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Pet Forum / Aquaria / General / July 2004hlp, newbie
Hi all, just bought a juwel tank. I've already made loads of mistakes. 1) I put the treatment for chlorine in the full tank rather than in the buckets prior to putting the water in. 2) I've left the carbons in whilst doing the above (i guess this will cancel out the water treatment). 3) I washed the gravel but when i put the water in the tank was still dirty for two days. 4) My ammonia still reads 0, what can i do? Fortunately I have not got fish in. I don't want any for six weeks till the bacteria are sorted. Any idea how i can sort the above out?? any help would be appreciated > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > 1) I put the treatment for chlorine in the full tank rather than in the > buckets prior to putting the water in. Won't matter, the chlorine will kill of the bacteria in the blue sponges in the filter, as you've not built any up yet, you wont have killed any, but do dechlorinate when you next topup. > 2) I've left the carbons in whilst doing the above (i guess this will cancel > out the water treatment). No the carbon helps remove some of the chlorine, but see above. > 3) I washed the gravel but when i put the water in the tank was still dirty > for two days. I think most peoples is still dirty, mine cleared in about 4 hours, but I have 2 filters, if it's cleared now you should be OK. > 4) My ammonia still reads 0, what can i do? Have you put some sort of tank start treatment in, or even pure ammonia if you can get some? wihout either fish to produce waste/ammonia or you putting some in, it will continue to remain at 0. If you are going to use real plants, plant some now, cos you will get a few leaves dying and they will also release some ammonia. > Fortunately I have not got fish in. I don't want any for six weeks till the > bacteria are sorted. > > Any idea how i can sort the above out?? Get some ammonia in, or get a couple of hardy fish who will be able to cope with the ammonia and nitrates. Another possibility, do you have a friend who has a tank, who will give you a bit of their gravel from out of their tank which will already contain some bacteria and help jump start the process, but remember that without ammonia to feed off the bacteria will die out and you will be back at square one. > any help would be appreciated HTH Good Luck Arfie >just bought a juwel tank. Congrats and good luck with it! >I've already made loads of mistakes. Stop panicking ;) Sounds like youve done some research which is more than many do.. >1) I put the treatment for chlorine in the full tank rather than in the >buckets prior to putting the water in. That's what I do on a new tank too. It's fine. But when you do water changes in future, if you add it to the buckets then you will not be adding the chlorine to the tank, saving damage to bacteria and to fish. >2) I've left the carbons in whilst doing the above (i guess this will cancel >out the water treatment). I don't think so - carbon removes chemicals from the water so it will remove meds, but the chlorine neutraliser acts so quickly that it will probably have acted before the water was filtered. I would not worry about it. >3) I washed the gravel but when i put the water in the tank was still dirty >for two days. That happens to me too! Just keep running the filter and it will pass. >4) My ammonia still reads 0, what can i do? Well you don't have the cycle started. You need to do that and watch the ammonia levels grow, then reduce to nil again, and then watch as the nitrite levels do the same. Ways to start the cycle are as follows: - add ammonia (fishless cycling) - see http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycling.html - seed from an existing tank - see http://www.gorge.org/fish/beatingcycles.shtml - add a small number of fish - see http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html >Fortunately I have not got fish in. I don't want any for six weeks till the >bacteria are sorted. Ok, then you will need to try fishless cycling, or perhaps seeding and adding fish at the same time (to produce a smaller less harsh cycle). I prefer seeding but I know many prefer fishless. Don't forget to read http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html (and if you are looking for reassurance, my site http://www.gorge.org/fish/ might help as well. You can see in my "setting up the tank" photos that the water wasn't clear even though I washed the gravel. Best wishes,  SignatureFlash Wilson flash@gorge.org -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Still collecting Electricity Pylon photos - please send me yours! - http://www.gorge.org/pylons |
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