# Newbie here...starting the journey of healthy fish



## desman (Jan 9, 2011)

Hello all, great site...

Recently picked up a 10g tank for my two girls. Read the directions and thought I was on my way to a plethora of colored fish in no time. Boy was I wrong  Set everything up the other day and added 3 tetra's. They met their demise due to my stupidity after surviving one night. Have read extensively on the subject since and now know the importance of "cycling" which I plan to do this time around. I feel confident after reading the forums and have all the required products on hand. Couple Q's I have are:

Should I empty out all water, rinse everything again and start with a new filter or am I ok with starting the "cycling" process the way the tank is sitting? Only thing I did intially was add "safe start" to deal with chlorine and I also added a tsp of "ammo lock". no other chemicals currently in the water.

How long after adding ammonia should it be tested for levels? I ask because I will need to tinker around w/ initial doses of ammonia so I keep a stable level around 3ppm.

I read to crank up the heat but can I still achieve the same results leaving my heater at 78%? Asking because my heater does not go any higher and if I can get away without buying a new one I will. I assume it will just take a little longer with the slightly lower temp. I don't have access to any used media which is not a big deal as I am actually looking forward to following the process and don't mind the extended length of time to cycle.

Anyways, that's about it for now. Appreciate the feedback and any other useful information received.

Tanks(no pun intended!)

Desman...


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

The death of your tetras will have added to your tank by adding ammonia into the water which will start to break down in the filter by the good bacteria. Emptying the tank will essentially do nothing but stop a cycle that is no doubt already happening. 
When you finally get test results that say 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20+ nitrate then you have completed the cycle.

I don't know about additives to help cycle the tank. It is recommended you treat all water you put into your tank with a dechlorinator and that is all I do.

As for having the water at 80F, the number is thrown out there because it seems to be the most optimum temperature for the bacteria to thrive, but cycles can happen at 78F. The difference in cycling time might be negligible.

I'd wait 3-5 minutes after adding the ammonia to test the water. Then you can be fairly certain the ammonia is spread evenly throughout the tank.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Hi where you from Desman maybe someone lives close to you. Oh and Welcome


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## desman (Jan 9, 2011)

pat3612 said:


> Hi where you from Desman maybe someone lives close to you. Oh and Welcome


Near Sudbury...far far away from civilization...lol

Off hand, anyone have an idea how much ammonia will be needed intially to get my 10g tank at 4ppm?


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## theeyrietrainer (Dec 9, 2010)

desman said:


> Near Sudbury...far far away from civilization...lol


Oh, I go to school in Sudbury. If you want, you can have old tank water and fresh squeezed sponge water from my sponge filter in my breeder tank. Lemme know.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

If the 3 tetras died within 24 hours it wasn't because the tank wasn't cycled. They could not produce enough ammonia in a tank that size to kill themselves, in that short a time. Something else was wrong. Either the water you have was remarkably different than the water the fish came in or they were diseased.


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