Can i put fish in my tank? :) water good or not?

[Psingh]

Ok so i had fish in my tank about a month ago and i sold them, since then the tank has had about 2% water in there and its just really been left. so yesterday i thought i mayaswell get it going again, so i cleaned it a little as there was some algea in there and filled it i think my water may be alittle high in metals as all the fish ive had have always looked healthy to me but have hardly every grown compared to my friends that grow alot.. he uses water conditioner in his water.. so im thinking im going to use it aswell.. but i heard if you leave water for 24 hours the chlorine ect disspears? will i need to add that water conditioner into my tank? or should i just leave that and only add it when i do water changes? just to say there are no fish in the tank at the moment. Sorry if its long to read lol..

 

[KittyKat]

Chlorine does dissipate within 24 hours in a well ventilated environment, but chloramine takes a week and heavy metals do not. I recommend that you always use dechlorinator to treat new tap water as I have found that a 5-10% top up with chloraminated water is enough to stall a filter for 2-3 days.

Since there are no fish in the tank and the filter bacteria have probably died, I recommend that you seed your filter from your friend's filter and finish with a fish-less cycle.

 

[LyndaB]

+1 excellent advice

 

[Psingh]

Chlorine does dissipate within 24 hours in a well ventilated environment, but chloramine takes a week and heavy metals do not. I recommend that you always use dechlorinator to treat new tap water as I have found that a 5-10% top up with chloraminated water is enough to stall a filter for 2-3 days.

Since there are no fish in the tank and the filter bacteria have probably died, I recommend that you seed your filter from your friend's filter and finish with a fish-less cycle.

Yeah ok but as ive done a 100% water change will i need to de-chlorinate that? or just leave that out and only de chlorinate next time i do a water change? erm i dont know about my friends filter as none of my friends have fish lol

 

[swimwithme]

Please read: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...ng-148283.html

This gives you a complete guide to fishless cycling

 

[Hobgob]

Everytime you put in new water you have to treat it. All the water is new so yes. The next step since you can't get any seeded material is ask one of your lfs if you can get some or do your fishless cycle from scratch. Either way fishless cycle it!

 

[KittyKat]

Yeah ok but as ive done a 100% water change will i need to de-chlorinate that? or just leave that out and only de chlorinate next time i do a water change?

It depends on your method of water changing (if you do 100% water change, you always have to dechlorinate 100% of the water):
* If you do a 25% water change and pre-mix the dechlorinator and new water in a bucket, you need to use enough dechlorinator for only the new water.
* If you do a 25% water change and add tap water directly to the aquarium with a hose, then you need to put enough dechlorinator into the tank for 100% of the water (for all the old water and all the new water).

erm i dont know about my friends filter as none of my friends have fish lol

…so whose fish grew a lot compared to yours and who used water conditioner when you did not?

 

[Psingh]

…so whose fish grew a lot compared to yours and who used water conditioner when you did not?[/QUOTE]


Yeah sorry i wasnt clear, he dont have fish no more either, he sold his fish. however he still has his tank but is pointless as he is prob just same position where i am

 

[KittyKat]

In that case, you might want to look around for media donors: some forums have lists of people who will give you filter media that is full of good bacteria. For example, I am listed as a donor for anyone in Germany on a few and there are usually 2-3 donors per county in UK on most good lists.

 

[JesseMessykinn]

Could ask the LFS if they can donate, Never know.