cool fresh pure water from the fridge to pour into the tank, without adding conditioners?..I mean just to cool the tank down, if I had to.

The Heat outside, sometimes get 100 degrees, and I don't have AC.

 

[Crepe]

It's probably your thermometer then. I have a outside stick-on thermometer tape and it always reads 2-4 degrees higher than the actual temperature. I'd get a cheap glass alcohol thermometer and just be done with it.

Anyways, no, a rapid drop in temperature would harm a fish and 84 isn't that bad. I'm running anywhere from 80-84 degrees in my tank without incident.
And yes fans are good cooling tools. I use one on especially hot days. It drops the temp maybe 2-4 degrees.

 

[pettygil]

I do not know if this is normal, or not, but yesterday I bought some pet store gravel and washed off with water, no soap used.. and placed in my tank, there seems to be white bubbles, on top of the gravel and a little bits of white, something stuck on the side of my tank..Very tiny, whatever it is. it doesn't move, just looks like white specks of something stuck to the tank. Is that algae? Don't ask me. LOL. I'm fish noobie, so I don't know what it is.

 

[pettygil]

It's probably your thermometer then. I have a outside stick-on thermometer tape and it always reads 2-4 degrees higher than the actual temperature. I'd get a cheap glass alcohol thermometer and just be done with it.

Anyways, no, a rapid drop in temperature would harm a fish and 84 isn't that bad. I'm running anywhere from 80-84 degrees in my tank without incident.
And yes fans are good cooling tools. I use one on especially hot days. It drops the temp maybe 2-4 degrees.

Thanks, this helps a lot. My temp is just fine and should stay that way, ok cool, thanks for letting me know.

 

[mommytron]

not sure about the white specs, could you post some pictures of it? it could possibly be diatoms, which are good, it means your tank is cycling. have you added any ammonia yet? as far as using fish food for your ammonia source, i would use it as a last resort. not only is it hard to tell how much to use, but it takes a while to actually rot and produce ammonia and leaves a big mess in your tank to clean up before you add your fish. if you do not want to go out and find pure ammonia, i recommend using raw shrimp. i have not persoanlly used this method before but many on here have. i believe with your size tank 1 shrimp would be plenty of ammonia to cycle it. first, you need to get that liquid test kit we all keep mentioning so you can test to see how much ammonia you actually have, and nitrites and nitrates as your cycle gets further along. so glad to hear you will be cycling your tank fishless, it really is the easier way to go. your temperature is fine as it stands right now. that being said, when it gets cooler outside, like in the winter, your temperature will start swinging dramatically which will harm your fish. you should definitely invest in a heater by the time it starts cooling down outside. with your size tank you will only need a 50w heater which will be relatively inexpensive.

the thing about fishkeeping is you can't just look at it as another pet that you buy, feed, get shots for, and call it a day. fish keeping is most definitely a hobby. a hobby that requires time, patience, investment, and understanding. even experienced fishkeepers learn new things all the time. i definitely recommend to read all you can about the hobby and soak up as much information as you can. if you are like anyone else on this site that one 5gal betta tank will turn into 3 tanks in no time it's a little thing we like to call MTS--multiple tank syndrome.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Well, glad you decided to cycle your tank without the fish. He or she will be very happy .

In order to know how much of an ammonia source you need, you need a good test kit first. Like the API Liquid one mentioned many times before. It is a good investment, since it lasts for a long time. You won't be able to know anything until you get a good kit such as this one. Strips are horrible. So are most pet store employees. One way I have found to figure out if the employees are worth listening to is to test them with a question you already know the answer to. See if they tell you the truth, or just try and sell you something. Sounds like the 5 places you called are full of false info.

If you use raw shrimp, you only need a couple. You can buy them from the grocery store, throw them in a mesh bag (that hasn't been washed in any detergents or anything) and leave them in the tank. Test for ammonia, every day or so, until your levels get to around 4ppm or so. Then you wait for nitrites/nitrates etc. This info can all be found on the links posted for you in the previous pages.

Fish food is personally my least favorite way to cycle. You will need a lot of it, and it is indeed very messy. Raw shrimp can be stinky. I like to use pure ammonia. I got mine at Meijer's for less than 2$. Just make sure it doesn't bubble when you shake it, or have any detergents or surfectants in it.

 

[mfdrookie516]

More than likely, the 'white specs' you're seeing are tiny little air bubbles... if you move your fingers over them, do they float up to the surface? thats pretty normal if so

 

[pettygil]

not sure about the white specs, could you post some pictures of it? it could possibly be diatoms, which are good, it means your tank is cycling. have you added any ammonia yet? as far as using fish food for your ammonia source, i would use it as a last resort. not only is it hard to tell how much to use, but it takes a while to actually rot and produce ammonia and leaves a big mess in your tank to clean up before you add your fish. if you do not want to go out and find pure ammonia, i recommend using raw shrimp. i have not persoanlly used this method before but many on here have. i believe with your size tank 1 shrimp would be plenty of ammonia to cycle it. first, you need to get that liquid test kit we all keep mentioning so you can test to see how much ammonia you actually have, and nitrites and nitrates as your cycle gets further along. so glad to hear you will be cycling your tank fishless, it really is the easier way to go. your temperature is fine as it stands right now. that being said, when it gets cooler outside, like in the winter, your temperature will start swinging dramatically which will harm your fish. you should definitely invest in a heater by the time it starts cooling down outside. with your size tank you will only need a 50w heater which will be relatively inexpensive.

the thing about fishkeeping is you can't just look at it as another pet that you buy, feed, get shots for, and call it a day. fish keeping is most definitely a hobby. a hobby that requires time, patience, investment, and understanding. even experienced fishkeepers learn new things all the time. i definitely recommend to read all you can about the hobby and soak up as much information as you can. if you are like anyone else on this site that one 5gal betta tank will turn into 3 tanks in no time it's a little thing we like to call MTS--multiple tank syndrome.

I don't have anyway to take a picture of it, but I did notice now that most of the white stuff is gone.

I already spent the money I have for those ammonia strips. I can't afford anything else to next month. I did check, again. My ammonia levels are 0.

I didn't use soap in the tank. However, I had another question. I took a bowl I ate from but I washed in hot water, many times. What I am saying is.. at one point the bowl had dish soap in it, but before I used the bowl.. I rinsed bowl in hot water many times, then stuck in the tank to get water. Is that ok to do?

Never mind. I remember what I did. I used the bowl to pour my fish gravel in, and rinse the gravel with water. I didn't place bowl in tank.

When I wiped out the tank I used a cloth, but that cloth had been washed and dried..I hope I don't have to start all over again.

I have a huge water picture, its plastic, if I rinse that out real well, then can I use it as a bucket to drain the water? I have not added ammonia yet.

As far as tanks go. I have 2 hamsters. I have a 10 and 20 inch tank, now I have a 5 gallon tank. I think I already have tank syndrome. I have MTS, yes!

 

[krap101]

As long as the bowl wasn't filled with soapy water, I'm sure it'd be fine. When the soap attacks the bacteria, it kind of becomes inert (I think), so since there was so little on the bowl, there shouldn't be any visible effect. If you (let's say) put cyanide in the tank, a slight coat on the boat could have killed everything in the tank. It all depends about the potency of the chemical and how much it can effect before it can't do anymore.

If it makes you feel better, people wash their hands occasionally and (after washing thoroughly) put their hands in the tank, so.. yeah

I'd imagine that the white stuff might be diatoms from some silica coming from somewhere. If it has some brown tinge (if it is diatoms, it might eventually become brown when it grows a little) then it'll probably go away in a few days. Diatoms along with other types of algae are generally harmless, and are just removed for cosmetic purposes

 

[logansmomma1228]

You can get a bucket at the dollar store, if you really aren't sure about getting soap into the tank. I personally got a bucket just to be safe, but I have used things that have been washed with soap before.

Whenever I put new (fake) plants or decor in, or do a water change, a get little bubbles all over everything. They usually go away, but I think they look kind of neat!

 

[krap101]

I get my buckets from Walmart. The bakery gives 5ish gallon buckets out for free (much better than those pickle buckets). I picked up like 15 big ones, and like 10 1-2 gallon ones.

 

[Crepe]

I have white crap build up on my tank decor and plants all the time. It's like a combination of dust from the air settling in the water, dust from the substrate, fungused waste, waste and lord knows what.
In your case it's probably just some air bubbles and dust.

As for soap. I'm not too weary about soap. Trichlosan (the antimicrobial in most dish soaps) is only toxic in huge amounts (yay middle school science projects). Anyways. I wash my hands in soap always before and after taking a dip in the tank. But I always wash for 30 seconds and rinse for a minute, taking care I get water in between my fingers and nails, where soap likes to hide.

 

[dkpate]

Mine is calcium.

 

[pettygil]

I have more questions, sorry but I keep thinking of things. Thanks everyone, you all have been a big help, now on to my fishy questions.

My other question is this. What if I get a fish and it dies, and say the fish had ick, then I want to buy another fish. Do I do a water change, or is there something I treat the water with first, or does any of this matter?

What if my fish didn't have ick, but died, Could I place another fish in my tank right away?

Right now I had my tank for 3 days, with no fish. It's has been three days, my fish water looks a little cloudy, is that normal? I think watching my tank changes is kind of interesting. Every day I find something new in my tank and it's not a fish, not yet!

 

[logansmomma1228]

I have more questions, sorry but I keep thinking of things. Thanks everyone, you all have been a big help, now on to my fishy questions.

No problem! I always have tons of questions as well That is what we are here for!

My other question is this. What if I get a fish and it dies, and say the fish had ick, then I want to buy another fish. Do I do a water change, or is there something I treat the water with first, or does any of this matter?

If you get ich in your tank you need to make sure it dies first. Here is some info on it . Fish Disease - Ich It has 3 life stages, and is most susceptible in the free floating stage, which is the final stage. If the fish dies then you can crank up the heat right away, add some salt, and let it work its magic. I personally would tear the tank down and clean it out with a 20/1 bleach solution, wash everything off real good with hot hot water (no soap) and start over.

What if my fish didn't have ick, but died, Could I place another fish in my tank right away?

It depends on how the fish died. If it was just natural or something it should be fine. If it was parasitic I would research whatever it was and make sure you know how to rid the tank of it before getting something else.

Right now I had my tank for 3 days, with no fish. It's has been three days, my fish water looks a little cloudy, is that normal? I think watching my tank changes is kind of interesting. Every day I find something new in my tank and it's not a fish, not yet!

It is fine to have cloudy water, it could be a bacterial bloom. Have you read any of those links on cycling? If so, how are you cycling? The best part about waiting for the cycle for me is all the research I can do about what kind of fish I want!

 

[pettygil]

logansmomma1228,

I have read the links on cycling, there is no ammonia in the tank, not yet, so I doubt it's bacterial bloom. All I have been doing so far. I am running the filter all the time, and I have all the chemicals to treat my fish water done.

I will cycle, when I can afford those test strips. I can't do it now, if I can't test my fish water. I've been running the tank for 3 days, no fish and no ammonia added.

Also, I have a 5 gallon tank. I was thinking of using my one gallon pure water
jug, to drain my water into, when I do water changes. I have no idea what a 10 to 15 percent water change is from a 5 gallon tank. So lets say; I did a 10 percent water change, if I used a 1 gallon jug to fill up with water, would that be half of the jug full of water? Or would I fill up the gallon jug full? I need an idea of how much water to take out.

I'm also allergic to bleach. I don't feel like dying right now, so if my fish died of ick, is there another way to clean the fish tank and water? You said add some salt, so any salt will do?

 

[logansmomma1228]

By test strips I hope you mean the liquid kit? Strips are innacurate, the liquid kit is only 18$ at walmart.com. IMO if you are going to save you might want to save for that since it will be 18$ once for a long time, as opposed to ~12$ or more (If I Remember Correctly) for all the strips once a month or more.

No rush to cycle, whenever you want to. It's your tank! It took me forever to get to cycling my 29 because the filter was messed up and I could not figure out what was wrong (ended up being a pin sized hole in the intake tube, go figure lol)

you do not need to do exact% of water changes, just a rough estimate. I would say if you were doing a 5 gallon to do maybe 2 gallons, or 1 1/2, whatever you feel like doing. Once you do them a bit you will get good at judging about how much you think you should change. I gauge mine on my levels on the kit, and if I had messier fish I would probably do more. I have a 10 gallon with a dwarf puffer and an oto. I do about 4 gallons a week. My readings are always am-0 nI- 0 nA- 20 before I change the water.

Lol at the bleach thing, my bad. You could use vinegar, or just scrub it out really good with the hot water. Just make sure you never clean anything with soap or detergents of any kind. Be wary of windex when cleaning the glass as well, and room sprays, etc. around the tank.

The salt I was talking about is the Aquarium Salt. It is used as a general tonic/stress reliever in FW tanks. It is different than Marine salt, I am not sure exactly how but I know that it is. you can get it in the fish aisle at Meijer, Walmart, etc. It was only 1.79 at my meijer for a lb. You only need one rounded tablespoonful per 10 gal of water.

 

[krap101]

Salt and heat is used for ich, but I'm not sure if it would work with a short exposure. When the ich is in its dormant stage, I think it can survive most anything. (I think they're in cysts) Hydrogen peroxide may work, or some other really potent chemical. Bleach works well normally because we can use dechlorinators to get rid of it pretty well (and if you leave it there, and it's not spongy, it will eventually outgas)

I think methyl alcohol might work (or whatever is listerine), that stuff used to kill HIV and stuff, but I'm not sure how to get rid of it (does it just evaporate?)

Are you allergic to the chlorine that comes out of bleach?

Aquarium salt is just NaCl, I think it's the deionized (doesn't contain iodide) salt you buy in your market. Marine salt also includes minerals and stuff, but that's as far as my knowledge into saltieland goes

When doing water changes, it's just estimates. Look at the tank, and try to divide it in your mind. Two halves is 50%, half of the top half is two 25%, then if you divide that again, you get around 12.5% (if you want to be like that.) You don't need to be exact, as the range that people change water ranges from 10-50%

 

[taylorodw]

In your tank a 10% water change is 1/2 gallon. 20% = 1/5, so in a 5 gallon 20% = 1 gallon. Hope this helps you make sense of your aquarium

Another nice trick - if you do a 50% water change, you will remove 50% of the toxins in your water. 10% water change removes 10% of toxins. So if your ammonia is 1 and you do a 50% water change, your ammonia should go down to 0.5.

Good luck!