Advice needed for newbie!!

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xplosion

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Jul 8, 2009
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Hey,

Just set up a 40G aquarium a couple of days ago, washed the substrate and am doing a fishless cycle but i can't seem to find pure ammonia anywhere!! so I've been adding fish food and so far, not ammonia is registering on the API test. Any idea how long for fish food to break down and what amounts are required for 5 PPM?

Also, on the first day of running the filter, I got a lot of white streaks on the glass, I just wiped it down with a cloth and a couple of days later they are reappearing slowly. I have a feeling it might be something to do with my gravel substrate?

All help and advice is greatly appreciated!!
 
thanks for that, even with fish food, any idea how long it would take for me to get readings? and any ideas on the white streaks on the glass?
 
First of all pure ammonia (98% ammonium hydroxide)is dangerous stuff that's not easy to come by. Common household ammonia is a dilute solution, something like 5% I think. If you look for the words "Clear Household Ammonia" you're on the right track. Just check the label to make sure there are no other ingredients such as surfactants.
You want to see nothing but ammonia and water. Dead shrimp will work as well.
 
I dropped in a single cocktail shrimp in a old pantyhose. The pantyhose keeps it from being a mess. It sat in the tank maybe 3-4 days and the pantyhose was growing fuzz. It was so gross but it got my ammonia to spike good enough to kick start the cycle. Took the shrimp out and the rest followed as it should.

I also had a couple guppies though, but they were making it cycle way to slow.
 
No worries, I also managed to get some Sera Nitrivec which i'll use once the ammonia registers!! I did make a bit of a newbie error today, bought a digital strip thermometer and placed it in the tank!! lol then was searching the net asto what the different colours mean when I saw that its meant to be on the outside!! but it seems to be working fine...
 
Did you purchase a good test kit? I would recommend getting the API master kit, it will remove alot of frustrations with testing.

Good luck and good job deciding on a fishless cycle, your future inhabitants will thank you for it!
 
msjinkzd said:
Did you purchase a good test kit? I would recommend getting the API master kit, it will remove alot of frustrations with testing.

Good luck and good job deciding on a fishless cycle, your future inhabitants will thank you for it!
Click to expand...

Hey,

yup, bought the API test kit, I only bought the heater for the tank today, and it was running at 20 degrees celcius prior so it might explain the delay in ammonia levels, so the strip thermo would be ok in the tank? I also have three live plants so I can get some bacteria on them to
 
Personally, I wouldn't trust the glue used in the thermometer strip to be safe for fish.
 
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