Beginner and need help

[Hanna87]

I started my first fish tank two days ago ( without fish ) and im having a hard time understanding some things. Iv put in the stuff to take out the clorean in the water and also used stress zyme and aquarium salt. How long should i wait to put fish in? And how long before i start to see changes in the ammonia levels? Iv read just about everything it seems and im not really getting the information i want to know. What else do need to do?

 

[frankenfish]

have you read this one yet?

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/fre...hless-cycling-everything-you-wanted-know.html

 

[djm761]

You could add fish at any time now, I would start with (zebrafish, Danio's) they are very hardy and inexpensive.

 

[Hanna87]

I just dont want to end up with dead fish because i did something wrong or didnt do something that i should of.

 

[betta lover22]

What size is the tank? I would get around 3 fish at a time. BUT it depends on the size really. Sounds like a smaller tank.

 

[Hanna87]

Its a 36 gal. Probly a little big for my first.

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

The bigger the better. Why did you add salt? What type of fish are you going to have? Most on the forum like the fishless cycle, I have never done it so I can not comment on it. If you are going to add fish, you will need a good test kit to check the water parameters. Most here use the API master kit. What ever you do, do not get the strips. They are very inaccurate. Actually you will need a test kit even if you do a fishless cycle. If you decide to do the fish in cycle, be prepared to do daily 25%-50% water changes or you will have fish loss.

 

[supra1997]

With saltwater you have 2 choices just like freshwater:

1: Cycle with no fish
2. Cycle with Fish

There is a million debates out there wich is better, worse, etc. I could care less about either. I have done both and will give you my opinions.

If you want to do it without fish, wait about 3-4 weeks. Maybe within those 3-4 weeks, drop some food into the tank. This will help the process. Also Check your levels and do water changes accordingly. You dont want to do too many, too little. Don't go cheap!!! Get the right test kit, and ROI water now and save the headaches in the long run.

If you want to do it with fish, this is your call. The problem with this is you have to pick a fish you want to stick with. This will have to be a hardy fish, and most people don't tend to like hardy fish. So if you do, maybe you can just buy one, and trade it back to the LFS if you dont want it. If so, wait about a week or so and then add 1 maybe 2 fish. Dont overdue it or your levels will go crazy. Keep the feedings to a minimum, and test the levels often.

 

[Hanna87]

I was toldo to add the salt by my local pet store. Its sapost to improve gill function and promotes disease recovery.
I do have the ammonia test kit with the test tube. Thats the only one i have tho. Do i need others?
The ammonia level today reads at 7 and this is day 3.

 

[Hanna87]

Its also a freshwater tank. the salt i added is some kind of electrolite.

 

[kb951]

You could add fish anytime, but as you know there are lot's of things to keep in mind for your aquarium to be maintained so it's a good living space. The thing i had trouble with my fist around was ick, catch it early because if it's to late your fish are to late, get a predator tank it's boring watching a little community fish tank unless you like that, me i drop feeder's in and my fishes get it done it's amazing to watch

 

[Hanna87]

I WAS really set on just getting two Oscars. ( i love them ) but was told by petsmart that my tank was too small. Pretty much anything that got over 4 inches couldnt go in my tank. The only other fish i would like is the dalmation mollys which only get 3 inches. Any other sugestions?

 

[lauraf]

If you choose to add fish now, you will have to perform daily water changes to keep the ammonia levels down while the tank cycles (i.e., builds up the good bacteria that will eat toxic ammonia and nitrites and turn them into less toxic nitrates). Since you don't have fish yet, why not do the fishless cycle method?
Welcome to the forum!
Cheers,
Laura

 

[Hanna87]

Im gonna wait a week and take a sample of water into petsmart to see what they say. Dont know if im actually do the testing right.
Do i need to do water changes now even though i dont have fish? Or let it do its own thing?

 

[lauraf]

If you are doing a fishless cycle, you need to add a source of ammonia to feed the bacteria. You can do this by literally adding pure ammonia. You can also add small amounts of fish food. But if you do nothing, your tank won't cycle, no matter how long you wait.

 

[Hanna87]

Ok so i added fish food, do i still need the pure ammonia? I also turned up the heater, i read somewhere that its better for the bacteria?! Is that right?

 

[lauraf]

You can cycle with just fish food, but the exact amount to add is hard to say, whereas there are articles and stickies here giving a more accurate guide to using pure ammonia. Either way, you should buy a liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You will use it again and again - even after your tank is cycled, so it's a good investment. Increasing heat can help speed the cycle . . . .

 

[Hanna87]

Thank you! Im starting to understand alot more now that im on this site, but how long before i see a change in the levels? Thats the only thing im not getting, everything says something different.

 

[Hanna87]

So as you can tell I'm very impatient. Lol. I had to look at the filter. It's brownish. Does that mean the bacteria is growing? Not only am I impatient, so is my 4 yr old daughter. She wants fish NOW! Lol. I don't want to end up with dead fish though.

 

[supra1997]

The filter is probably brown from the nasty stuff on your rocks/sand substrate (bottom). Don't be impatient. If you add too early, they could all die and possibly make things even worse for you in the long run. Just do the water tests and follow instructions and it wont take too long at all.