Hi all,
Here's my situation....
went to a house party the other night where the tenants were moving out and thus getting rid of all their stuff...i ended up going home with a 10g aquarium in the wee hours of the morning,...
not having had fish before and being surrounded by drunks and others who obviously knew nothing about fish tanks, im sure you can imagine i didnt exactly do everything that is required when moving a tank (with fish) and setting it up again....
the tank had 2 cory catfish, 1 red molly, 2 zebra danios
heres what i did: (i did do some quick internet research for a few tips, but not enough!)
-drained about 80% of the water (and stupidly put it down the drain)
-moved the tank with fish in it to my house
-next morning i put the fish into a glass jar while i cleaned the aquarium thoroughly (garden hose and scraper, no soap)
-filled the tank back up with dechlorinated tap water, and added the 20%ish or so of the old water as well
-rinsed the rocks and plastic sponge like filter, and changed the carbon filter
-reintroduced the fish into the tank -- everyone appeared happy
then i decided i needed bulbs for the lights, and some live plants , so i headed to the pet store for those two items only....as can imagine, i ended up coming home with some plants, the bulbs, AND a male and female siamese fighting fish, a male and female molly....
i added the plants and floated the bags to acclimatize temp before adding the fish (not the water they came in)...
was so interesting and cool to watch the dynamics and relationships in the aquarium unfold.....im hooked!!!so wicked....but now i have been doing some research into things, and have just done some water tests, and am a bit freaked out by the possibility that my seemingly wonderful tank (they all seem to be doing great) may be in jeopardy...
my ammonia level is at about .30 ish
nitrate - about 20
nitrite - not sure, the colour looks tan, which is not similar to any of the chart colours? almost looks like the 0 colour for the nitrate chart, but not exactly
hardness - 120
alkalinity - 180ish
and pH of 8.4
my water temp was about 26, but today is really warm, so is at about 28 right now...
i have done some reading on cycling and stuff now, and it is evident that i should have read that first before going balls out at the fish store....
what can i do now, to try and help these little guys from dying in a possible toxic environment?
please help, in only 2 days i have grown so attached to these lil guys, i think i will be traumatized if they start floatin......
thanks in advance for any suggestions or help.....
signed,
overeager idiot
Here's my situation....
went to a house party the other night where the tenants were moving out and thus getting rid of all their stuff...i ended up going home with a 10g aquarium in the wee hours of the morning,...
not having had fish before and being surrounded by drunks and others who obviously knew nothing about fish tanks, im sure you can imagine i didnt exactly do everything that is required when moving a tank (with fish) and setting it up again....
the tank had 2 cory catfish, 1 red molly, 2 zebra danios
heres what i did: (i did do some quick internet research for a few tips, but not enough!)
-drained about 80% of the water (and stupidly put it down the drain)
-moved the tank with fish in it to my house
-next morning i put the fish into a glass jar while i cleaned the aquarium thoroughly (garden hose and scraper, no soap)
-filled the tank back up with dechlorinated tap water, and added the 20%ish or so of the old water as well
-rinsed the rocks and plastic sponge like filter, and changed the carbon filter
-reintroduced the fish into the tank -- everyone appeared happy
then i decided i needed bulbs for the lights, and some live plants , so i headed to the pet store for those two items only....as can imagine, i ended up coming home with some plants, the bulbs, AND a male and female siamese fighting fish, a male and female molly....
i added the plants and floated the bags to acclimatize temp before adding the fish (not the water they came in)...
was so interesting and cool to watch the dynamics and relationships in the aquarium unfold.....im hooked!!!so wicked....but now i have been doing some research into things, and have just done some water tests, and am a bit freaked out by the possibility that my seemingly wonderful tank (they all seem to be doing great) may be in jeopardy...
my ammonia level is at about .30 ish
nitrate - about 20
nitrite - not sure, the colour looks tan, which is not similar to any of the chart colours? almost looks like the 0 colour for the nitrate chart, but not exactly
hardness - 120
alkalinity - 180ish
and pH of 8.4
my water temp was about 26, but today is really warm, so is at about 28 right now...
i have done some reading on cycling and stuff now, and it is evident that i should have read that first before going balls out at the fish store....
what can i do now, to try and help these little guys from dying in a possible toxic environment?
please help, in only 2 days i have grown so attached to these lil guys, i think i will be traumatized if they start floatin......
thanks in advance for any suggestions or help.....
signed,
overeager idiot