# New Tank - Lets make the best of it



## t6chan (Dec 3, 2012)

Okay, I have to admit, I got impatient and did not do my research, hopefully people who read this can learn from it and I can make the best of it. 

I bought a 20gal tank and set it up with fish after running it for 2 days. 
- eheim 2211 filter with substrat and some activated carbon, sponge, floss
- tetra whisper 60 with a bubble wand. - there is some serious aeration going on.
- fake plants and a sizable piece of drift wood.
- heater that is maintaining 79deg f on the nose.
- Marineland Double LED light
- when setup i added nutrafin cycle - this was given to me and followed instructions. 
- I am using Seachem Prime for watch changes

So on day 3 i go buy 4 sunrise guppies and they are doing fine. 

Day 7 I go and buy 4 cobra guppies, 8 neon tetra's and 1 bushy nose pleco.

I am feeding them tetra color flakes NL Spectrum community fish food and algae discs to the pleco. I am feeding less since doing some research - every other day.

TESTING: I got a used kit with the equipment and it was expired... so i got tons of false readings. I since got a new API kit and this is what i am getting.

Day 3 after adding most of the fish i notice the tank getting dirty. I did a water change and vacuum the gravel. 
Day 4 i get the test kit and get 0.25 NH, 0 NO2, 0 NO3 and 7.8 PH
Day 5 i get 0.5 NH, 0 NO2, 0 NO3

Obviously i am not cycled. I am thinking of getting some dirty filters from the LFS... Unless someone in Brampton can help me out.
The fish are super active and from what i read, the neons are harder to keep and they are doing well. 

QUESTIONS I HAVE:

Is there someone in Brampton that can help me out with some dirty filter media? I am using a small canister.

I am now afraid for my neons... once i get the Ammonia bacteria that converts it to Nitrite will this be even more potent then my low levels of Ammonia? 

How much Ammonia can my Neons take before they start to suffocate? I know its suppose to be 0ppm.

How much Nitrite can they take before they suffocate? Will adding the dirty filter spike the tank and risk losing the fish?

The Ammonia seems to build slow and is controllable. does this make sense. From what i read, this parameter should spike especially after feeding???

Sorry for the long post but i wanted to give you guys a good picture of what I am working with.

So far no fatalities but I dont want to harm these guys either. Again, they seem to be pretty chipper and have no issues eating. In fact i think one of the guppies are preggers...


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

so far you have been lucky,

to my knowledge, adding used media will not cause a spike, should reduce or eliminate spikes.

Just be very very careful that you don't over feed as more food is more poop and any uneaten will turn into ammonia.

with a good amount of used media, it should be very painless. When I set up a new tank I toss in used media and barely even worry about it, I add some stress zyme to just to be safe.

as you know, you did add too many fish too fast, but too late now. The neons may have put you over the edge.

I do believe ammonia is worse than nitrites, but not positive

Guppies are almost born pregnant expect fry soon. I recommend not doing anything with fry when they are born in your situation. If you help them, they will soon over run the tank. I would just leave them and they will mostly get eaten and the odd one might make it.

I actually just set up a couple sponge filters to get them cycled for later use for breeding tanks. I just bought the neons today and put them in my community tank for now to mature a bit and by the time I think they are ready to breed, the sponges should have lots of bacteria in them for the breeding/fry tanks. I also just found out that I should have soft water. I also happen to have 3 peiced of driftwood soaking in a 10 gallon to get tannins out. I'm thinking I should use the water used to soak the wood for my breeding tank as the diftwood will help soften the water. I think all I have to really worry about now is making sure I have food grown for the fry.

Planning helps alot

Actually following your plan is very hard to do but helps even more.

Lets hope in my case I am able to follow the plan and rush things like I usually do.

I know exactly how you feel, you got a tank finally, gotta have fish NOW! At least in the future when you add another tank you will have used media so you can get fish right away.

You are watching your levels closely and seem to have the knowledge to react accordingly if things go bad, so I am confident once you get used media, you will be fine and have very few losses if any.

I didn't have resources like this when I started, never even thought of looking online. Now I am on this site and others a couple times a day to pick up more knowledge and to try to help others


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## tijuanatoad (May 17, 2010)

1. Get large bio filter transplant into your canister ASAP, will take about 7-14 days to fully cycle if you are lucky. Try to get it from hobbyist with healthy tank, last resort LFS.
2. Test for ammonia and nitrite daily.
3. Don't add anymore fish and feed very little food once daily.
4. Perform 5 gallon water changes every second day until cycled. Use 2-3 times the dose of Prime.
5. If ammonia or nitrites are above 1 than perform 75% WC. Prime will bind with ammonia or nitrites and render it harmless but it will still show up on testing. Monitor for signs of surface gulping and rapid gill breathing.


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## ppaskova (Apr 27, 2010)

Easy, safe and fast way out.
1. Buy seachem "Prime" conditioner and "Stability" bio-support.
2. Put Prime directly into your tank to kill Ammonia (Follow the instructions on the battle to do so)
3. Follow instructions on "Stability' to cycle your tank in 7 days (with fish inside). Good luck


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

I can give you a seasoned filter sponge if you would like. The sooner the better for your fish. PM me let me know, I'm in Brampton Sandalwood and Kennedy area, available now.

Good luck!


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## t6chan (Dec 3, 2012)

Thanks Juliefish. I have the filter media in there now! Thanks for helping me out and showing us your beautiful tanks!


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## t6chan (Dec 3, 2012)

So ammonia was at .5 again. No nitrites. Plan is to not do a water change and to hope the new gunk is going to feed off the ammonia and make a stand. 

Will keep you guys posted.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Ammonia is the worst you want to get it to 0 they may look fine now but in a few days they may look worse or die on you do a 10% water change every 3 to 5 days till your down till 0 . Also if you got some used media swish some in your tank might make a mess but it will get into your gravel and speed up your cycle


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

You will probably see ammonia start to go down in a day or two depending on how much BB is on the media.

Im sure you will not see ammonia go up. If it does go up, do a small water change.

Also, because the used media has all the BB, you may not see any nitrites at all.


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## t6chan (Dec 3, 2012)

New update:

It looks like the tank is taking a step into the right direction. 

You are right Pyrrolin, No Nitrites and I am starting to register Nitrates. The Ammonia is now at 0.25 and I havent done the water change yet.

So on day 4 after adding the biomass. I have 0.25 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites and 0-5PPM of Nitrates. (not quite 5ppm but it does have a hue which indicates some nitrates. 

Fish seem to be doing very well and still no sign of distress. 

At this point i am going to keep testing until my Ammonia goes away and I get 20ppm of Nitrates then do a Water change.


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## ppaskova (Apr 27, 2010)

Actually your test readings are normal. I have two mature tanks that have same readings like yours right now.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Horray! I'm glad the ammonia is going down, and the nitrates are going up. This is a very good sign. Ammonia should always be zero in a mature tank. Your plan to wait for nitrates to be at 20 for the next water change is good. Also remember not to overfeed and don't add anymore fish untill after ammonia is zero, then if you want to add more fish do it very slowly... just a couple at a time.


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## t6chan (Dec 3, 2012)

Thanks again for the help.

I will post updates as i go. I think i am going to be adding a ton of fish soon... one of my guppies are preggers! This will be interesting.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

oh, not to worry, baby fish don't count. It's more of a "biomass of fish" thing than a "# of fish" thing. So when the babies are born, the biomass won't have changed, because your female guppy will be smaller


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

JulieFish said:


> oh, not to worry, baby fish don't count. It's more of a "biomass of fish" thing than a "# of fish" thing. So when the babies are born, the biomass won't have changed, because your female guppy will be smaller


Not really true. The baby fish will increase the biomass as they are living, breathing entities that are consuming food.


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## t6chan (Dec 3, 2012)

New test results.

The ammonia is going down very slow day by day. It is very hard to even see a difference in change even with the 16 fish i do have. (although small fish)
still no Nitrites and i dont expect to see them.

I think what Julie is trying to say is that the babies are already in the mothers belly and consuming some kind of biomass already, its like a human baby taking nutrients from the mother and the mother needs to eat for 2. I dont expect the baby fish to impact the tank in a form of a spike as the bacteria should grow with the babies right?


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

t6chan said:


> New test results.
> 
> The ammonia is going down very slow day by day. It is very hard to even see a difference in change even with the 16 fish i do have. (although small fish)
> still no Nitrites and i dont expect to see them.
> ...


That might be true for a few days, but baby fishes grow fast.


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## MDR (Feb 20, 2012)

False, a mother does not need to eat for two, a common misconception, a regular diet for on person will suffice for proper development. Although fish development I am not too sure of but for humans, no significant caloric increase is needed.


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## nightowl1350 (Mar 19, 2006)

Guppies can withstand almost anything. Even left alone you may soon have hundreds in the tank. LOL I added about 12 to my 65g with very few places to hide and I have about 150 now. Even my krib fry (some are over an inch) are leaving the fry alone.


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## t6chan (Dec 3, 2012)

Hey guys. Another update. The past few days i have seen .25 Ammonia, no Nitrites and a very slow climb in Nitrates. I am in between 5 and 10 here. I will do a 20% water change and get any loose stuff out of the gravel. 

Since my last post i lost 2 guppies. One go trapped under some driftwood(male) while i was at work and another died (female) because it was sad i think... I would not eat and just hid in the corner...

All the other fish are very active and look very healthy including the tetras.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

sorry to burst your bubble here but fish don't just get stuck under driftwood. healthy fish that is. Just about anywhere that a healthy fish can get into it can get out of. They will, however, sometimes seek a sheltered place to wedge into if they are dying. Fish also don't die of sadness. I accept that there are some very intelligent fish out there but that's for another discussion. 

Knowing that you have had detectable levels of ammonia in your tank, it really must be considered the real cause of fish death. Ammonia is toxic. Imagine a person in a small confined room with a little bit of carbon monoxide present. They may live for a day, a week, or even a month with a very small concentration, but due to the fatigue and headaches they may not eat, they may sit in a corner, etc. and they will eventually die.

Like I said before, just whatever you do, do not get more fish until the ammonia and nitrites are both UNDETECTABLE. 

I would also advise you not to stir up the gravel until ammonia and nitrites are zero, unless there is uneaten food sitting there getting mouldy (fluffy or fuzzy stuff). also do not overfeed. Put those pellets in one at a time and do not let any stay if the fish don't eat them. Good Luck!

By the way, it's also possible that the guppies were unhealthy when you bought them, you haven't had them that long. So don't beat yourself up about it too much.


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## ppaskova (Apr 27, 2010)

t6chan said:


> Hey guys. Another update. The past few days i have seen .25 Ammonia, no Nitrites and a very slow climb in Nitrates. I am in between 5 and 10 here. I will do a 20% water change and get any loose stuff out of the gravel.
> 
> Since my last post i lost 2 guppies. One go trapped under some driftwood(male) while i was at work and another died (female) because it was sad i think... I would not eat and just hid in the corner...
> 
> All the other fish are very active and look very healthy including the tetras.


Interestingly enough I have same issue with my guppies. And my tank is established 1 year old. This issue I have only with my life breeders. All other fish is fine. It could be that the guppies not as strong as they use to be as they are in-breaded so mush !


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## t6chan (Dec 3, 2012)

New update:

I haven't lost anymore fish(2 total and yes, i think they were weak). In fact i have now gained about 16 new fry and they all seem to be pretty strong. The other fish in the tank are leaving 1-2 strays alone.

I have just the slightest indication of Ammonia and Nitrate is building up normally now. I did a water change at 20ppm.

No plans to add any new fish, i will just see how the tank grows with the babies. 

Again thanks for the help and comments.


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