7 year old's new tank - failing mom. :D

[meperalto]

Hi.
We followed all the advice from the fish stores - set up the tank, let it run for a week, then add fish.
A week later my excited 7 year old chose two pink Danios.
Unfortunately, Cuppie & Lolly only lived a week.

We got the water tested and they said that was "weird" - my tank hadn't started a biological cycle yet. The ammonia was at 1.0. They advised a Stress Zyme bacterial addition once a week. We bought a liquid test kit.

3 weeks later, the ammonia is still high - looks between 1.0 & 2.0 on the test kit - its hard to distinguish the greens. The Nitrate is a bright purple in the 2.0-5.0 range and the Nitrate is barely an orange-yellow at 5.0 or so.

It's a 5 gal tank, currently with no fish, runs a Aqua Tech carbon filter, heater at 72*F, and a little plant that seems to be the happiest thing in the tank. The water is from the tap treated with a chlorine remover - replaced with water we "age" in between changes. What water should we be using to do water changes?

Thanks for your help - I've already learned I need to buy a siphon from the forum so it's been helpful already!

 

[Andrew Castagna]

Tetra Ammonia Safe for the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite should go down with Tetra Easy Balance, temperature up two degrees, and what kind of stress zyme is it? Tetra® Start Zyme Water Conditioner works the best.Links to petsmart.com.

 

[OrangeCones]

There are not many fish that will be compatible with a 5 gallon tank. Danios are a shoaling fish and should be kept in groups of 5 or more and 5 gallons does not give them enough room. Have you considered a betta or a small group of shrimp?

 

[lauraf]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Have you read any of the stickies on cycling yet? Your tank is cycling, so the high ammonia and nitrite is a natural part of the process. It's great that you have a liquid test kit, btw. Before you add fish, consider whether you want to do a 'fish-in cycle' to finish the cycling process - it will mean daily water changes, although with a 5g that isn't too time-consuming.
A betta or shrimp, as suggested by OrangeCones, is a good idea - 5g is pretty small for many types of fish.

 

[Andrew Castagna]

Or a few GloFish or Neon Tetra