New to hobby, really need some help, please!

[Nick17]

Hi, this is my first time on this forum thing, not sure if I'm doing it right but here we go:

So, I have a 38 Litre Ocean Free, Nano marine tank and everything I need for it. I've began cycling with fish (don't ask why) and I've added 2 oceanalliras Clown fish. The first day, all ammonia and nitrite lvls are fine, the second day, I have about 0 - .25 ammonia, so on the third day I do a water change, the ammonia goes down a little. The 4th day (today), I have about .25 to .5 of ammonia and have no idea what to do. I only have one pump/wave maker and that's in the tank so I have to mix the salt water by hand (with a fish net/pipe) All the clown fish are healthy and I've been adding some bacteria such as Seachum Stability and Fluval Bio Enhancer. But, what should my next move be, is the ammonia dangerous? Will it sort its self out ? Do I need a water change ? Again, all the clownfish look healthy. Thank you

 

[shovelhead]

The best option would be to have a local fish store hold the fish until your tank cycles.

 

[redfishbluefish]

First off, welcome! I'm not sure what to tell you. Ammonia is a killer. That store never should have sold you those fish, knowing that tank needed to cycle. I'm not sure what Seachem stability is, but I'd sure get one of the bacteria's in a bottle....BioSpira or Dr Tim's One and Only to immediately get bacteria in there to convert the ammonia. I'd also have fresh saltwater ready to go for water changes when ammonia began to climb. Best of luck....this one is a tough one. Hopefully others can throw in their two cents.


Edit To Add: We posted at the same time, but I like @shovelhead answer above. The other option is if you have a friend that has an established tank that could hold them for you.

 

[Nick17]

Thank you guys, yeah I know they shouldn't have sold me those fish because I got home and started researching this cycling with fish and realised it's risky. I want to give them the fish but I don't think they are willing to take them, to be honest, it's not the most helpful local fish store haha. So how much of this bacteria in a bottle can I add? Should I just stick to the normal does? Also, when should I (or if I should) do a water change, I have a bucket of salt that I'm mixing at the moment

 

[shovelhead]

I would do normal dose. I have no first hand experience with fast cycling but I know others have done it and hopefully they will chime in.

 

[Nick17]

Thanks for your help, yeah, hopefully someone who has done what I'm doing can help out, I'm really stuck on what to do :(

 

[redfishbluefish]

Follow the directions on the bottle.

Test for ammonia as frequently as you can and do water changes to get the ammonia out.

Again, hopefully the bacteria in a bottle will jump start your cycle and save these fish. Please let us know how it goes.

 

[Nick17]

Cheers, is it safe to mix saltwater with out a pump ? I only have one wave maker/pump and I put it in the tank, so basically I've just been slowly stirring the water with salt mix on and off for about 18 hours. Another thing, what ammonia lvl should I really start taking actions, at the moment it's sitting at about in between .25 and .5

 

[shovelhead]

I would take action before .5

 

[andyg1960]

You should be able to stir the salt into the water manually. Are you using ro/di water? As previously stated, any ammonia is lethal to fish. .5 is too much. What test kit are you using?

 

[Nick17]

The test Kit is API, as for RO Water, I live in Australia, and have this tap thing called pura tap, which is pretty much exactly the same as Ro/Di water, I still add a safe de chlorination liquid just in case, I also did a about 25% water change yesterday, should I also top feeding ?

 

[redfishbluefish]

Different species of fish handle ammonia differently. Your one saving grace is that clown fish are pretty resilient. However, even with clowns, any ammonia level above 0.25 is an issue. I'd be doing a water change.

 

[andyg1960]

I don't know what pura tap is, can you describe it in more detail? ro/di water is made through a very specific process, so unless your water is made via the same process, it's not the same. The name pura tap sounds like it's simply a filter, but you can prove me wrong.

 

[Daeron]

Welcome to the forum. For my 2 cents, you might look at treating the tank as a QT and follow those directions.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/

 

[SandJ]

Even though you are off to a rough start, I think it is awesome you are doing your research and learning to do things the correct way :0)

Small amounts of ammonia (even the .25 to .5 range) can cause damage, so keep up the water changes to keep the levels down.

I just looked up the Puratap filter. I am not an expert, but I don't think it is the correct type of filter to get the quality of water you are wanting. I would double check with a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter to make sure the water coming out is at zero.

 

[Nick17]

Okay, I'll do a water change, about 25%? 30%? Yeah, I'm not too sure about Pura Tap, but all I know is I phoned up the most trust worthy fish store in the state and he said to me it's what he uses for his tank and it's all good to use. But again, I really have no idea how it works so I'm just trusting his word haha. I am using a good de chlorinator with it which was recommended by a few fish stores. Haha, I really just want to get it right, I just like everything about marine tanks and fish. So about 25%/30 % water change ??

 

[shovelhead]

I would do at least 50% if possible.

 

[Daeron]

I would do at least 50% if possible.

+1

 

[Nick17]

So, the salt water hasn't fully mixed, so I'm going to go down to my local fish store and just bring a sample to be tested by them just to make sure that there is ammonia and then if there is I'll do a water change. Does this sound like a good plan/idea?

Again guys, I appreciate any input and will take any advice, thank you for all your help so far :)

Also, I forgot to say, I put some filter bacteria/ bio enhanced stuff in my tank yo hopefully get that going

 

[Nick17]

I got back from the fish store, they said to double the dose of the bacteria in a bottle and use it everyday to get it cycling and do a water change every 4 days but he said that I didn't need to do one today. Does this sound okay ???