tomchitown

Hi, I got a 60 gallon setup going here ....started friday water is now cloudy NO fish .... I used some top fin bacteria supplement and water conditioner when i added water .. was wondering if this is normal and what kind of fish should i get i want aggresive fish ...

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!what are you cycling the tank with ? and yes its normal as its probably a bacteria bloom....as far as what fish, it depends on what you are looking for ..theres lots of agressive fish per say as ive seen a guppy be mean LOL

tomchitown

Thanks for the welcome i guess it's top fin bacteria supplement and water conditioner

Shawnie

the only real sure bacteria most of us have found thats true to its claim, is tetra safestart or bio spira (which now only makes a marine version) but im not familar with top fin ..having an API liquid master test kit will let you know as its very very accurate and tests for all the things you need to complete the cycle...when its done, you will have 0 ammonia and nitrite and under 20 nitrates...I wouldnt say you are done yet and again im not sure if the top fin will do what you need it to do

agabr123

i'm with shawnie on that, if you want to cycle quickly, use tetra safe start. you can add your fish in at the same time as the TSS, and then you leave it for a week. after a week, test and make sure that you're at 0 ammonia and nitrite and 5-20 nitrate, then do a 50% water change if you're at the right place.

do NOT use the product cycle unless you're willing to use it every single day and not miss a day, the bacteria is not self sustaining and your cycle will crash if you dont continue to add it.

IMO, the best thing you can do is just add either pure ammonia (just water and ammonia, nothing else, some have had luck finding it at ace hardware) or flake food which will break down into ammonia.

if you want aggressive fish, then cichlids might be a good idea. here is a "cookie cutter" for a 55 gallon tank, which will be the same for yours
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...#purple_yellow

tomchitown

ok ..... my ammonia is at 5 ...... my wife brought fish home but im scared to put them in there .... should i return them to the store

agabr123

yes you should definitely return them, that ammonia is extremely toxic to your fish, please dont put them in.

tomchitown

is there anything i could buy to reduce the ammonia ?

agabr123

not that wouldn't completely crash your cycle. dont put the fish in. let your cycle finish without the fish, it doesnt sound like you need it, but you can add pure ammonia to the tank while it's cycling (with no fish of course) to make sure there is a constant source. and by pure, it has to be just water and ammonia, nothing else.

tomchitown

i'm sorry it's 0.5 LOL .....

DPmom26

Whoa thats a big difference from earlier, I still wouldn't put the fish in just yet until it got down to 0 just to be on the safe side.

agabr123

wow, okay yeah that's a big difference. still, that means that you're not done with your cycle and you still shouldn't be adding any fish yet. i'd return them anyways. when your cycle is finished you will have 0ppm ammonia 0ppm nitrIte and 5-20ppm nitrAte, then it will be safe to add fish. but make sure you don't add more than two or three at once or the filter won't be able to keep up with the extra bioload. my recommendation, buy four-six fish, put two-three in the tank and two-three in a quarantine tank, after two weeks, add the two-three that are in QT to the tank, then get two or three more, put them in QT, etc.

Shawnie

yes ...its called tetra safestart...otherwise id not put them in until the cycle is done

DPmom26

I missed that part nice save Shawnie..... I have had really good success with safestart and cycling a tank using it, it's good stuff.

tomchitown

Thanks alot ladies and gents !!! you all are great glad i joined !!