thekeymaker57
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2012
- Messages
- 13
Hey everyone,
So after diving into the world of fish keeping without knowing a thing about it last year and ultimately waking up one morning to 6 dead guppies and 3 dead ghost shrimp, I am now trying again.
On Sunday I set up a 26 gallon tank with half of the water coming from a friends established tank. Caribsea super naturals gravel, Mopani driftwood, Java moss. Treated the water with the Aqueon Conditioner and threw in the bottle of Tetra Safe Start.
On Monday we bought two guppies and a cory to get the ammonia going.
On Tuesday night I tested the water with the API master kit. pH: 7.6 - Ammonia: 0 - Nitrites: 0 - Now with me being dumb, I thought it wasn't worth testing for Nitrates because there was no sign of Ammonia... (You can see where this is going)
Tonight (Thursday) I have tested the water again. pH: 7.6 - Ammonia: 0 - Nitrites: 0 - Nitrates: 160!!! Blood red water in the test tube!
Now I know this isn't safe for the fish at all, and will be doing a water change tomorrow as soon as Im home from work. I guess my questions are 1) How much water should I change? 2) Could it really be cycled in just 5 days?! 3) How can I keep nitrates down? Along with water changes of course.
Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions
So after diving into the world of fish keeping without knowing a thing about it last year and ultimately waking up one morning to 6 dead guppies and 3 dead ghost shrimp, I am now trying again.
On Sunday I set up a 26 gallon tank with half of the water coming from a friends established tank. Caribsea super naturals gravel, Mopani driftwood, Java moss. Treated the water with the Aqueon Conditioner and threw in the bottle of Tetra Safe Start.
On Monday we bought two guppies and a cory to get the ammonia going.
On Tuesday night I tested the water with the API master kit. pH: 7.6 - Ammonia: 0 - Nitrites: 0 - Now with me being dumb, I thought it wasn't worth testing for Nitrates because there was no sign of Ammonia... (You can see where this is going)
Tonight (Thursday) I have tested the water again. pH: 7.6 - Ammonia: 0 - Nitrites: 0 - Nitrates: 160!!! Blood red water in the test tube!
Now I know this isn't safe for the fish at all, and will be doing a water change tomorrow as soon as Im home from work. I guess my questions are 1) How much water should I change? 2) Could it really be cycled in just 5 days?! 3) How can I keep nitrates down? Along with water changes of course.
Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions