tko187

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! I dont know what to say, i didnt think i would get a response like this!!!!

I had a water test done today, from my local pet store, the ph levels were absolutely fine sitting at 7, and so were the nitrate and nitrite, Ammonia was slighty higher than it should be but the store owner said it was nothing to worry about..

I'm so relieved, last night i did'nt get no sleep with worry!! This morning i checked the fish and they look super, swimming all over the place, even the neons have come out.

I shall be going to the store to get my test done regularly as it is free and just round the corner from my house.

Should i still do a water change or should i wait till Thursday??

Once again i cant thank you guys enough. Calab, Lalynya, Evelyn1919, Anabelle, Angelfish220 all you guys that replied .......sorry if i missed any names.

God Bless!!

Lucy

I'm happy to hear everyone is doing well this morning.

Usually the stores use test strips, which aren't very accurate.
Any amount of ammonia or nitrites are harmful to your fish, the people at the fish store should have told you this.

Is this the same fish store who sold you fish before your tank was cycled?

I would urge you to get the API master kit and test the water yourself, keeping a log of the numbers.

Yes, for the sake of your fish, keep doing daily water changes until your readings are 0 for both ammonia and nitrites with some nitrates showing. At that point, you can relax and enjoy your aquarium with regular weekly maintenance.

Good luck, keep us up to date and post pics when you can.

lalynya

yeah teh amonia being high could be the start of a cycle meaning its high then the nitrites go high then the they get turned to nitrates..It might be the start of another spike..YOu could keep it under control as much as possible with teh water changes..as lucy said..YES KEEP DOING THEM...everyday..water changes as I have leared can even save a fish that looks like it is on deaths door step

angelfish220

what ever you do keep doing your 50% daily waterchanges! They are essential when trying to cycle with fish. Dont worry, once the cycle is over you dont have to carry 50gals of water daily

Evelyn1919

always before getting it shipped try petstores around you. i once ordered it and got it shipped and everything because i read that not a lot of places have it but i found out that most of my LFS sell the biospira.

good luck

Evelyn1919

oh i gotta tell you guys that i recently purchased http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN and it is just great!!!

i love it! i have a 75gal tank and when doing 50% water changes i was using 20gal buckets pulling them up and down my apt and it was killing my back.

good luck!!!

JRunyon21

If you havn't read the articles on the nitrogen cycle here is my crash course.

Fish are added.
Fish poop and do other things - CREATE AMMONIA
Tank/filter react and bacteria grows - REMOVES AMMONIA, by product = NITRITES
Tank/filter reacts again - REMOVES NITRITES, by product = NITRATES
NITRATES rise over time b/c tank cannot remove them on its own.

The probelm with your case is that all of these steps happen too slow leaving your fish exposed to high amounts of ammonia and soon nitrites. As Angelfish202 said, water changes are crucial. You do not want your fish exposed to high ammonia and/or nitrites. When the tank is cycled you will still have to do water changes to remove the Nitrates. Hang in there, the bad still might not be over. That is a lot of fish to put in a tank at once.

Don't worry I was blessed by fire as well. There are a few fish in fishy heaven due to my lack of aquarium keeping knowledge. Next thing you know it will be a huge part of your life and your checkbook.

eric_m

i'm just learning about the whole cycling method and understand the theory.. the fun part is putting it to use.. anyways.. couldn't you get some water from the store you got your fish? that water will have the bacteria needed to speed up the cycling..
Somebody correct me if im wrong.. i've only had my tank for a couple of days.. still no fish.. i'd hate to be wrong on this.. especially during a crisis.. its the blind leading the blind..

good luck!!

lalynya

Actually yes some LFS do sell allready cycled water and It's not that expensive

JRunyon21

Never thought of cycled water. Can someone that knows a lot about cycling please inform us on whether or not cycled water is helpful. I thought the bacteria grew on objects(plants, filters, bioballs, gravel, decorations), not in water. No clue though.

tko187

thanks guys, ill post pics soon hopefully tonight!! So i still need to change the water.....ok ill do it, i just never did it because the guy at the store said dont do it for another week, and it isnt the same guy who sold me the fish.
So it will probably spike again, i never bought a test kit cos the shop can do it free and they use he same test kit that they were gonna sell me for 21.99, the chap actually didnt want me to buy which was odd for a change!!

Ok ill update soon, shall i post the pics in this bit or on another seperate thread?

Which forum also

ThisGuy

http://www.aquariumplants.com/articles.asp?id=129

"Equipment orders will be shipped from our Canadian distribution center on the 1st Tuesday of each month along with live plants... This schedule allows for ALL orders to enter Canada via the same truck which saves on transportation costs.

(eventually, we will change to shipments 2 times per month and eventually we will ship every week"

wow a $18 bottle becomes $110 still getting hosed in Canada cant even get equipment until the first Tuesday of the month.

tko187

can i buy recycled water, if so maybe this can be he easiest option!!!!

Lucy

This is also the inhumane way to cycle. Unfortunatly, fish stores don't tell people that.
There are other sources of ammonia you can use to cycle a tank without fish.......fish food, pure ammonia, used filter media or bio spira.

TJRunyon21, you're right tank water doesn't have enough bacteria to cycle a tank. The bacteria is growing on the decorations, gravel and in the filter.

Really don't waste your money buying 'cycled' water.
Just keep changing your water daily until your levels are 0 for ammonia, nitrites with some nitrates showing.

What kind of test does the guy at the fish store use?

angelfish220

if you want, go into your fishstore and see if you can buy a handfull of gravel from the show tank, that might help.

Lucy

You'd really have to be careful doing this, you never know what you could bring home and contaminate your aqaurium.
A trusted friend with an established tank is a better option.

Alessa

yeah, i know but its worth it. you can get it WAYYYYY cheaper at ebay like i first did, but it most likely will be a bad batch... like the one i got

lalynya

The bacteria does harvest on things in the tankbut it can still be found in the water (Now I'm having microbiology flashbacks) HOWEVER the amount of free floating bacteria isn't going to be all that high...while it might help a lil it won't be much...all that really happens is it will settle on what you have in the tank..what LUcy said is right you might as well just do what you are doing and keep changing the water..and I have heard that it is hard to get it in the UK..P.S. you siad chap...that's cool