7.3IDIDSL

I'm new to the forum and new to the whole fish thing. Ive wanted a aquarium for about a year now but i went back to school in May and was forced to work part time and unfortunately couldn't afford a aquarium. I finished school in November and went back to work full time and started saving for a tank...then i got some money for Christmas and finally had enough to buy a aquarium.

I went out to petsmart on Boxing day and they had a sale on a 55 Gallon starter kit so i bought that and a stand. I brought the tank home and got everything all set up...the tank came with a "starter guide" which i unfortunately followed since i didnt know any better and didnt find this forum until later.

Heres the history of my tank so far...ive been following the starter guide that came with the tank
DAY 1-Brought tank home and got setup. Filled with tap water that i treated with Stress Coat. Let it sit for 24 Hours.

DAY 2-"Starter Guide" said to go out and buy 1/3 of the amount of fish your tank could handle. So i went back to petsmart and the person there suggested i get some hardy fish to cycle my tank and he recommended danios. So i picked up 6 Great Danios and put them in my tank.

DAY 3-Following guide i went out and bought a test kit(liquid not strips) to test my water. The guide says to test for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate everyday and it even has a chart to fill in daily and keep track of the tests. My results for Day 3 were ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-0.

Day 4-Fed fish very little in monring and tested water. Ammonia-o, nitrite-0, nitrate-0

Day 5-Fed fish in morning. Ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-0.

Day 6 -Fed fish in morning. Ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-0.

Day 7(today)-Fed fish in morning. Ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-0.

Im just wondering if you guys can give me some advice and tips on my new aquarium. How does my cycle look so far and do you guys think i will be able to go through the cycle and not have my fish die? Ive since done alot of reading on the net and i know all about the nitrogen cycle and fishless cycling. I just with i knew about this first before i went out and bought some fish and started my cycle with fish.

capekate

Hello and welcome to fishlore!
Here is a link to get you started. Since you have already started with doing a cycle with fish I would recommend daily water changes of at least 40% since you only have danio's in there. I would not add anymore fish til your tank has cycled.It is usually the zebra danio that is used for cycling a tank, but most folks here only recommend a fishless cycle, as cycling with fish is stressful on them. But that is now revelent since you already have fish in the tank. Unless you were willing to return the fish and go fishless which is a heck of a lot easier to do than those daily water changes and worrying about the health of your fish.
The link has valuable information for you to check out and become informed on what needs to be done now.
Your tank is only at the beginning of its cycle and it has a way to go before you start to see any readings in your water test.
Best of luck!
READ FIRST: Freshwater Beginner Important Topics

GouramiGirl1221

What kind of liquid test kit are you using? You should be seeing ammonia by now...

If it's API, look at the last four digits of the number on your ammonia bottles. That's the manufacture date. Ammonia tests expire three years after they were manufactured, so you may be getting a false reading.

Other than that I'm stumped, so I'll let the other more experienced members help you out. Sorry I couldn't help more, but best of luck! 55 gallons is a lot of room...there's lots of cool things you can do with it!

Lucy

Hi welcome to Fish Lore

It's a shame the directions or pet stores never suggest fish less cycling.
After 7 days you're readings aren't unusual.

I agree with Kate. The link she provided has a lot of good information.
Along with her good advise I'd like to recommend using Prime as your water conditioner. That'll detox any ammonia for 24hrs between water changes.
The liquid tests are highly recommended, good job.

Enjoy the forum and good luck.

7.3IDIDSL

I asked petsmart about returning the fish and they wont take them back...they have a 14 day return policy on fish that die but im hoping my fish dont end up dieing due to the cycle though. Unfortunately i dont have thing else to do with the fish so im forced to leave them in the tank and go ahead with the cycle. Im going to follow your suggestion and start 40% water changes tomorrow. Should i vacuum the gravel everyday at the same time or how often should i vacuum the gravel?

The test kit i have is from Hagen and i checked the expiry date and they are still good. When testing for ammonia the water should turn yellow and my water has started to turn yellow when testing but it isnt enough to get a reading yet. So i assume im started to get ammonia in the tank just not enough for a reading. Petsmart did sell the API test kits but they were out of the ones for freshwater aquariums. Is the API kit better than the Hagen one ive got or are all test kits pretty much the same?

I havnt heard of Prime yet...ill take a look at some local pet stores tomorow to see if i can find it and start using it when doing my water changes. Is prime pretty much the same as stress coat? Or is prime better?


Thanks for the help everyone.

FishJones

You should ask to speak to a manager at Petsmart and explain about how you were given wrong information when you bought the fish. They should take it back for you. If he or she doesn't, ask for the district manager's number-that always works. My two local Petsmarts will return live fish within 14 days. and yours should also, especially if given bad advice there.

chris55

you need to go back to petsmart and talk with a manager if you decide to do the fishless cycle, they have to take them back no matter what, just explain to them it was a impulse buy and you need to cycle your tank first cause your affraid they will die, we bought some tiger barbs from petsmart (5) and they started nipping at the pleco's fins so we took them back and they took them no problem, they also took back a pleco that was sick not dead and nursed it back to health. I have the same exact starter kit you have the 55 gallon one and I love it

Lucy

I've never used Hagen but I think other members have.

Stress Coat is a good water condition but it's Sress Coat+ that claims to detox the ammonia the way Prime does.
I don't know if one is better than the other.

dvc_r

Hi 7.3IDIDSL:
I spend about 75% of my time and money at petsmart. I'm in there 2-3 times a week. I can't imagine that they won't take them back. I've had Serpia Tetras and Tiger barbs nipping other fish and they took them back. The only problem I ever had was if I went to a different Petsmart they wouldn't help me. Which doesn't make any sense because the original store gave me a store credit (which I can use in any petsmart!).

The 14 day return policy is the best out there. Most LFS have a 2 day policy (if you have a water sample) and usually they find something wrong with your water and void the guarantee.

As for your readings you must be getting a false one. Shake the bottles a little before adding the drops and make sure your waiting the full 5 minutes (with API tester). I also started cycling a 75 Gal just before Christmas and my Ammonia is going down and my Nitrites are starting to rise.