# Persistent wife and a new 20g tank



## dingurt (Jul 9, 2011)

So my wife came home the other day with two fantails and a bowl. I quickly went to Walmart and got a 20g starter tank to do the right thing. 

Now, the questions 

Two days later (today) I tested the water, and it shows about .25ppm ammonia. So I did about a 20% water change, and added about 2mL Prime. It still shows the same amount of ammonia. We have well water on a softener. I tested the water, and it states no ammonia, no nitrates/nitrites, so I replaced it with that.

What should I do at this point? I have read all about how important all this chemistry is, but I've never had a tank before. Any advice would be appreciated.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

By fantails, I assume goldfish...

Tank is still a little small for even two of them. I would not use the softened water. Use it straight from your well. I also wouldn't worry too much about ammonia levels below 1 while the tank goes through the nitrogen cycle. If it gets above 1 for ammonia or nitrites, then do the water change.

What type of testing gear do you have? Strips or liquid tests? Strips are very inaccurate, or at least known to be.


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## dingurt (Jul 9, 2011)

The only concern about using straight well water is that it smells strong of sulphur. Don't know if that matters. 

I am using the API liquid test kit... The one with all five tests.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The problem with softened water is it can be high in sodium. If you use it and your fish aren't affected by it then maybe you'd be okay. Also, if the softening process has stripped the carbonate hardness (kh) out of the water you could experience ph swings that can negatively affect your fish. Do you by chance have a kh test kit?


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## dingurt (Jul 9, 2011)

Nope, but I'll pick one up today!


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

As far as the ammonia readings - Prime may make the ammonia non-toxic to fish, but I doubt it will remove it. Instead, the ammonia will still show up on your testing, it's just not toxic anymore (some sort of chemical bonding between Prime and the NH4 molecules).


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## dingurt (Jul 9, 2011)

Thanks for all the info! Today I went to the store and picked up a piece of driftwood with an Anubis growing on it, also a nice Amazon Sword to go with it... Grabbed some plant lights as well. They were already in a tank. Apparently the driftwood/Anubis have been in there for a month. Will this help the cycle process any? I was trying to find some SafeStart, but nobody seems to carry it around me.

Here is a pic:


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Looks good. Hopefully the fact that they are goldfish and that there are some live plants in there will help with the cycle establishment - goldies are tough buggers and can withstand a lot of ammonia (but ANY ammonia is too high for a tank with live fish in it, if you ask me). Did you get any testing strips, or are you going to let the pet store clerks do your testing for you?


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## dingurt (Jul 9, 2011)

Thanks! I bought the API FW master kit... Kinda strange, I took a reading when I got home today... Looks like ammonia stayed around .50 all day (did a 50% pwc before work at 8am), nitrite is 0, but the nitrates were a bit darker than they were yesterday. Definitely not orange, but in-between the 0-5ppm. I took a sample of RO water straight from the tap, and it is lighter.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

The API Master Fresh Water Test Kit ammonia test isn't always accurate - I get consistent readings of 0.25 ppm ammonia in a VERY heavily planted tank, which leads me to believe it is measuring another form of ammonia that is non-toxic (I think it's called "free ammonia" or something like that).

0.5 ppm ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates is a great indication that your cycle is chugging along and might even be ready to handle fish. What were you planning to add?


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

fantails need 20 gallon for 1 and for every one you add you have to add 10 gallons. is there anyway you can return 1?


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## dingurt (Jul 9, 2011)

Well, there are already a fantail (Gordo) and a black moor (Wanda) in there... 

Ok, so of all the research I've done on the net over the past 5 days has all said it takes weeks to get a nitrate reading on a fresh tank. With the addition of the driftwood and plants, I also added a bottle of TSS for good measure today when I got home from work. I know it doesn't work that quick, but here is a pic of my nitrate reading now. Is this a fluke, or is it a good thing?


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Definitely not a fluke. I'm a big fan of Tetra SafeStart as well; I had a cycled tank with dry but dirty substrate and dry but dirty filter media and a bottle of TSS in about a week. My only problem with it is that its expensive.


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## dingurt (Jul 9, 2011)

That's good to hear! Today before I left work, I had .50 ammonia and .25 nitrite. When I get home, should I do a pwc?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Getting a nitrate reading does not necessarily mean anything in the early stages when it comes to a cycle. I have had 20-30ppm readings on my last fishless cycle and only 1 wk into a cycle that lasted a month. Early in your cycle you shouldn't even care what nitrates are......because it doesn't make a difference unless your ammonia and nitrite sit at zero. Because...even if your nitrates are 80ppm, if your ammonia/nitrite aren't bottomed out, you're still not finished.

I wouldn't do a water change unless my ammonia or nitrite values were over 1ppm.


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## dingurt (Jul 9, 2011)

Ok, thanks!


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