Different stores might test for different things, some are not as important as others, or you might be able to ask them to test for something specific. You will really want your own test kit at some point if you plan on sticking with the hobby. When things go wrong, you want to be able to test the water and take action, not go to the store every other day while you're having problems. If you go with any fish to cycle the tank, prepare for daily water changes, possibly 50% or more. If not the fish will most likely die and you will be back at square one in terms of cycling. Unless of course you run out and buy more fish right away (but that would be a waste of time and money). Also, using a fish as a guinea pig to test the safeness of the water isn't really all that reliable. Some fish can withstand worse water conditions than others, and depending on just how bad the water is, the fish might live for several weeks without alot of obvious problems
Feeder Guppies For Cycling
- Thread starter iovaykind
- Start date
In my local Petsmart and a LFS store that I frequent, if you ask for a free water test, you get ammonia, nitrate and nitrite....
But once I saw a clerk at petsmark shaking a vial of bright red water and telling the customer that her nitrates were just fine...
I'd much rather buy my own test kit and do it myself.
I use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit, which you buy at Petsmart for like $25 if you're in a rush or at Big Als Online for more like $14.
It's also nice to have your own kits in your house so you can monitor your tank frequently in the initial setup/stocking/cycling phases and occasionally after that.
But once I saw a clerk at petsmark shaking a vial of bright red water and telling the customer that her nitrates were just fine...
I'd much rather buy my own test kit and do it myself.I use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit, which you buy at Petsmart for like $25 if you're in a rush or at Big Als Online for more like $14.
It's also nice to have your own kits in your house so you can monitor your tank frequently in the initial setup/stocking/cycling phases and occasionally after that.
I have an ammonia, and nitrite test kit. Just no nitrate test kit, which I'm going to buy tomorrow or some time in the near future. I have a cycled tank, because there is no more ammonia or nitrites, before there was 3ppm of ammonia a couple of weeks ago. I just need to find out what the nitrates are before I add fish.
Isaac
Isaac
Not really. You need to also see NitrAtes before you can say your tank is cycled. But how did you go from 3ppm of ammoina to 0 on 3 weeks with fish? I suspect that something is messed up. What are/were the nitrIte levels? What kind of test is it?
Alright...heres my story.
I had a turtle in a 29 gallon fish tank, with an Aquaclear filter. The ammonia level stayed at 2ppm for almost a month. I checked the ammonia a lot but it was always at 2ppm. This went on for 2 months. So I decided to not check the ammonia for two weeks, and then I checked again. There was no more ammonia in the tank. So I wanted to check for nitrites to see if it developed. There were not nitrites either. I came to the conclusion that the nitrites already spiked and I missed it. But I have to make sure by checking the nitrates to be sure the tank cycled. However, I'm pretty sure it's cycled because there was ammonia in there, and now there isn't.
Isaac
I had a turtle in a 29 gallon fish tank, with an Aquaclear filter. The ammonia level stayed at 2ppm for almost a month. I checked the ammonia a lot but it was always at 2ppm. This went on for 2 months. So I decided to not check the ammonia for two weeks, and then I checked again. There was no more ammonia in the tank. So I wanted to check for nitrites to see if it developed. There were not nitrites either. I came to the conclusion that the nitrites already spiked and I missed it. But I have to make sure by checking the nitrates to be sure the tank cycled. However, I'm pretty sure it's cycled because there was ammonia in there, and now there isn't.
Isaac
Is it possible to run both filters on the cycled 29 gallon for a month or so and then move it to the new tank? That way you avoid a cycle almost completely.
In that case cut the media from the cycled tank in half, and put in the new filter and go threw a mini cycle. This is a normal cycle except its smaller. However you still need to do daily water changes and tests daily. This will take about 2-3 weeks.
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