i have a live plant in it and the water is 25 degrees im getting guppies do you feed the plant and if you do with what do you feed it and on the nitrite test kit it says the water has 2.0mg/l how do i get the water to zero by saturday (0 mg/l)
2007-03-19 08:04:40 · 8 answers · asked by Orhan K 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Don't worry about your nitrites, should be fine. Don't know how big your aquarium is but at any rate, add fish slowly. Add only a few at a time-don't go and buy a dozen and put them all in on the same day. Agree, guppies, mollies, really any of the live bearers are good ones to start with. They are a hardy bunch. For bottom swimmers I always like to have a small shark, red-tail sharks are both pretty(black/red tail), and easy to care for. Maybe schooling fish too. Be patient and you will have a beautiful and health tank. Get yourself a nice book on aquariums and enjoy your fish.
2007-03-19 09:04:24 · answer #1 · answered by peach 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
As the first person said, read about fishless cycling (see link below). If you don't want to wait on a fishless cycle, please add fish very slowly and keep a close check on the ammonia and nitrite levels. Both of those are a bi-product of the fish waste (and excess food) and are toxic. They will eventually kill your fish, some quicker than others. Make sure you have a good, liquid test kit that measures ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
When you say the reading on the nitrite kit say 2 ppm, are you sure that is nitrite (with an "I") or nitrate (with an "A"). They are different and how you get rid of them is also different. Nitrite (as well as ammonia) will eventually be removed by the beneficial bacteria that will build in your tank. As I already mentioned, nitrite is toxic and a level of 2.0 is too high. You will have to do water changes to lower it until the nitrifying bacteria form. The same is true for ammonia.
Ammonia is more toxic than nitrite and the toxicity is also related to the pH. The higher the pH, the more toxic ammonia is. At pH levels below 6.0, ammonia isn't toxic as it is changed to ammonium, a non-toxic form. So a reading of 1 ppm for ammonia in 6.5 pH water is less toxic than the same 1 ppm reading in 7.5 pH water.
Nitrate on the other hand is only toxic at very high levels but elevated levels can lead to algae and other problems. It can only be removed by water changes. That is why you should do a weekly water change of about 15 to 25 percent.
Since you don't have fish yet, I'm assuming that nitrate is what is present in your water and not nitrite (if it is nitrite, you should contact your local water company immediately.
EDIT: Mr. Robot, you are off on the cycling thing. Nitrate will never reach 0 (should be 0 from your tap) as it is the end product of the cycle. It will continue to rise and can only be lowered by water changes.
2007-03-19 15:34:28 · answer #2 · answered by rdd1952 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You need to get the nitrite down to 0; it is very toxic for fish.
You can do this with more water changes, like 20% a day, until you get it down, then you can do twice a week or once a week depending on your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate values.
You could also use a chemical like Amquel, this one should not harm you biological filter.
I like to add Amquel and Cycle every time I do a water change.
Amquel removes chlorine, chloramines, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia from the water.
Cycle adds nitrifying bacteria that will break down your ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate which is what the plants eat.
I have live plants in my aquarium and I haven't put anything to feed the plants.
You made a good choice with the guppies they are beautiful, playful and intelligent fish, Good Luck
KF
2007-03-19 15:35:49 · answer #3 · answered by K_Gonzalez 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Do not feed the plant it will get all it needs from what the fish leave. That doesnt sound like a lot of nitrate to me, it is only just above the recommended limit. I would say go to the shop where you are going to get your fish from with a small sample of the water in a small clean bottle and ask them to test it, they should do this for no charge because you are buying from them. I would love to know why you are getting guppies though ? They breed so quick and even shops wont take them off you because they even breed waiting to be sold. I hope you are not doing this for profit because you have backed a looser on guppies.
2007-03-19 16:14:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
your temperature is good. You kinda have to feed the plants as well , i use flourish iron which is really good ( they grow due to it). Only feed the plants after you do a water change. ask the people in the fish shop if they have any chemicals to lower nitrate but do it before you put the guppies in
2007-03-19 17:07:12 · answer #5 · answered by knoxy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The tank has to finish its cycle before you can safely add fish. You will know when Nitrite,Nitrate and Ammonia reach zero..thus meaning the levels are balanced and its ready for fish.
2007-03-19 15:32:15 · answer #6 · answered by Mr.Robot 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
25 degrees celsius is fine for guppies. (or aroung 78 degrees farenheit) I've had them for a long time and find that they are extremely hardy. Your nitrates should be fine. Just make sure you don't overstock. If you have mixed sex guppies, be weary, they multiply fast! At one time, I had two kiddie pools full of them from only 8 fish.
2007-03-19 15:13:44 · answer #7 · answered by luckyvegas535 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
read up on fihsless cycling
2007-03-19 15:11:54 · answer #8 · answered by Skittles 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋