okay i'm new and i like fish. done with the obvious
how long do you leave a new aquarium(with chemicals) sitting?
how long do you leave a new aquarium(with chemicals) sitting?
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- Thread starter crazyshane51
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Ummm...You don't? Sorry, I don't really 'get' the question, so will take a stab at answering what I think you're asking.
There are some chemicals that are used to detoxify or remove chlorine or chloramines. These additives work almost immediately--fast enough that you can add the water, add the chemical, and consider it good.
However--I fear you're talking about how long it has to sit before adding fish, and that is a completely different story. Before adding fish, the tank must be 'cycled'--which means you need to establish bacteria that will process the wastes produced by the fish--starting with ammonia. There is a great article in the article forum that covers this process: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64301 You can also use Bio-spira (not one of the competing, non-refridgerated brands--this is the only one that I'd trust to actually work), which introduces the bacteria needed--but you must do some form of cycling.
I know it's a lot of reading, but this is a pretty critical part of having a healthy tank.
There are some chemicals that are used to detoxify or remove chlorine or chloramines. These additives work almost immediately--fast enough that you can add the water, add the chemical, and consider it good.
However--I fear you're talking about how long it has to sit before adding fish, and that is a completely different story. Before adding fish, the tank must be 'cycled'--which means you need to establish bacteria that will process the wastes produced by the fish--starting with ammonia. There is a great article in the article forum that covers this process: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64301 You can also use Bio-spira (not one of the competing, non-refridgerated brands--this is the only one that I'd trust to actually work), which introduces the bacteria needed--but you must do some form of cycling.
I know it's a lot of reading, but this is a pretty critical part of having a healthy tank.
Any type of 'spike' is defined as when the concentration of the item (ie, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia) increases beyond desirable levels. For nitrites and ammonia, this means anything above 0, for nitrates, something above about 20 ppm in most setups would be defined as a spike.