I Seem To Have Done Everything Wrong, Advice Please

Hi naomi, don't worry, you are now in the best place 

You need to do water changes to keep the nitrite level low because that poisons the fish too in a similar way that carbon monoxide does to us. It really needs to be kept below 0.25ppm by water changes.
What is your pH? Ammonia is more toxic at high pH and nitrite is more toxic at low pH. Seachem Prime does detoxify nitrite but it messes with the ammonia tester giving false readings for the first 24 hours.
As for nitrate, test your tapwater and subtract that from the tank reading to give you a more accurate idea of what's going on in your tank.


There is one bottled bacteria product available in the UK that does sometimes work - you could try using Tetra Safe Start (only that one) and see if it helps. That is the only one that could help but it is not guaranteed.

Yes, keep up with the water changes every time you see a reading for ammonia or nitrite above zero. It looks as though you are growing a nice amount of ammonia eaters now, and are just waiting for the nitrite eaters. You may need to do a water change every day for a while to keep the nitrite reading low, but then it'll start taking longer for it to rise so you won't need to do water changes as often. Eventually, both ammonia and nitrite will stay at zero without you having to do any water changes. It is worth making a note of when you do the chnages so you'll know when you've gone a week without needing to do any - that's when you'll be cycled. But only for the fish you already have, you'll need to add more fish a few at a time with at least a week between, and testing the water to make sure your readings stay at zero.
High nitrite and nitrate levels inhibit the growth of the nitrite eating bacteria so the water changes are worth it to get the nitrate down as well.

Which Waterlife product are you using?
Bacterlife is a bottled bacteria product. But there is only one that is known to work sometimes, and this isn't it. If it is this one you have, swap to Tetra Safe Start.
BioMature is the other one I found on their website. From the description there, it might contain ammonia for a fishless cycle. There are some cycling products that are just ammonia and can't be used when there are fish in the tank.


I haven't used Teta Safe Start myself, I've just done a lot of reading and this product is the only one that contains the right species of nitrite eater, has them still alive in the bottle, and has a resonable shelf life. There is another one that is even better but it is an American product. Even Safe Start doesn't work every time but it is worth a try. It should be used as often as the instructions say until the filter has cycled. But if it says to use it at every water change, don't bother. That's only to keep you buying it.



PS - bear in mind that shops are there to make money by selling you things even if they don't work.

Seachem Prime is often recommended for fish-in cycles as it helps to 'neutralise' both ammonia and nitrite. The effect doesn't last long though so you can't just add a dose and not do water changes for days. It does mess with the ammonia tester for the first 24 hours though so the reading for that one won't be accurate for a day after adding Prime. It is also very concentrated so a bottle goes a long way for your money - and you will need to use a lot of dechlorinator with all the water changes that go with a fish-in cycle. There are other dechlorinators that 'neutralise' ammonia, though they don't do anthing for nitrite.

I would clean the gravel once a week. Or a small portion every water change while you need to them daily, that way you'll do the whole lot once in a week. There will be fish poo and any uneaten food sitting in there, decomposing to make ammonia which will be converted to nitrite by the ammonia eaters, making your nitrite go up faster. Yes, there will be bacteria growing on the gravel and on every other surface in the tank, but the majority will be in the filter.
Personally, I think that the way some people go on about not disturbing the gravel dates back to the first type of biological filter. Back decades ago, it wasn't understood about bacteria removing ammonia and nitrite. When it was, the first filters to use bacteria were undergravel filters. These used a slotted plastic plate under the gravel, and a pump sucked the water through the gravel, under the plate to an uplift tube, up the tube and back into the tank. The gravel was the filter medium, that's where the bacteria grew. So disturbing the gravel with this kind of filter was not a good idea. We may have internal and external filters now but once an idea gets fixed in the public conciousness it is hard to get rid of it.

Feeding the fish is something tricky to estimate. For dried food like flakes and pellets, a very rough guide is the amount of food equal to one eye per fish. A fish's stomach is about the same size as its eye, that's the reasoning. (Yes, there are fish it doesn't apply to, but the guide is still a good one for beginners  ) Most flake products contain everything a fish needs for its staple diet, but you can use a couple of different brands, or pellet food to vary it a bit. You can also feed live food and vegetables.
Live food is things like bloodworm, brine shrimp and daphnia. You can get bags of these from a shop, but they have to be used quite quickly and that would mean over feeding or throwing a lot away. And they have been known to bring in disease. The better way is to buy frozen cubes of them from the fish shop. You can chop off as much as the fish need and thaw it in a bit of tank water. They also don't have the same disease problem that alive live food does. One word of warning though - the cubes contain a lot more than you'd think so start with just a small corner. Feed these once a week as a treat as there isn't much food value.
Platies and guppies do like veg in their diet. The usual vegetable to try is peas. Cook some, or save some from your meal, squeeze the skins off and chop up the insides till it's small enough to fit in the fishes' mouths. Make sure there are no large pieces - there is a thread by Jesnon in the Emergency Room on what can happen if a fish tries to eat a piece that's too big. Remove any uneaten peas or they'll go off - just suck them out with the siphon tube.

The ammonia tests are affected after every use of Prime. I haven't used it myself so I can't say from personal experience how badly it affects the test.
Prime is so concentrated, you may need to use a syringe to measure the dose accurately. Ebay etc or a pharmacy - but ask for a baby medicine syringe or you'll get funny looks asking for just a syringe  They come in various sizes.

I've just started using New Life Spectrum flake. I have to buy it on line though. It is supposed to be the brand with the least ash in it (bulking agent). I've used Tetra flakes in the past and my fish have been fine with that.

Oooohh, a vet! You do realise you'll have to do research on fish illnesses so you can tell us all what to do 


(Don't worry, I'm not expecting you to become a fish expert, there aren't very many vets, if any at all, that specialise in fish)

Erm, I know this might seem really stupid, but are you meant to take the centre media filter out of the bag?  I've scanned the booklets that came with the tank and filter and it doesn't mention the centre filter, hubby thought the bag had to stay as it has holes in it that appear to be there for a reason.  It's a gravel centre filter, with two material filters, one either side of it.  Judging by the picture of the filter that was meant to come with the tank I think we were upgraded, the one it was meant to come with only had two material type sponge filters, no centre one.

Fluval U4 Filter, it's biomedia, small white stones in a plastic bag. 

Arrgggghhhh, thanks Sue, he who shall remain nameless, hubby, is about to get an earfull lol.  I suppose it's just as much my fault for not double checking.  I'll sort it ASAP as per your advice, I have to say though, there isn't much biomax, not enough to fill the blue casing.  Should I get more to put in or is that enough?

Thanks again, I'd be lost without this place.   

I'll no doubt be in a fish shop next week, the hubby is getting very into this, he cost me £30 for two albino brushmouth pleco yesterday.  I'll pick up the bio media and add it to what I have, though I haven't been able to get to the filter to get the bio media out of the bag yet, one of the baby plecs has decided to claim that area and won't budge.  I think it's resting, it didn't stop moving yesterday and this morning, it's belly is looking very green and full.

The filter does have every thing else you mentioned, works brilliantly too, but the bio media is definitely little whitish gravelly stones.  I looked on amazon to check if I had the right filter and it shows the cylinder things, but on the video hubby was watching of a review of the fluval u4 the bloke had stones like ours, though he was an american and maybe theirs are slightly different.  Confused, I definitely am, especially as he had this huge instruction sheet and we didn't, we just had a booklet for the tank and another for the filter.  Actually I'm beginning to wonder if someone tampered with the box now.

Anyway, thanks again Sue, will definitely be heeding your advice (as soon as the pleco moves, he's so cute I don't want to disturb him).   

Hi again Sue,

The stuff I have is the solid block biomax in the first link you posted, I could have sworn it was more gravelly, but on closer inspection that's the stuff.  It's quite small, which is why I probably thought it was gravel.  Anyway, I managed to sort out taking it out of the bag yesterday, gave the biomax and the blue case a wash and popped it back in.  The biomax comes up to the slatted area, about three quarters of the way up the casing, so I'll pick up more of that tomorrow when I go to the pet shop.

Sadly I have to go back to the pet shop because on of the two baby albino plecos died last night, I'm praying it had nothing to do with me sorting out the filter.  Couldn't have been Chuck as she gave up after attempting to nip one of them when we first put them into the tank, there wasn't a mark on the pleco either, so I'm hoping it was just a weak fish.  I'm hoping to get two more tomorrow, with a view to maybe breeding them at some point in the future, and because they're almost as amusing as Chuck and Fanta. 

Anyway, thanks again Sue, hope I haven't put you to any trouble.