Hi, a bit of my background information here: stop me before I kill again - Page 2 - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community
I was cycling my tank and went down to the fish specialty store. This place looks more trustworthy than one of those chain pet stores with a fish department. It's run by a very ancient chinese man who seems like he's been in the business his whole life. Perhaps even that generations of his family have worked with aquariums.
You'll never see a dead floater in one of his tanks, or a sick one. I asked about buying tank starter products or some of their sand/water to get my tank started with good bacteria.
He sold me 5 gallons of their water and told me I could put my fish in straight away. I asked him if that was correct- because I had heard it takes time for the bacteria to build in the gravel and the filter. Perhaps I should give it two weeks for the bacteria to take hold?
He insisted that this was not true at all and that I could put my fish in today. With his wise wrinkled face and accent he seemed like he must know what he was talking about probably better than anybody.
So I came home with some little guppies. I will wait and see how they do. I also added one teaspoon of salt per gallon to add a stress coat and kill any fish diseases before they get a chance to start. Ick got my last ones and aquarium salt will kill 77% of fish common diseases. I was worried if aquarium salt would kill my 2 golden mystery snails but they're loving it in there. They didn't clamp up in their shells or make a run for the top or anything. In fact, they seem more active than ever.
The man also told me also told me that whenever I needed to water changes I could come to his store and pay like 38c for 5 gallons. That way I'd never need to buy water products or worry about my water quality.
I was cycling my tank and went down to the fish specialty store. This place looks more trustworthy than one of those chain pet stores with a fish department. It's run by a very ancient chinese man who seems like he's been in the business his whole life. Perhaps even that generations of his family have worked with aquariums.
You'll never see a dead floater in one of his tanks, or a sick one. I asked about buying tank starter products or some of their sand/water to get my tank started with good bacteria.
He sold me 5 gallons of their water and told me I could put my fish in straight away. I asked him if that was correct- because I had heard it takes time for the bacteria to build in the gravel and the filter. Perhaps I should give it two weeks for the bacteria to take hold?
He insisted that this was not true at all and that I could put my fish in today. With his wise wrinkled face and accent he seemed like he must know what he was talking about probably better than anybody.
So I came home with some little guppies. I will wait and see how they do. I also added one teaspoon of salt per gallon to add a stress coat and kill any fish diseases before they get a chance to start. Ick got my last ones and aquarium salt will kill 77% of fish common diseases. I was worried if aquarium salt would kill my 2 golden mystery snails but they're loving it in there. They didn't clamp up in their shells or make a run for the top or anything. In fact, they seem more active than ever.
The man also told me also told me that whenever I needed to water changes I could come to his store and pay like 38c for 5 gallons. That way I'd never need to buy water products or worry about my water quality.