Am i doing it right?

My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
heater running for a few days.

I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
them to cycle the tank.

All OK so far right.

Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).

So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.

Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
now and *seem* OK so far.

Is there anything else i should be doing?

Thanks Guys

Chris

p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
every 2 days!!

"Christopher Lewis" wrote in message
...
My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago.
I
filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
heater running for a few days.

I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended
by
them to cycle the tank.

All OK so far right.

Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the
fish
being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's
(i
think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting
or
others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).

So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep
the
ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between
1
and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.

Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2
weeks
now and *seem* OK so far.

Is there anything else i should be doing?

Thanks Guys

Chris

p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
every 2 days!!




Cyling a tank with a few hardy fish and live plants, no more than about 5"
of fish in a 100 litre (25 USg = about 25" of fish) is usually safe. At the
moment you have, assuming the fish are young and small, a full tank.
Gouramis are usually about 2" when you buy them, mollies about 1.5", tetra
1", barbs 1.5", sharks 2", so with the first few, a lot of inches for a new
tank. Live plants do help a lot, taking ammonia from water first and them
nitrate. You will need to really check the water params carefully, lots of
water changes without disturbing the subsrate at first will help. Can you
get some live plants? You need to bear in mind the full size the fish will
get too. Most gouramis get to 4+" (unless they are dwarf gouramis) mollies
3+", sharks, red/black, grey or bala easily get to 6" or more, tiger barbs
3", tetra 1". With your mix of fish, sticking to 1" per gall is reasonable,
single/dual species tanks are a lot more forgiving and allow more per inch.
My 100 litre has only neons and minnows, small slim fish that get along ok
and enjoy the space. Your sharks/gouramis will need a bigger tank in time.
You may have to think about taking a few back until the tank cycles, as
ammonia then nitrite is not tolerated by many fish and they die. You may
have issues between the gouramis and tiger barbs as they get bigger. Some
gouramis are very terratorial.

Try http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/fishindx.htm to find out
exactly which species of gourami and shark you have, good clear pics to
help. Mary

"Christopher Lewis" wrote in message
...
My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago.
I
filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
heater running for a few days.

I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended
by
them to cycle the tank.

All OK so far right.

Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the
fish
being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's
(i
think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting
or
others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).

So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep
the
ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between
1
and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.

Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2
weeks
now and *seem* OK so far.

Is there anything else i should be doing?

Thanks Guys


Sounds like you are doing fine - just keep an eye on the Nitrite level - it
will rocket up very quickly. You need some in the tank otherwise the thing
will never cycle but you need to keep both Ammonia and Nitrite under
control - and it sounds like you understand that.

You'll be able to accelerate the cycling process if you can get hold of
some "used" filter media from somewhere and stick that in the tank near the
filter inlet. Suggest you look into this becuase otherwise you will be in
for 4-5 weeks of water changes before it stabilises.

rgds

I.

Christopher Lewis wrote:
My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
heater running for a few days.

I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
them to cycle the tank.

All OK so far right.

So far, so good.

Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).

Oh my. 15 fish?!? I've gotten gifts like that. The sharks are not
real sharks. A lot of fish go by "shark" and none are suitable for
your tank. Red-tailed and rainbow sharks - relatively small,
aggressive cyprinids. Bala sharks, endangered, large, and skittish.
Irridescent sharks, which get huge.

So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.

Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
now and *seem* OK so far.

Is there anything else i should be doing?

Water changes are good. Add 1 tsp/gallon of salt to help counteract
the effects of nitrite poisoning. When you change water, only add the
salt to the replacement water.

Seed bacteria. Get Bio-spira, or gravel, plants or filter media from
an established tank.

Good luck. Unfortunately, you'll need it.

In article ,
Christopher Lewis wrote:
My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
heater running for a few days.

I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
them to cycle the tank.

All OK so far right.

Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).

So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.

Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
now and *seem* OK so far.

Is there anything else i should be doing?

Thanks Guys

Chris

p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
every 2 days!!

How bout every day?

That's really too many fish for a new tank that size. Add lots of hornwort
and keep changing water. it might settle out but it'll be a decilcate balance/

Lose some of the fish (just stop water changes, a few will die anyway) and they'll
find their equilibrium.

Give some of the fish back?

How much does she love you? Enough to buy you a bigger tank ? They're cheaper used...


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Christopher Lewis wrote:
My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
heater running for a few days.

I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
them to cycle the tank.

All OK so far right.

Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).

So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.

Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
now and *seem* OK so far.

Is there anything else i should be doing?

Thanks Guys

Chris

p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
every 2 days!!




You shouldn't be doing water changes yet? you have TOO many fish in
there to cycle to tank. It is best to not have fish in the tank to cycle
it. for at least a week, 3 or 4 days if you use nutrafin's cycle.

find out what 'sharks' they are, if they are black red tailed shark or
rainbow sharks they will fight each other, if they are bala sharks they
will grow huge! 15"+. or if they are iridescent sharks they will grow
over 2 foot, lol.

did you gradually add the fish? or did you add them all at the same time?

and as for doing water changes every 2 days?? why are you doing them SO
often, once every month or two weeks should be fine.

§tudz

Christopher Lewis wrote:
My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
heater running for a few days.

I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
them to cycle the tank.

All OK so far right.

Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).

So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.

Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
now and *seem* OK so far.

Is there anything else i should be doing?

Thanks Guys

Chris

p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
every 2 days!!



Hi Chris,

Check out the following link for advice on cycling:-

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

It will give you some good hints...

Being in the UK a lot of these "miracle" products aren't available to us
but you might try some Nutrafin Cycle and Waste Control....the water
changes will also be helping...take a look at your filtration system -
often the filters sold with these tanks are the minimum for low stocked
tanks - try adding another filter/pump if you can stretch to it...the
suggestion of getting some established filter medium and/or substrate is
a good one - this is how I set up my tanks now but I have the benefit of
being able to "steal" from the tanks that I already own...

Try returning some of the fish...some places will give you credit for
them...MA certainly do...

Good Luck
Gill

Bottom posted.
§tudz wrote:
Christopher Lewis wrote:
My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks
ago. I filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left
the filter and heater running for a few days.

I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish
recommended by them to cycle the tank.

All OK so far right.

Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of
the fish being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in
it. They are gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a
few red eyed tetra's (i think thats what they are called), some
tiger barbs, some sharks someting or others (cant remember and i
doubt they are real sharks).

So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to
keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was
somewhere between 1 and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.

Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there
2 weeks now and *seem* OK so far.

Is there anything else i should be doing?

Thanks Guys

Chris

p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water
changes every 2 days!!




You shouldn't be doing water changes yet? you have TOO many fish in
there to cycle to tank. It is best to not have fish in the tank to
cycle it. for at least a week, 3 or 4 days if you use nutrafin's
cycle.

find out what 'sharks' they are, if they are black red tailed shark or
rainbow sharks they will fight each other, if they are bala sharks
they will grow huge! 15"+. or if they are iridescent sharks they will
grow over 2 foot, lol.

did you gradually add the fish? or did you add them all at the same
time?

and as for doing water changes every 2 days?? why are you doing them
SO often, once every month or two weeks should be fine.

§tudz

I don't know studz, if I am not mistaken you state a lot of contradictions
to aquarium standards today. I am just pointing out to the original poster
to take any information with a grain (no pun intended!) of salt. Good luck
and later!

Hi..

You shouldn't be doing water changes yet?

Hmm..???

you have TOO
many fish in there to cycle to tank.

Yes.

It is best to not
have fish in the tank to cycle it.

Yes, but then bacteria have to be fed in a different way.

for at least a week, 3
or 4 days if you use nutrafin's cycle.

I'm afraid that won't help.

and as for doing water changes every 2 days?? why are you
doing them SO often, once every month or two weeks should
be fine.

Sorry, he still has "fish soup" in that tank, shouldn't
stress them, so he has to keep NH3 and NO2 small.

@ Christopher:
Try to think about daily water changes for the next 2
weeks.. ;-)

--
cu
Marco

Hi..

Cyling a tank with a few hardy fish and live plants, no
more than about 5" of fish in a 100 litre (25 USg = about
25" of fish) is usually safe.

Hmm.., what are hardy fish?
--
cu
Marco