Tetra safestart? Should I do a water change?

Okay, so I decided to get a 20 gallon instead of my ten gallon tank to open up my stocking options. I got some filter media from a friend's 29 gallon tank. I put it in and checked the water and it was .25 for ammonia. I put in tetra safestart and it said it needed to be done with fish. I went out and bought a red wag platy and a dalmation molly and I just put them in. I decided to check the ammonia level again and it went up to 2.0! the fish look fine but I'm worried? should I do a water change? Will that effect the tetra safestart? Please help.

 

No!!! Don't do water changes for two weeks if you put the TSS in. Don't even test water, it will make you do things you will regret. Unless the fish look stressed, don't do anything lol.

 

Are the fish safe? Does TTS mess with the tests?

 

Some of that will be false readings from the TSS. The way the bacteria is shipped is its got a special ammonia coating to keep it alive until it is in water with fish until they build enough ammonia to keep it alive. Using a water softner like Prime that binds ammonia unfortunately strips this coating and is what kills the tss bacteria from lack of food. If your water softner doesn't bind ammonia you'll be fine but save your sanity, don't test unless your fish are acting odd.

 

My dalmation is exploring while my platy is just sitting in the back, is this normal? Is the platy just accumulating?

 

Yep let them figure out the new setup. If you just put them in they need a bit to settle anyways.

 

Okay, thanks

 

You have been given good advice so far, but I think you should rethink keeping your molly. They can get quite large, often over 4 in. I normally see the minimum tank size at 30g, and as they are social fish (not schooling), I'd recommend 2-3 (all male or 1 m and 2 f), which would not work in your tank. Return the molly and instead buy 1-2 more male platies, as they are also a social fish.

 

Oh alright, Ill see what I can do