New Tank - Effects Of Spring Water?

I'd still cycle the tank if I were you but it'll just take a lot less time. Lucky you with having access to spring water, no nasty chloramines ect.

Do you have any water testing kit?

Hi Pamela 

Fiona and Simon replied while I was typing so apologies if I repeat some of what they say.


Using media and decor from another tank is the quick way to cycle a tank but it doesn't usually negate cycling. The simplest thing is to move some media and decor (not so much that the pictus is left without enough) and then follow the fishless cycle method. The slow bit with any type of cycling is getting the bacteria colonies started from the very few in the water supply so adding some bacteria on the old media and decor significantly shortens the duration of the cycle.
Sources of ammonia - Homebase (if there is one left near you!) in the household cleaning section, or on-line. Ebay and Amazon sell ammonia suitable for cycling. Some sellers sell ammonia specifically for cycling, or Jeyes Kleen Off Household Ammonia is fine - I've used that brand,

As for spring water, that will contain some minerals but not chlorine/chloramine. Because of this, you may find that even a cycle with no added bacteria (media, decor etc) would go faster than usual as there is nothing to poison the naturally occurring bacteria we want to grow. But you may still need to add a dechlorinator because of any metals that might naturally be in your spring water. I would suggest you use something like API Tap Water Conditioner which contains only a dechlorinator and something to remove metals - nothing to detoxify ammonia (needed by people with chloramine added to their tapwater) and nothing to 'promote the slime coat' (which isn't necessary). That dechlorinator is the one I use, the downside being that not many shops stock it so I have to get it on-line.

You do need a test kit if you don't already have one. On-line is cheaper than 'real' shops but slower as you have to wait for the post.
And it would also be worth finding the hardness of your water as you won't have a water supply company to check with their website. Do you ever have water quality tests done on your water? If you do, the hardness should be in there. If you don't, you can buy a test kit for hardness but it would be cheaper to get your water tested at a shop - hardness in tapwater doesn't change. Ask them to test GH and KH and to write down not only the numbers but the units as well. Shops are notorious for saying things like 'fine' or 'OK' which are meaningless with hardness which is why you need the actual numbers and there are half a dozen different hardness units so you need to know which one your numbers are in.
The GH level affects the types of fish suitable for your tank, more than pH. And the KH level can affect the cycle - the bacteria we want grow slower in low KH.

Hi All

Just a wee update, tests are currently sitting at

Cl2 - 0
pH - 6.8
KH - 6 d
GH - >7d
NO2 - 0mg/l
No3 - 25mg/l

took advice and threw in a raw prawn as well as seeding from other tank - will keep monitoring levels. It still has a slight cast to the water though, I intially put it down to gravel (despite washing it) but it's been in a week now and still isn't clearing. Any suggestions? Dodgy phone photo attached.

thanks again for advice

Pamela

Hi Sue

thanks for replying

prawn is in a bag - I saw that tip somewhere else it's the only ammonia I've added, I couldnt get hold of an ammonia test kit (new branch of MA just taken over locally and it's not fully stocked yet) but should get one tomorrow so will keep testing. Haven't stocked yet, was hoping to cycle first.

The GH bits on the strip are either <3 >4 >7 >14 or >21 . . . with the middle three being marked as ok.

P

I have both both test strips and liquid re-agent tests. Most people swear by the liquid re-agent tests. In my own experience, I think they are over-rated and the test-strips under-rated, but I seem to be on my own here with this view, so I don't know whether test strips have improved in recent years or not. I'd be *really* interested to know what your readings are with both. There are definitely advantages to having both, to cross-check with one another, so I would still definitely advocate buying the liquid ones too.

My own experience is that the liquid tests give an artificially high level for PH, regardless of brand, although the test strips possibly give an artificially low level for PH - the water company results tend to give something in between. There's also quite a bit of difference between what the test strip results are for KH and GH (usually somewhere on the soft side or in the middle) and what the liquid test results are (lower), with the liquid test ones probably being more in line with the water company results. The nitrate is the liquid test which I dislike the most - it tends to show up as 0 which oughtn't to be the case even although I follow instructions and shake the test tube for a long time and very vigorously as required. For that reason in particular, I find it useful using both test strips and liquid-based kits as I can cross-check with the test strip.

Hello All,

I have used API liquid testers since I came back to the hobby 14 months ago. As well as the master test kit for all the usual parameters, I also have KH & GH, and phosphate. I am currently using my third nitrate kit. I check my tanks and tap water regularly. The reason for testing the tap water so often, is that despite living in a hard water (limestone) area, the supply for my post code is very soft (kh2 gh2-3). Most of the rest of the area is quite hard, so I am wary of the effect that a supply switch (e.g. during a drought, or maintenance period) might have on my soft water fish.

My tap water tests for PH, NO3, PO4, GH, have always agreed very closely with the water authority's figures.

                                                         Skittler

As Sue says it'll die off once it's food source has been exhausted.

Did you take Sue's advice and start adding Ammonia from a bottle?

Are you adding ammonia to the tank? The prawn will decompose to make ammonia but it is hard to regulate the amount going in the tank so if that's the only source of ammonia you'll need to stock slowly as you won't know if you have enough bacteria to support a tank full of fish like you do when using ammonia from a bottle.

If it helps, this is the bottle I bought from Amazon and, at £4.25 plus free delivery, its even cheaper than what I paid for it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kleen-Off-500ml-Ammonia/dp/B00755MEMA

Oh, you'll need a syringe too. Pack of two: 99p + free delivery.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Syringe-5ml-Pack-of-2/dp/B004BF4HUY