wooza

Hi Guys,

I set my 45 uk gallon tank up just over two weeks ago. Since then I have been adding food flakes most days and I have also had three raw prawns in there. But I still cannot get an ammonia reading. Test results are as follows:

pH 7.2
Ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
Temp is 24 C
I put some Danios in a week ago because I was told they can be used to cycle the tank, but they all died within 3 days. I am quite happy to let the tank sit and cycle as long as it takes, but I am getting concerned that there isn't any ammonia in the water.

Do you have any suggestions? I have looked really hard for ammonia in bottles but apparently it is now restricted in the UK.

kimb

What are you using to test with? Most here use the API master kit. Strips are not always reliable. You certainly should be seeing ammonia by now, and the fact that the danios died could be a sign of ammonia poisoning. |Good luck.

Lucy

Welcome to Fish Lore
I'm sorry to hear about your danios.
I agree with Kim, between the fish food and prawns, you should have ammonia readings.

Good luck with the cycle and hang in there, it can be very frustrating.

wooza

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the reply. I am using the API master liquid test kit. The tank was not new when I got it, do you think there could be a disease lurking from the previous owner? What factors could inhibit the production of ammonia?

Lucy

Was it running with fish when you got it? Was the media kept wet and warm?

Butterfly

Are you doing any water changes? At this point without fish you don't need to do any but if you are you could be removing it.
Carol

wooza

No the tank was empty for about a month before I started using it, I washed everything down with cold water thoroughly.

No I havn't removed any water up to this point.

Butterfly

I wonder if something could be wrong with the test. Rotting prawns should definitely make ammonia. Do you have an LFS close by that will test it for you and give you the test numbers?
Carol

wooza

I must say thanks for the replies guys, It is nice to see that you actually really want to help people.

I can get my water tested at a LFS, but I hope my test kit is working as it was quite expensive. How long would you recommend leaving the prawns in? I took them out after two days as I didn't want them to smell.

Butterfly

For them to produce ammonia they have to basically rot. Oh yeah they will smell
Carol

Lucy

Oh, that's most likely the problem.
You should leave the shrimp (1 should do it) in until the tank finishes cycling.
Just a note, you don't need to use the food and the shrimp.
I'd go with the shrimp.

wooza

Well by jove, I think we have cracked it. I will put some more prawns in and let you know the results in a few days. Thanks again for your time.

Butterfly

Welcome One prawn should do it . Don't want want to overload
carol

kimb

good luck....and welcome to fishlore

Brimstonepdx

I also advise you run your tank around 28 c (82 F) while cycling fishless. A higher PH will also help speed up your cycle from everything I have read. Mine comes at 8.0 from the tap but you can use things such as crushed coral or limestone to raise it. After you are cycled if you don't want to maintain a high PH environment you will need to lower it and wait for it to stabilize before adding fish.

I just recently used a prawn to cycle my tank. I highly advise you invest in Fabreeze :P Luckily for me I did it right before the warm weather set in so it was about a week before it started to smell up my apartment. It was also lots of fun to watch the decomposing process. I took pictures and grossed my friends and family out, I hope you have as much fun with it as I did.

wooza

Guys,
I have just had a thought. On the day that I set the tank up I added some stress zyme, and also some liquid claiming to be the bacteria necessary for new tanks, both made by the same company. I also added some more on week two as instructed by the bottle. Do you think the could be causing the lack of ammonia? And also, why did all of my danios die when there is no ammonia present.

The thing I noticed when they were behaving oddly, was that I put an airstone in and two died pretty much straight away. I turned the air stone off and the other three perked up, then died a day or two later. Could this be linked?

jdhef

It's possible that the bacteria in the products you added processed the ammonia. But that will only work for a little while since the bacteria in those products are not self sustaining. But since you had removed the prawn after a couple of days, no additional ammonia would be produced (other than what the fish food produced, which may take a little longer to start producing ammonia.)

The airstone shouldn't adversly affect the Danio's in any way.

wooza

Guys,
Another thing to mention is that there seems to be a fungus or something growing on the root that I put in, I put a prawn in last night and even that seems to be convered by this jelly like thing. Does anybody know what it is? Is it safe?

Shawnie

looks totally like leftover food decaying to me ...

wooza

That sounds reasonable as I have been 'feeding' flakes to the tank for a couple of weeks now. Surely if this is decaying food, I would get an ammonia reading right?

Shawnie

yep in time it will...patience is something I wish they sold at the LFS ...did you put the prawn back in? get some kind of net to hang it in then you wont have the waste hanging out at the bottom ...

wooza

Ye you are right. I am trying to be patient but it is getting on three weeks now without any ammonia reading. Almost all of the threads i have read mention ammonia in the first week.

Also how do your ammonia tests smell? Mine smell really like bleach or chlroine. Is this a typical smell?

Shawnie

yes thats a typical smell for the api....and when you took out the prawn, you slowed it down and although fish food works, it takes longer for some reason...maybe it is the time it takes it to decay?

Chewyoda

I agree with Kim you should try to find the API Master Test Kit. It has everything you need to make sure your tank is healthy for your fish.

Shawnie

they are it was posted at the beginning of the thread

wooza

Well folks, I am pleased to announce that I have today received my first positive amonia test result.

Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5

Not sure why I have a nitrate reading, but hey HO I am just happy that ammonia is being produced. Guess all I do now is wait and wait some more.

kimb

Test the water out of your tap, it may contain nitrates. Also, make sure you bang the heck out of the #2 bottle in your nitrate tester. There are crystals in it that settle and have to be mixed with the liquid, make sure you shake it for the full time. If not mixed properly, you may get a false reading

wooza

Well guys, the nitrate readings I got were pretty insignificant, as it turns out there was no ammonia in the water. I have since purchased some ammonia and the reading is now 4 PPM.

My next question is about seeding the tank. Is it ok to use an established filter media from my goldfish tank to seed the tropical tank? Also, do I just soak the new media in my goldfish tank for a few days, replace it with the old media, and put the old media into the new tank water?

Shawnie

if you are using ammonia, you can take some of the media from your goldy tank and put it in the new tanks filter area....how long has the goldy tank been established?

Lucy

Let the new media or filter run in the estahlished tank for at leas 2 weeks to allow bacteria to develop.
How many gallons is your goldfish tank and how many goldies? Is it cycled? For how long?

Good morning Shawnie. lol