[NaomiM]

Hi lovely people and sorry for yet another question!

I still haven't manages to find a shop that sells ammonia solution (tried Boots, Homebase, B&Q and others), so have just carried on 'feeding' my tank with a pinch of goldfish flakes every morning.

My new API test kit arrived today (only had nitrite test before) so I've just done the tests; results are:

Ammonia - 0.25ppm
Nitrite - 2.0ppm
Nitrate - 80ppm

I'm guessing this means I'm about halfway through the cycle, and just wanted some advice on what I should be doing now.

Should I be doing water changes and gravel syphoning to lower nitrate, or should I wait until the cycling's finished?

Should I keep adding the same amount of fish food, or should I increase/decrease it?

Thanks

 

[Fishyfins]

when i fishless cycle, i just keep going with no water changes. There arnt any fish in there to come to harm, and high Nitrates are harmless to fish anyway. just watch for algae, which feeds on it.

as for ammonia, you'd probably be better looking in smaller, independant DIY and homeware shops. Ammonia, being a main componant of bomb making, has been abandoned by a lot of larger chains, but ive found it can still be bought in the smaller shops. just dont buy too much, or you may find the police giving you a call XD

 

[NaomiM]

So that's why the shop staff were looking at me strangely!

And yes, I did notice some algae on some of the decor. What's the best thing to do about that?

 

[ameliajane]

I bought household ammonia in Boots a few years ago - i had no idea about the bomb issue(!) or that they no longer sell it - sorry. You dont really need it now anyway - it sounds like your tank is cycling just fine. It depends on how big a 'pinch' is but you could reduce now. You don't want a big build up of rotting food.

You will always get some algae in fish tanks. Water + light + nutrients = algae! You can especially expect blooms of algae when your first starting up a new tank.

Some algae isn't necessarily a bad thing as your fish will tend to enjoy picking at most types of algae (especially the platies).

Methods of control for algae vary according to the type but many can be very difficult to remove from ornaments, especially if left too long. So if you have removable ornaments i would be trying to clean off the algae now.

Alternatively, at this stage, with no fish or plants in the tank you could just plunge the whole tank into complete darkness by covering all the glass.

In the long term the most effective way i've found for keeping algae in check is to fill the tank with live, healthy plants. Plants absorb nutrients more easily than algae do and the algae just cannot compete.

 

[NaomiM]

Thanks for that I'm definitely going to get some of that planted wood when the cycling's finished. I tested the water parameters again today and they were pretty much the same. Today I also tested pH though, and it was 8.2! So hopefully the plants will help to lower the pH a little, and if they help to control algae too, then that's another plus!

 

[ameliajane]

I don't know a great deal about water chemistry but i gather there is a lot more to it than simply measuring the Ph - other factors are involved in determining just what kind of impact the Ph will have and at this point it all gets much too complex for me!

However, at a simpler level, you may find the Ph drops a bit once the cycling has finished and the water chemistry has had a chance to settle down. Bog wood and plants may help too but as the fish you're planning to have prefer a higher Ph I wouldn't worry too much.