will i ever get fish !

hi,
went to lfs today to get some fish,taking some tank water with me.I had already tested and got ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrate 20...but wanted to double check...anyway the girl put the tubes on a dark wooden stool with card beside it,and said everything was off the chart.I then said that the stool was affecting the reults...but she said how she always does it...I left empty handed as was totally confused.

what I wanted to query is,if I have nitrates,& quite high too...would I also have ammonia & nitrite too ??? I tryed asking her but got a blank stare!
I know the results I got where totally different to hers..but I did it as instructions said,she thought stool would be better,then white card!

Will not go back there again,came away head spinning. :
Tracy

 

The instructions with the testing kits say to lay the tubes on the CARD to compare colors. The stool could have very well have affected how it looked. Even if that's how she always does it maybe she "always" does it wrong.
Carol

 

I agree, forget that pet store and find another. Chances are they don't take good care of their tanks either so no loss. If you have been cycling your tank for some time now and have gotten the results you posted, then you are gold. I would do a 25% water change to get the nitrates down a little bit. Try to keep them in the 10 range, though depending on the fish you want, it could be more or less (i.e. a hardy fish would have no problem with 20 but a picky fish would want it more like 5). Then pick out a fish you like and get a few. Work into it slowly. You don't want to go out and fill your tank because that will toss in a ton of ammonia at the same time and you will be back in the cycle all over again. But working into it slowly will give the good bacteria a chance to deal with the slightly larger load. Which type of fish were you considering for your tank?

 

I like cherry barbs,rasboras,guppys..will only start with a few,and wait awhile before adding anymore.I like small,colourful,peaceful fish.

Will definitely go to different shop...just to many very young staff,who don't know much about fish..surely they could at least know the basics ! >

Tracy

 

yes you would think they could follow the directions wouldn't you
Carol

 

I love the look of guppies but have not ventured into them yet, so I can't speak from experience. However, I don't think they would do well with barbs who tend to get a bit nippy. Their tail fins would just be too big of a temptation I would think. Keeping 5 or more will limit their nippyness as they will be too busy with each other to bother, but still I'm not sure they are compatible. Someone with more experience would be able to tell you for sure though.

However, the cherry barbs would be a good start to the tank and would be able to take a bit of fluctuation that adding the first fish will create. You could start with 3 maybe 4 depending on size and let the tank adjust for a couple of weeks. Also only feed them once a day. This will limit the amount of poop and not flood the tank with ammonia.

Also the barbs are mid to upper fish so they will hang out up there most of the time. If you mix in Rasboras they will also be in that area. The bottom of the tank will feel empty while the upper part feels crowded. You might want to consider a bottom fish like a Cory Cat, Oto, Dwarf Pleco, etc. Just some suggestions to round out your tank.

By the way, what size is your tank?

 

hi,
I only have a 2ft tank (19 g uk)...as was my first tank I didn,t want to get to big to start with.
so I know I am very limited to amount of fish I can have. I will definitely not overcrowd the tank,want fish to be happy...just wishing now though,that I had gone bigger. Will have to wait a year,so at least got moneys worth of tank.

My lfs..(yes same **** one) told me tank would hold 30/35 fish...which me not knowing anything about fish keeping,believed them.not until me finding forum,I found out far from true.
OH well.....its been fun....NOT

Tracy

 

Hey I had read quite a bit before buying my tank and knew to go larger rather then smaller, and I still went with about the same size tank as you did.... which I of course regret not going 30 or even 50 Gal. So don't beat yourself up. I figure that this will be a good start and I will eventually go to a 50+ Gal tank and use this as either a quarantine tank or maybe a home for growing live plants till they are ready to place in my main tank.

In any event, 5 Cherry Barbs is half of the load your tank can handle using the 1" of fish per gal of water rule (they get to be 2" max as adults). With that in mind you can plan the rest of the tank while the Barbs are getting used to things and the tank is getting used to them.

 

Cherry barbs are beautiful little fishand are a good choice but can be a little shy if they don't have plants (live or artificial) to retreat to once in a while.
Carol

 

Yea, that LFS sounds pretty poorly run to say the least. They can't do a test right - maybe on purpose to sell treatments. I don't know for sure, but they sound like they wanted to sell you more fish than your tank would hold. Those cherry barbs are great-looking.. I really love the golden metallic barbs too - the ones that look like real gold.

 

hi,
   went to lfs today to get some fish,taking some tank water with me.I had already tested and got   ammonia 0  nitrite 0 and nitrate 20...but wanted to double check...anyway the girl put the tubes on a dark wooden stool with card beside it,and said everything was off the chart.I then said that the stool was affecting the reults...but she said how she always does it...I left empty handed as was totally confused.

what I wanted to query is,if I have nitrates,& quite high too...would I also have ammonia & nitrite too  ???   I tryed asking her but got a blank stare!
I know the results I got where totally different to hers..but I did it as instructions said,she thought stool would be better,then white card!

Will not go back there again,came away head spinning. :
                                           Tracy

hI tracy welcome to the hobby,how long has your tank been cycling,also when it comes to reading test results id trust my own judgement first,placing the test tubes on a stool is silly because colours affect each other eg if you mix black with red you get blue,the test cards are white for a reason white is a neutral colour and will show colours for what they are, id try and find a new lfs if your lucky enough to have two shops near you but in my case my lfs is not great so I drive about 20miles to another I feel you can't pay for peace of mind so id go as far as I had to to be happy anyway keep us informed when you do stock the tank and lets us know what you buy,goodluck