Please help a beginner

A

Amanda

AC Members
Mar 5, 2005
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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:
 
by cleaned the tank, what did you clean? how much water did you change ? did you clean the gravel / filter ect..
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
Amanda said:
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.
Click to expand...
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!!!!
 
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.
 
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.
 
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