new tank syndrome, need help fixing its please

onemanswarm

Well, at least you know you're in good hands now! Better than listening to the varying advice of LFS clerks anyway. Basically, I would follow Byron's advice TO THE LETTER! Do that and you'll be fine.

amy11

i must say quite frankly im appalled at LFS at the moment ive visited 4 in my area and most dont have a clue about fish apart from tropical and coldwater, and lets be fair it is a very specialised subject andfor pet shops its all about what they can sell us, keeping fish isnt cheap and they can make a fortune from a novice selling us all sorts and keeping the simplist advice to them selves such as water changes that have saved my tank and my sanity

Tazman

Welcome to the world of Capitalism!

Most fishes stores are like that but I am lucky on the fact I have one that actually knows what they are talking about and offer good advice.

I got very annoyed once in a store that is now closed, the guy was trying to sell a family a fish that even someone with experience would have a hard time keeping. I told them that and it was like I was being rude or something.

The manager came and politely asked if I would leave...the fact it meant nothing to them that the fish they were trying to sell would be dead very quick in the size of tank the people had, was nothing to them.

onemanswarm

Good for you for helping that family and the fish. I guess their clerks must work on commission!

amy11

ok so i added my guppies yesterday and last night i had an ammonia spike from 0 to 0.25 i did a 20% water change and added some cycle to help, i tested the water again this morning and it was fine, now this afternoon my ammonia is on the rise again, any ideas whats going on? how can i stop the ammonia? is it normal? will i have to do water changes everyday now for the rest of my fishes eternity?

onemanswarm

The more parameters you can provide the better. Do you have nitrite/nitrate numbers from the last few tests you did along with the ammonia?

Some other thoughts:
1) In your first post, you talked about cleaning the inside of the tank, the gravel, etc. Can you break that process down a bit for us? Specifically, how did you clean the tank to get it ready?

2) Do you know what plants you have? As Byron mentioned, a fast growing plant will help absorb ammonia. Maybe we can help with some recommendations.

amy11

i wiped out the tank with a clean cloth and washed it and the gravel in dechlorinated water, i have no idea what plants i have the were just at the pet shop saying suitable for tropical aquariums, i take it i shouldnt be getting ammonia spikes?

amy11

my nitrites were 0 this morning and my nitrates were 20 ppm

Byron

I believe I have posted in a couple of your threads, and issues may be overlapping, but I can't keep everything straight so forgive me if I ask for what should be obvious.

Can you post photos of the plants if you can't name them, or a link to a thread with photos? Some are better than others at assimilating ammonia. Also, have you tested the tap water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

amy11

lol yh byron i feel that you like a challenge as you seem to find my problem threads, my tap water was all clean of ammonia and nitrites and nitrates, i will try and add photos to my albumn, can you guys see that?