New Member.....Pls Help !!

Hi, I'm new to this forum and fish keeping my question is............

I have a Aqua One Monarch 80 tank which holds 165 ltr I have a lrg piece of bogwood and approx 14 plants 2 filters currently running at 27.4 c , I went to shop today for water test and they gav eme the go ahead and I only bought 6 Zebra Danios I wish to introduce fish a species at a time, which spec ies would be best to introduce next ???

 

Welcome to FishLore! It's great to have you with us! My suggestion would be to click on "FishLore Articles for Beginners". Make sure you fully understand the nitrogen cycle, and if you don't, please ask here on the forums. Understanding cycling is the key to having a beautiful tank with healthy fish. Cycling a tank usually takes about 6 weeks, so in the meantime, you can learn more about your zebra danios, and what would be compatible with them in your tank! You don't want to add any more fish until the tank is cycled. Also think about getting a good test kit including tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and ph so you can monitor your tank while it's cycling, and afterwards. Please also let us know which continent you are on, so other members near you can help you locate supplies and fish in your area. Starting up a new tank is so exciting! We are glad you decided to join our group, and look forward to talking to you here on FishLore!

 

I have been using a product called cycle which says only to wait 1 week do I still need to wait 6 weeks, also iI bought a kit that test for PH and I have PH up and down powder the pet shop I bought my Danios from says to take water in once a month for testing do you think this is often enough ???

By the way I live in Brisbane, Australia

Martin

 

Martin, the cycle product you are talking about is considered by most of us in the hobby. Everyone starts with that cycle product including me, and are usually disappointed. It may excelerate bacteria growth, but not enough to start adding more fish at this time. I'm glad you have the ph test, but you still need to be able to test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. You need to be able to do this yourself because if you have a problem in the tank, it always seems that the emergencies happen when the fish store is closed. Also, they don't usually tell you what the results are like you wouldn't understand it anyway, and what they say is okay for your tank might (and probably isn't acceptable) by hobbyist's standards. You gotta remember that if your fish die, they make another sale. Not that they are setting you up for this to happen, but they are not gonna be as concerned about your fish as you will be, trust me. I recommend the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit that contains the nitrate test in it. There are 2 master test kits made by AP, so make sure you check and get the right one. I don't know if you have PetSmart over there, but if you do, you can try and copy the online ad on their website, and see if they will sell it to you at the online price. I'm not sure if PetSmart has an AU website or not, but the American version sells the tests online for around $15.00USD, which is half of what we usually pay in the stores locally. Once a month is not nearly enough testing even when your tank is cycled. Until you get into a routine of tank maintenance where everything stays the same all the time, you should be testing a lot more than that.

 

I would add that the ph Up and Ph Down powders are dangerous to be using. The ph of the water does not have to be at a perfect 7.0 and you are going to make a mistake someday and move it too far up or down and have a lot of dead fish. You are much better off allowing your fish to get used to the ph of your tap water unless it is way off the scale. They will do better than to ride the roller coaster of adding these chemicals. You cannot possibly mix it to an exact match every time and that would be hard on them.

Welcome to Fishlore. Be sure you listen to Gunnie, she is one of our MASTER helpers. I would never have gotten this far without her.

Rose

 

Hi, welcome to Fishlore. I would say to make sure your tank is cycled before adding any more fish.

I have 6 Zebra Danios too, and they are in the same tank as my 6 Neon tetras. They all get along quite well together. If you were to get Neon Tetras make sure you get at least 6 of them too.

Gwenz

 

Welcome to FishLore!! Everyone has given you such good advice that I have nothing to add
Carol

 

Thanks for all the info I have ordered the master test kit you recommend, but it will not be here for a week do I still just follow the info in the begginers guide???

The bloke at the store told me if I ran a canister aqua one fillter and a in tank fillter along with snail and a few bristlenose catfish that I would not need to clean the gravel, is this true?

I have know had the tank set up for 2 weeks, the first week 50% full with gravel in and secong week with bogwood, plants a 100 % full, I have been told not to clean fillters for 4 weeks. But my question is when do I do my first water change, I presume I don't do this during the nitrogen cycle !! Does this mean I will get loads of alge in my tank ???

Thanks again

Martin

 

probably guppies, platties, or white clouds. Or maybe even a otocinclus catfish.

 

Especially with a pleco in the tank, you will have to clean the gravel. They will keep the bottom free of food but not poop. They are big poopers, and I wouldn't recommend any more than 2 in your tank. When you do vacuum the gravel, only clean a half or a fourth of the gravel in the tank at each cleaning. That way you don't disturb too much of your bacteria in the tank at one time.

I would not clean the filters at any time unless you have obstructed water flow back into the tank. Most of your good bacteria is in that filter, and when you change the media, you lose that bacteria. On my hang on back (HOB) filters, it is sometimes over 6 months before I replace them.

If you are cycling with fish, you will have to do water changes during the cycle for your fishe's survival. That is why fishless cycling is recommended. It is very hard on your fish, and fatalities are not uncommon. When your levels of ammonia or nitrite gets over 1.0, you will have to change out some of the water for your fishe's sake. It becomes lethal at that point for any fish.