abeld Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Hey guys, just recently i got my self some fish being sent down from QLD, my question is i haven't cycled my tank yet, will it be a problem? or could i just do water changes 2-3 time a week until i get it cycled? or am i stuffed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Water changes should be fine. You can also speed things along by using a filter bacteria product like Stability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Simple answer, no fish...no cycle. Get some pure ammonia and keep dosing enough to get a reading of 5ppm every day for the next week or two, until your new fish arrive. Obtain some aged water from you LFS (and maybe a handful of gravel if they are generous...), and put that in your tank to help boost the system. Stop dosing the ammonia a day or three before you put the fish in... Solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abeld Posted February 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Water changes should be fine. You can also speed things along by using a filter bacteria product like Stability. Yeah i thought that it would be ok to do a few water changes and i have some seachem bacteria growth from my other tank. I would have done what Ghengis said but their coming this Wednesday and i probably would have used comets, never tried the ammonia method, should give it a go. Thanks :fun: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 BUT do a big water change before you add the fish if you try that! Otherwise you'll be putting them in ammonia, or at the very least nitrite or nitrate at dangerous levels, even if you have managed to get partway through a cycle in the time before their arrival. A lot of people (not including me) don't filter bettas at all, and just rely on water changes. I suggest you see if you can get some dried Indian Almond Leaf, that seems to give great protection to fish and makes the water acidic, so ammonia is converted to ammonium which is less toxic. You'd still have to do water changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 BUT do a big water change before you add the fish if you try that! Otherwise you'll be putting them in ammonia... Oh, yeah...thanks, Lili. Forgot to add that rather important point to my post. :fun: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 No worries When it's second nature, you don't think to mention it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abeld Posted February 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Thanks lilli for that last bit of info, i would have killed my fish . Anyway my fish have arrived and they all survived! But i am having trouble with one of them, he isn't eating. I first tried some blood worms, didnt even look at it then tried to feeding it with some German flake food, which is supposed to be the "best". Anyway i have cleaned his tank of the left over food and ill try again tommorow. PS i forgot to mention, the male are in Temporary small separate tank (I know that most people dont like to put them in smaller tanks) and i am going to finish putting in the dividers and then all should be fine. Hope that putting them in small tanks till SAT should be fine, well at least i think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 They'll be fine til Saturday! Relax :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abeld Posted February 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 Man i keep getting problems with theses fish the tank in which i keep my females is milky, WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!! Im freaking out i dont know what it is ive wrong, ive done water changes but noting, i have a filter in it its a 700 litters per hour in a 100 litre tank, it should be clean. Please help. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 was the tank cycled beforehand, or was the filter 'seeded' by use in another cycled tank occupied by fish? Cloudy water suggests bacterial bloom (although that has happened rather fast). Do you have an ammonia test kit? If so, what are the readings? You haven't included your location in your profile so I cant draw any conclusions about the source of your tap water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abeld Posted February 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 Ok did a Ammonia test, came back as 0 Ammonia, which i was relived . Ah i havent seeded it i have just been doing regular water changes to the new filter. As my profile now says i live in Melb, i think the water quality should be ok. If not should i use rain water? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 It could also be an algae bloom, suspended algae can make the tank look cloudy too. Do you have a nitrite kit also? I wouldn't worry about rain water, I think you might just need to let the tanks do their thing Without bacterial products or seeded substrate/filter media, you are looking at a 3+ week period where the tank is settling into the stocking level. Don't touch the filter media, and don't vac the gravel. Small partial water changes if you get ammonia or nitrite readings only. Be careful not to overfeed also, if anything I'd be underfeeding until you are sure the tanks are cycled What size tank is it and what type of filter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 Thanks for doing the profile thing Now, maybe someone in Melb can comment, but I don't think you have the same problems some of us Sydneysiders have with tap water quality. Is the water just milky, or are there suspended particles? There are flocculant products you can get that bind with the particles and sink, but I probably wouldn't bother with that. Also what sort of filter is that? Is it a canister, internal, HOB, sponge? Personally I find sponge filters to be the very best option for bettas. Just curious. What dechlorinator are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billphil Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Lilli Where do I start with Melbourne water? It is supposed to be the purest drinking water that there is. Melbourne water is generally safe most of the time, but that also depends on which suburb you are living in. I always use aged water (aerated at least 24 hours) and use a dechlorinator on the water. I purchased a 240 litre "garbage trolley" bin from Bunnings and have it aerated and use that as my water supply. There have been occasions in which there have been ammonia, nitrate in the tap water. The great thing about Melbourne water is that it is soft. From bitter experience, my motto is never to trust raw tap water. However a few simple precautions means you have no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Thanks Bill! Do you ever experience the sort of clouding that abeld has described? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billphil Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Yes have experienced cloudy water at times. Microscopic examination of the water does not reveal any algal or bacterial bloom. Suspect it is due to very fine particulate matter in the water and possibly reflects some water-oxygen-carbon dioxide imbalance in the water (remember the experiments you did at school by blowing through a straw into water). Sorry but I cannot rexcall all the bicarbonate-carbonate-carbon dioxide equilibrium cycle. I never found it to have a real detrimental effect (except to me visually) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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