Freshwater Newbies

Greetings FishLore,

As my title says we are newbs ;D. I set up our brand new 55 gal. tank on saturday, but we have a problem. While going to pick up some test strips my girlfriend and I saw the cutest Black Moor you ever set eyes on.

Now the tank has only been officialy running for about 24 hours, but we want to rescue this fish.

We are split 50-50 on what to do.

On one side we know that a lot of fish used in the cycle process do not live and we don't want this fish to die.

on the other side we don't want a small kid to pick it out as his first fish, take it home, and just throw it into a tank with tap water thinking everything will be okay.

We're stuck. Any advice?

Also we would like to say hI to all as this is our first post.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Welcome to Fishlore

first off, instead of buying the test strips buy the test kit much better and accurate

Instead of buying your black moor, you can ask your lfs to hold it for you, offer to pay for it now and tell them you are getting the tank ready but can't put it in quite yet. To speed up the cycle you can buy some bio-spiral also.

good luck

 

Thanks for the speedy reply.

I'll have to look into those test kits.

I don't think that this store is going to hold a fish for me. After seeing how they treat the other fish I don't really know if I wouold want them to.

Oh well mabey we'll find another one that captures our hearts.

I will post some pictures in the pictures section in a few weeks when we have everything worked out.

Again thanks.

 

Welcome to Fishlore, Fishy The tank has to have de-chlorinator in it, run 24 hours, then you decide. A small fish you don't hold to dear. to start producing ammonia. OR Add ammonia if you don't have fish. Then add the Bio-Spiral (bacteria). The ammonia will feed the bacteria and you are off and running, it may take a couple of weeks. Don't add more fish until the ammonia and nitrite readings are down to 0 and the nitrate is coming up. Best of Luck

Fish in the Frozen North. 0 F today. 8)

 

also though if u got a black moore, the only other fish ud be able to put in there is other goldfish for tropical fish and goldfish do not mix well. I made the mistake of not knowing about cycling when I bought my fish, but I still have him 2 months later

 

Welcome to Fishlore, Fishy The tank has to have de-chlorinator in it, run 24 hours, then you decide. A small fish you don't hold to dear. to start producing ammonia. OR Add ammonia if you don't have fish. Then add the Bio-Spiral (bacteria). The ammonia will feed the bacteria and you are off and running, it may take a couple of weeks. Don't add more fish until the ammonia and nitrite readings are down to 0 and the nitrate is coming up. Best of Luck

Fish in the Frozen North. 0 F today. 8)

I added the de-chlorinator.
I decided to try the raw fish method on the Nitrogen Cycle page. Hope it works out.

I also read about the Bio-Spira and think I might look for some.
I'll report back in a few days to update on my progress.

Thanks to everyone who posted.

On a side note. We are gonna set this tank up as a Black Moor tank. Then probobly get another tank running for a community tank.

Thanks all.
FishyFishy.

 

Good Job. If you can't find the bio-spiral, I use Stress Zyme or Cycle. I actually use them every time I do a 50 %water change even though my tank is old. Probably overkill. I think just one Black Moor will not be too hard to live with. Keep a really close eye out though if the ammonia starts to climb do your 50% water changes. You never mentioned what filters, air etc you have? Very best of luck!

Fish in the Frozen North. 8)

 

Small update.

I went out and got some stuff for my tank and picked up a master test kit. Definatly like it more than the strips.

I was wondering though. I have a bunch of bubbles at the top of my tank. Is this common in new tanks or is there something I should do about it.

Thanks.
Fishy
P.S.
Will post some pics soon.
Also @ Susitina:
I'll post all that information for you whe I get my pics up.

 

HI Fishy, when you say bubbles, do you mean some, covering the entire water surface, or froth? My tank always has a few bubbles, but I use air stones and areate the water. I guess it never struck me as odd so I didn't worry about it.

Maybe someone else has a more experienced answer for you. It may be that different water sources could contain something that would cause this. I know several posts relate how awful some folks water is to try to use in their tanks, and they end up having to buy or filter their water before using it for fish. Hope it is nothing detrimental. :-\

Fish in the Frozen North. -6 F this morning 8)

 

Honestly it just seems to be bubbles on the surface to me. Been there since about sunday. Doesn't bother me really just wanted to make sure it wasn't anything to worry about.

Here is sime info on my tank:
55 Gallons
48"L x 13" W x 20" H
Aqua-Tech Power Filter model 30-60
2 18" florescent light bulbs.
Heater
I'll post another update either later today or tomorow

 

It is probably just fine, seems to me I remember mine doing something like that also, it has been awhile. People with more tanks may be able to give you a better idea.

Fish in the Frozen North. 8)

 

It might be your filter isn't providing enough surface agiation. How many gallons per hour does your filter pump (gph) should say on the box and is the water at the surface always moving or are there stagnant spots, if there are, you need another filiter though you should get another filter anyways since goldfish are extremely messy. You want a total of 550gph with your filters that's a 10x per hour turnover rate, should keep your tank clean for goldfish and you won't regret the investment.

 

I honestly couldn't tell you the gph. I bought the aquarium as a kit. And there was only one big box. It was a kit by Aqua-Tech/Regent.

The filter is listed as a 30-60 model which from what I gather is what they think is suitable for a 30 to 60 gallon tank.

Most of the surface water moves. Slowly but it does. Might get another filtration unit anyway if you guys think it will help.

Cheers.
Fishy

 

I do not know about the filter size you have either, but you can probably find out even here on line. Just google tropical fish equipment and I am sure you can find your size and model of filter. When I set mine up I realized the filter on the back of the tank wasn't going to be enough for the tank I had planned. My age is showing now, because the first thing I turned to was what I used 30 years ago, a undergravel filter system, but I put a powerhead on it which moves the water through the gravel and also provides plenty of agitation at the top of the water. I know one thing any tank I have will have filtration +. Over and above what the recommended filter is. My next tank is going to have a canaster filter setup, with LOTS of filter media.

At least you are starting with a good sized tank, you can do a lot with it. Have fun!

Fish in the Frozen North

 

I actually talked my girlfriend out of the black moors. They are cute little fish but when I started to explain the ammount of work required for goldfish she decided to let me look up some different fish and decide ;D .

I'm thinking about getting another filter just like the one I have but I'm not sure if it will mess up my cycle or not.

Also, in reading the info on cycleing with raw fish, when does one know when to take the peice of fish out? I left some in for a few days and I've got pretty low ammonia readings(about .25) but no nitrite readings. I know it takes time for the bacteria to grow, but what is a good time frame to keep in the raw fish?

Thanks,
Fishy.

 

Okay small update.

Found out that the filter we had was only pumping 330 gph. Not the recommended 10x so I went and picked up another so I am now filtering 660 gph.

The bubbles on the top. Still don't know what they were, but I added somemore water to the tank(dechlorinated of course) and now the bubbles are gone. I guess it was not enough water. Unfortunatley I just noticed that my tank and stand are kinda lop sided. Not by a whole lot, just a little. That shouldn't hurt anything should it?

I also picked up some ammonia and an eye dropper to kick the cycle into gear(the fish just wasn't cutting it for me).

And I swear, as soon as I get a chance to hook up my SD Card Reader, I will post up some pictures of my cycling tank.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

My understanding is that you cycle your tank EITHER, with fish, OR by adding ammonia! ??? Since ammonia is really toxic to fish if you have any fish in the tank, I wouldn't add ammonia.. The time it takes your tank to cycle will give you lots of time to get the decorations, etc. just the way you want them.

As for the stand and tank being lopsided. It could place undue strain on the tank. When we set mine up, the tank was a little off, so before we got all the water in we shimmed up the tank to level it out. This also can be tricky, because you don't want to put any twist or pressure points on the tank, it might end up cracking. I am one of those (every thing has to be straight and plumb) types. Drives my husband crazy!

Fish in the Frozen North.

 

My understanding is that you cycle your tank EITHER, with fish, OR by adding ammonia! ??? Since ammonia is really toxic to fish if you have any fish in the tank, I wouldn't add ammonia.. The time it takes your tank to cycle will give you lots of time to get the decorations, etc. just the way you want them.
.....

LOL! No, no, no.
As mentioned earlier I was trying to start the cycle with RAW fish, but that didn't seem to be doing much. So I removed it and started adding ammonia to my tank, ap per the directions in the article.

The lop sidedness(is that even a word ) is really not a lot and since we have the tank full now, might need to drain the water out to shimmy it up a little.

Thanks for the reply.

 

: That is what I get for not reading far enough down. My mistake.....Hope it gets a move on for you.

Fish in the Frozen North.