e30 gangsta
Aquarium Advice Regular
so, tank is still full with the old water. Id like to start fresh. 1st step i assume is to fill a cup with tap water wait 24 hours and test it. Then post my results here for more help?
Hello, new here, and already crashed my tank :(
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jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
This will give you your taps ph. Just give the cup of water a good stir every so often to help release gasses. Your tap is fine to use for your tank & for your fish! Your taps water levels (ammonia nitrite nitrate ph) will give you a reference point for your tank water. Good to know before starting over!
e30 gangsta
Aquarium Advice Regular
Perfect then ill post up my results of my tap water tomorrow, and go from there. Thanks guys.
GoldsGuy
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hey. Sorry you lost all your fish. But I would urge you to reconsider starting from stratch with your tank. It wasn't gravel etc that caused the ammonia spike, but the bio load of the fish you had being too much for the growing BB. Im not sure what size tank but consider upgrading to support the community you want to keep, or adjust the stock to fit the tank you currently have. I would use some of your existing rocks, deco, filter media etc for the new water as the BB colonize surfaces in the tank and not the water column. Monitor the parameters frequently (every day may be required) to ensure toxic levels are below stress dangerous levels. You may have to do daily or several weekly PWC during cycling. When I moved from my 10 gal to my 55 gal I reused old filter, rocks and deco. I also poured old tank water into new tank.
Meanwhile if u plan to restock soon, keep your filter on to areate water.
Bigger tank with more water means more dilution of bio load and allows for more of a safety margin before toxic levels are reached.
Consider first fish or two to be the more hearty of the type you want.
Be happy to provide any other help. There's a lot of info out there.
Let me know what you decide.
Meanwhile if u plan to restock soon, keep your filter on to areate water.
Bigger tank with more water means more dilution of bio load and allows for more of a safety margin before toxic levels are reached.
Consider first fish or two to be the more hearty of the type you want.
Be happy to provide any other help. There's a lot of info out there.
Let me know what you decide.
GoldsGuy
Aquarium Advice Freak
librarygirl said:Hi and welcome. Sorry about your fish.
Your tap water is fine to use. You don't want to mess too much with water source unless you have a very good reason and RO/Distilled water needs to be replenished with minerals. Tap water is safe to use 99% of the time so let's use that.
There's a link in my signature below: new empty tank. That will guide you step-by-step through the process of fishless cycling the tank. In the meantime we can help you choose fish that are more appropriate for a 10 gal tank. There's also a link in my signature below called: guide to starting a freshwater aquarium. It has some useful info for new aquarists.
I chose not to use tap just because of things added to it for humans which are toxic to fish. I know there are conditioners to make it mostly safe but prefer using as few chemicals as possible.
I use bottled spring water mixed with RO water from All Pets Emporium. They buffer the RO water to 7.0. My pH is stable at 7.6.
Do not use distilled as it lacks any minerals which are needed for osmotic function of fish.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Its great that you do this but this is alot of extra expense for fw that most of us can not afford. Using bottled water for a couple of large tanks that i do big water changes on 2-3x wk would force me to mortgage my house....
Its great that you do this but this is alot of extra expense for fw that most of us can not afford. Using bottled water for a couple of large tanks that i do big water changes on 2-3x wk would force me to mortgage my house....
lol
Don't worry gold, if you use conditioner properly, the water will end up the same in the end. It's like when people don't mix their food, looks the same in the end, regardless of how you eat it.
GoldsGuy
Aquarium Advice Freak
Koikid88 said:
Lol point taken. Why I use All Pets RO water as its .35 a gallon. I also use two 2.5 gallons of supermarket brand spring water. I have a 55 gal and change approx 10 gallons a week currently. I'm thinking to see about doing 20 gallons biweekly since tank is cycled.
Perhaps I'll test my tap and see about making a change. Definitely would be less costly and easier.
You use Prime to condition water?
e30 gangsta
Aquarium Advice Regular
Thanks for the tip Jeff, yet I already took out all the of the water. I am no longer going to be running river rocks, I am switching to some type of gravel. Easier to clean, and easier to spot fish. I dont have to deal with a bunch of fish getting stuck in the pockets in-between the rocks. Tap water is sitting out, I will test tomorrow night to see where im at.
Maltimomma
Aquarium Advice Freak
pwc is "partial water change". It just means you need to do "partial" water changes. I do about one third to one half water changes depending on the circumstances. You really need an API master test kit. I ordered mine online at Foster and Smith and yes most pet stores that sell fish supplies have them. Good luck.
GoldsGuy
Aquarium Advice Freak
e30 gangsta said:
Very welcome. Do you plan to have any live plants in your tank? I currently have sand substrate. Very easy to keep clean as everything stays on top. I have the color like on the beaches here in Miami, not white but beige. After I did the tank read about Eco-complete which is good for plants. Only ask because plants help absorb some of the toxins in the water.
Post pics as you redo your tank.
e30 gangsta
Aquarium Advice Regular
No plants at the moment. They are expensive at the pet store. I will once I have time. Work has been killing me. How are you cleaning the sand? With a siphon of some sort?
GoldsGuy
Aquarium Advice Freak
e30 gangsta said:
Hey! How are things going?
I've found plants at Petsmart for only a few bucks. I would consider a fast growing one which absorbs more ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
I use a siphon to clean the sand. I hold it above the sand and use it to stir up debris which is siphoned off. Some sand is lost but not much. But everything stays on top of the sand so no need to clean it like gravel. Helps keep water cleaner.
Have you read enough to understand the cycle process? Lots of conflicting info out there.
e30 gangsta
Aquarium Advice Regular
I have tonight I'm going to test my tap water that has been sitting out. then I plan to do a fishless cycle with adding ammonia up to 4ppm. then when it goes down to 1.0 ppm add more start monitoring nitrates etc. once I do that whole process then I'll start adding fish. what kind of sand are you using? does it settle easily?
GoldsGuy
Aquarium Advice Freak
e30 gangsta said:
I used Caribsea Sand. Got it at Petsmart.
http://m.petsmart.com/mt/www.petsma...ferralID=2465a25e-420b-11e1-b2fa-001b2166becc
It settled really well. I had no issues with cloudy water etc. the golds sort through it and spit it out as they swim and it settles back. I like the more natural look too.
I didn't know anything about cycling a tank and didn't have the option as I won my Comets at a local fair.
Basically have to treat the BB as an animal. Keep it "fed" and let it colonize.
e30 gangsta
Aquarium Advice Regular
As for bb thats nitrates that change nitrites that change ammonia? I'm still confused on that higharchey. Any help would be greatly appriciated. And thanks for the tips on the sand.
GoldsGuy
Aquarium Advice Freak
e30 gangsta said:As for bb thats nitrates that change nitrites that change ammonia? I'm still confused on that higharchey. Any help would be greatly appriciated. And thanks for the tips on the sand.
Yeah it is confusing. I found some great articles on it which I'll send you the links on. I'll have to locate them
Basically it starts with ammonia which is why you need a source of ammonia to start the process either chemically or fish supply the ammonia. With fish you just have to insure ammonia doesn't reach dangerous levels.
The BB first takes the ammonia (highly toxic) to nitRite (slightly less toxic but still toxic). Then another group of BB converts the NitRite to Nitrate which is the final stage and is less toxic to fish. So you are in effect growing two different colonies of bacteria. The first need ammonia and the second need nitrite. Nitrate is controlled with PWCs.
Ammonia to Nitrite to Nitrate = cycled
Once fully cycled your two colonies of BB will consume ammonia and nitrite as produced so those levels remain at 0.
If u do fishless u have to maintain ammonia in tank to "feed" the first colony of BB.
The BB colonize surfaces in your tank and the filter and not the water.
Hope this helps.
FreshwaterFishJunkie
Aquarium Advice Activist
Careful the aquarium hobby takes time. It can take weeks to months to properly cycle a tank. Then fish should be added slowly (not all at once) so that the bio load is not increased disproportionately so the beneficial bacteria can grow and establish itself to deal with each new fish.
GoldsGuy
Aquarium Advice Freak
FreshwaterFishJunkie said:
Agreed it's a process. However, if he still has his filter etc from his first attempt it wi help.
Definitely add one fish at a time. Particularly since you have a small tank.
e30 gangsta
Aquarium Advice Regular
Got it. So the nitrite will just appear one day? When it does, how do I know when to do a pwc? I know to add ammonium when it gets to 1.0 ppm till I get it to 4.00 ppm. Then let the BB do it's job. Question is when do you do pwc's to benefit nitrite and nitrates?
