I have a 28L tank not cycled with 2 mollies and four guppies. All put in yesterday with the purchase of tank.?

Question

Conditioner has been added, i just changed water today. Do i put more conditioner in or jus leave. Will they survive? They look fine and survived night one in a clean non filtered tank!!! HELP!!!!! I need more answers!!Pet shop has bacteria i can buy, do i buy it now or wait and see if they survive? HELP!!!!!!!!!!

I ahve a filter, a really good size for tha tank, I've changed the water today and they look fine. I still havent added salt... How to i knoe when the cycle is done?

Answer 1

I'm not going to sit here and yell and make a big deal that you did not start off on the right foot, everyone else did that. I am going to provide you with a couple of links that you can choose, if you'd like, to go read on how to properly prepare and cycle your tank. The problem with fish stores is that they fail to tell people how to correctly start a tank, and that should be against the law. They sell you the fish and you kill them (using "you" as a general term), then you go back to them and buy MORE fish, etc.
Anyway, here are the links: http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php and (I prefer this next site) http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Basic_Aquarium_Principles.html and http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/fishcyclefw.shtml

I hope you are able to find useful information between the 3 of these links. The last link will also help you with the proper fish you can use for the "break in" period of you so choose to cycle with fish (and/or you lose your current ones in the process).

Please keep in mind that a general rule is that you should not introduce anymore then 3 fish at a time to your tank, so you don't upset the balance of the water. These sites above can provide you with the answers to all of your questions. Knowledge is power, and the more you know, the better off and happier both you and your fish will be.

Good luck!!! ;o)

Answer 2

First off, a filter is a must with an aquarium. They're not in the wild so there isn't a current or a large enough body of water to dispurse and dilute all the toxic pollutant like ammonia that fish naturally put into the water. Now I wouldn't be surprised if you lost a fish or two. But live and let learn. The biggest problem right now is that since you don't have a bacteria colony set up yet, the ammonia is gonna build up quick in your tank and no way to remove it, so do water changes daily or at least every other day adding conditioners everytime. And DO NOT overfeed. Very important. Only give them what they can eat completely within five minutes. Remove whats left. Just an option, but adding some hardy live plants is always good. Nature did it first and we can't do better. Java ferns and Amazon swords are great. I admit, I was just as eager as you but with all the suggestions I gave you, my fish did just fine. I only lost one after my crazy convicts killed one that got too close. I hope any of this helps you out!

Answer 3

First, you NEED a filter, especially for that fish load, so get that first. Any power filter rated for more gallons than you have in your tank is good. Second, any time you do a water change, it should be a PARTIAL water change, as in 20-30%, at MOST 50%, no more. Third, buying bacteria is often a waste of money. If it is some bottled retail product like cycle, you have NO guarantee that it was kept properly and the bacteria are still alive. If it is gravel or filter media from one of the fish store's tanks, you risk infecting your fish with any parasites in their water. You NEED to buy ammonia and nitrite test kits, ASAP. Buy a nitrate kit and pH kit as well, the drop liquid reagent kits are much better than the dip strips. A Red Sea master kit or API master kit is good. Test the ammonia and nitrite daily, and change 30% of the water whenever the level of either gets over 1ppm. Buy some aquarium salt and add about 1 tablespoon per gallon to the tank, slowly. Make sure you replace the salt whenever you remove water, as removing water is removing salt as well. Guppies and mollies especially like salted water, so it will reduce their stress. Get a larger tank as soon as possible.

Answer 4

You will loose some fish while you learn the things you should have learned first. The bacteria in the pet store are no help at all. Never add water to the tank that has not been conditioned first. The pet store people will tell you it's OK to add water to the tank and then add conditioner,but that can kill the bacteria colonies that you need. Get a book and learn.

Answer 5

You will find lots of info and support at this site
www.aquaticcommunity.com
The forums are great, and there's lots of help there.
Your fish will likely get sick and die...that's what happens when cycling with fish. It's VERY hard on their systems. You can read up on fishless cycling at the above mentioned site as well.
IF you do buy any kind of "bacteria" buy BioSpira and make sure it's coming from a refrigerator. Anything like "cycle" won't do anything, because the bacteria can't survive unless it's refrigerated.

Answer 6

You kinda started off wrong.. it's best to wait 1 week before adding fish so that the levels can stabilize. If you added the proper amounts of conditioner, and everyone's okay, just wait and see what happens. Make sure the temps are appropriate to the fishes' prefs, and you can also purchase testing kits to check pH and such. Good Luck!

ALSO.. filters are important for novice fish owners. It makes things a lot easier!

Answer 7

If by conditioner you are referring to a declorinator then yes you need to add this everytime you add new water to your tank. As far as you fish are concerned mollies and guppies are capable of cycling a tank but during this process watch for stress related diseases (such as ICH) and be sure not to over feed them. Extra food = amonia build up = dead fish.

www.fishtankforums.com is a great resource for futher questions.

Answer 8

you should of cycled your tank first and your pet store should of advised you that find one that knows what there doing as some have not a clue

Answer 9

Your biggest problem is mollies eat guppies. I hope the mollies are real small and your guppies are very big. or you will have only two fat mollies in the morning