View Full Version : Please help a beginner
Amanda
03-05-2005, 9:25 PM
Is it ok (considering that i do not have any money at the moment) to use an ammonia clear tablet when i am not completelyey sure that i have high ammonia levels. I have a test kit but it tests everything but ammonia. I also have ammonia clear tabs. I am worried that my fish may be stressing because of ammonia. the tank has only been set up for a week and molly is clamping her top fin down and appears to be struggleing like useing her whole body to swim. Recently she has givin birth to stillborn fry,could this be the reason instead? also my cory cat seems to be making really rapid movements. I know he is a very active fish but this is a little different than he has been acting. I just cleaned the tank yesterday and am afraid i might have stirred up something bad. As a precaution can i add a tab or could it cause a reallly adverse reaction?
It is a ten gallon tank with 2 mollies a swordtail and a cory cat.
I'm new to aquariums but really love my fish and i do not want anything to happen to them! :confused:
Kasakato
03-05-2005, 9:28 PM
What are the other levels? Get a ammoina test kit, and ditch the tablets.
by cleaned the tank, what did you clean? how much water did you change ? did you clean the gravel / filter ect..
loucas6290
03-05-2005, 9:54 PM
do you have anyother test kits, you said that your tank has been up for a week, did you cycle your tanko, if you didnt id read the sticky about cycling
Amanda
03-05-2005, 10:11 PM
I have a test kit for ph nitrate nitrite hardness and alkalinity.
My tests read...
Ph:7.8
Nitrate: 10ppm
Nitrite:0 ppm
Hardness:75ppm
Alkalinity:120ppm
I am using these fish to cycle the tank....these weere the fish i was advised to get by the staff at petco, though i doubt how educated they are by some of the stuff i have read online since then. I have read the article on cycleing the tank but again it was after i already had my fish.
When i cleaned the tank i vacumed it scrubbed the fish poop of the carbon thing in the filter and did about a 40% water change. I also cleaned the tank decorations.
I don't know what else to do because i can not get out to buy an ammonia test kit for at least a week and by that time i am sure it would be too late.
P.S. I really appreciate your fast responds. This is the first fish forum that i have found were i really get help quickly! Thanks a million.
kveeti
03-06-2005, 9:41 AM
Until you can get a test kit (very important), do daily water changes, 40 to 50%. If your fish still look unhappy after one water change, do another. What water conditioner are you using for your water changes? Do you know if your water utility adds chlorine or chloramines? This is something good to know. See if they have an online site or phone them to find out this information.
Nuriel
03-06-2005, 10:36 AM
When i cleaned the tank i vacumed it scrubbed the fish poop of the carbon thing in the filter and did about a 40% water change. I also cleaned the tank decorations.
do not clean off these items untill you have an established tank as they bacteria like to nest in decor crevices and such, and never clean the gunk out of your filter (maybe a rinse every six months in old tank water) as that is where the majority of helpful bacteria reside at.
hope that helps a lil bit,. good luck and keep up the water changes!!!!
sillyputty
03-06-2005, 11:07 AM
It is my understanding (and please correct me if I am mistaken) that if you have a 0 nitrite reading then you probably don't have any or very high ammonia, although the ammonia will show up before the nitrites.
Maybe you could call around and find a store that will check your ammonia level, although it might be easier to get an ammonia test kit. If you haven't opened the clear tabs package you could probably return them and use that toward purchasing an ammonia kit which shouldn't really be too costly.
kveeti
03-06-2005, 11:34 AM
As her tank has only been set up a week, the nitrites have not shown up yet. They will come. Good to get into a routine of daily testing and water changes now.
Kasakato
03-06-2005, 12:09 PM
Yup just do water changes, and test your water. Thats all you can do for not. Try to keep the ammoina and nitrites below .5ppm.
Kasakato
03-06-2005, 12:10 PM
do not clean off these items untill you have an established tank as they bacteria like to nest in decor crevices and such, and never clean the gunk out of your filter (maybe a rinse every six months in old tank water) as that is where the majority of helpful bacteria reside at.
hope that helps a lil bit,. good luck and keep up the water changes!!!!
You can clean the media more offten in a established tank. I clean it once a week, and I dont get any kind of ill effect.
Amanda
03-06-2005, 12:50 PM
My mom took me today to get an ammonia tester. the only one they had was a Jungle inc quick dip, I've read that strip ones are not as accurate but i'm in a pinch and i'll take what i can get. So anyway i tested and it was inbetween the colors representing .5 and 3.0 I know that is a big gap but it was deffanitly closer to the .5 level. So i added the minimum dose of ammonia clear (i am afraid to do another water change because i probably killed so much bacteria the first time. So hope fully this will help my fish relax and allow time for my bacteria to colonize. Thanks for your help everyone! Updates soon.
Kasakato
03-06-2005, 12:57 PM
Nooooo! The test strips are ok, not good not bad. Just make sure that they stay super dry. And get rid of that ammoina clear junk. And do a water change. Heres why:
Ammoina Clear: It take out the ammoina, starving the bacteria because they have nothing to eat. All the bacteria dies= you are starting over again.
Water Change: Will remove ammoina becasue you tank out it and put back in clean water. The water you tank out has little bacteria that is needed to cycle a tank. Remove a bit of good bacteria= the bacteria is still there, and will keep on growing.
Amanda
03-06-2005, 1:05 PM
oh...i did not know that. so i should do water changes but not a thorough cleaning??
Kasakato
03-06-2005, 1:21 PM
A 25-50% water change should do. Its all part of learning about fish keeping ;)
pbecot01
03-06-2005, 4:21 PM
The only thing you can do to upset the bacteria is adding a chemical that kills them or removing your filter media. Vaccum and water change all you can...
Amanda
03-06-2005, 6:13 PM
well after alot of ammonia talk i have a new problem, My molly now appears tohave a hole under her and has a long stringy white thing hanging from her. The white thing has been there for about 3 hours. I have removed her and put her in to a one galoon tank with the ten gallons tank water. Any body have an isea what is going on?
losermonkey5
03-06-2005, 6:45 PM
wat do u mean wen u say hole and wear is the hole?
Amanda
03-06-2005, 8:14 PM
the hole is like right before her back bottom fin (not her tail) I don't know the specific name but from the side it looks like it is indented at least an eigth of an inch. She used to have a white patch there which i assumed was her coloring but and now wondering if it was something different. She also has the white stringy thing hanging out of her. She doesn't swim much, just lays on the bottom. She eats about 1 or 2 flakes of food when i feed her. (I scoop all extra food out after) She mostly just lays on the bottom of the tank.
Amanda
03-07-2005, 5:29 AM
Does anyone have any idea what the current problem could be?
losermonkey5
03-07-2005, 2:58 PM
thats wat i think some kid of parisite but her lil bro says he dont think theres a hole