# fish on the way now what?



## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

OK well ive ben cycling for a week in my 55 gal using cycle and fish i have about 5 fish in there all doing well. ph is at 7.2 and nh3 is 0. ive never done a water change trying to let the bacteria build. 8 rbs come on tuesday 27 should i do a water change before? or anything else?
thanks


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## Humper (Aug 7, 2006)

Have you checked your nitrites and nitrate levels? Your tank may not be ready for your ps. Test the water and let us know what your nitrites and nitrates are


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

i have only the real time nh3 which is ammonia right? and real time ph testers. they should be good i put a full bottle of cycle and had 10 fishes in there . i will check asap. should i change water or wait , its been a week 
thanks for the qucik reply


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

any one ?


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## Humper (Aug 7, 2006)

Yes that tests for ammonia. I have heard that cycle doesnt work but I could be wrong. Try to get a hold of the other test kits and let us know so we can tell you if it is cycled or not. I would wait to change the water until you are sure the tank is cycled.


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## shoal king (Oct 27, 2006)

get your hands on one of those full test kits or bring it into your LFS and see if they will test it for ya.


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

well it better i got 8 bad boys on the way . ill get one and my friend works there so i get stuff rlly cheap to free









is a penguin 350 enough, im thinking about another one. what about a water heater i saw a 200 watt but it said 20-30 gal tank ?


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Unfortunately when you cycle a virgin tank with fish it can take a week before the tests even register ammonia. Since "cycle" does not contain the right nitrifying bacteria you need to hold your order up and wait about another 3 weeks. Unless you can get established bio media and place it on the bottom of your filter/s.


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## Kudos (Dec 22, 2005)

get some bio-spira and salt if you have no choice but to put the reds in your tank. and dose the hell out of it.


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## SangreRoja (Feb 18, 2006)

And as for 8RBP in a 55 I hope you know thats not gonna last long. 20 gallons per piranha rule of thumb.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Yes. Traditional cycling takes up to 6 weeks. Since you jumped the gun and already ordered your fish. you are going to need to introduce some pre-established biomedia. Either you are going to have to get some from your LFS or you are going to have to get some packets of Biospira. 
You should not expect to get anything registered on your tests so soon after setup.

This is really all info you should have asked about before ordering your fish.

55 gal is too small for that many fish. you should have at least a 150 to keep that many.


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

i got got 8 you know just incase and cuz shiping was so much and the fish are so cheap. i plan on having 2-3.

i have stuff on my filter allready its building up. i also used some of my friends water and his fish which are doing amazing right now.

they are coming in the morning welll c . so just leave the water dont do a change till next week? its very clean.


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

ok they are going to be here less than an hour. so dont do any water changes? ammonia is 0 not sure why they need salt.


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## SangreRoja (Feb 18, 2006)

Hope everything works out for you man and remember they are gonna arrived stressed out so add some salt and acclimate them slowly take your time. And good luck


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Also make sure to remove all tank occupants before acclimating your p's due to the large increase in bio load. Watch your ammonia and nitrites especially over the next 2 weeks.


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

my fish did not come dam usps ! im guessing tomorrow omg this sucks!!!!

i got a litttle media from a lfs put in a bag of water used my filters as a strainer to get the nasty looking stuff onto it. also put in a little stress zyme with biomedia . jump start this bad boy with my extra day lol. hope my fish are ok sitting n the ware house or stuck or w/e


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

USPS







you're fish are doomed.... Hope not.


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

i got 14 of them and they were in A condition ! DONT WORRY 8 are mine . when i put them in the tank they swam nice then just kinda layed there most just look normal. so i added salt alot .. also i looked at my ph and its 6.6 when can i do my 1st water change to get that up? should i try feeding them brine shrimp? thy are going after flakes . they ahve been in there 20 min


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

ok they are eating great ! when the lights are off. when the lights go on they go nuts! and when i walk by forget it.. all in all they seem to be very healthy wussy fish lol. that better change. i did a water change the ph is still 6.6 from 7.4 2 days ago werid..


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## Gaijin987 (Nov 14, 2006)

not sure what is messin with your PH but 6.6 is good for your P's. they like a more acidic water so you are good there.....anywhere close to 7.0 would be ok too. the most important thing about PH is to keep it consistant...you don't want your ph jumping wildly around, thats really bad for your fish...could even kill'em.

as far as them not being the viscious man-eaters of your dreams.....sorry to say but piranhas are just not like that. fact is they are a very "scittish" fish. they are more of a "scavenger" of the rivers...taking out the sick, the weak, and the dying.

but, don't let that discourage you.....Piranhas are a truely awesome fish and can get very aggressive. they just need time to get used to their new home. check out the vid forum for some footage of other member's aggressive P's.


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

Gaijin987 said:


> not sure what is messin with your PH but 6.6 is good for your P's. they like a more acidic water so you are good there.....anywhere close to 7.0 would be ok too. the most important thing about PH is to keep it consistant...you don't want your ph jumping wildly around, thats really bad for your fish...could even kill'em.
> 
> as far as them not being the viscious man-eaters of your dreams.....sorry to say but piranhas are just not like that. fact is they are a very "scittish" fish. they are more of a "scavenger" of the rivers...taking out the sick, the weak, and the dying.
> 
> but, don't let that discourage you.....Piranhas are a truely awesome fish and can get very aggressive. they just need time to get used to their new home. check out the vid forum for some footage of other member's aggressive P's.


they are viscious just not when i am close to them . im going to walk by alot and feed them a little do get it in there head i am the food source. i put paper under the lights so they dont go throwing them selves into the rocks head first. I ended up getting 9 fish and 1 is very small with no fin tail or the bottom fin, woke up he has a bite mark on his back. so i put a fish in there that was weaker than him thanks to scissors so they give the little guy some time to heal.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Cool. I'm guessing you have drift wood in your tank and that is your cause of lowered 
PH.
No need to water change untill your nitrates get up to 40ppm area.


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

no drift wood... fake plants and ornaments. im using the real time ph readers so who knows how accuarate it is .7.4 to 6.6 weird tho. i added salt that night mayb thats it?


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

im getting fin nips and gashes on the head.. and my water is suer dirty also my ph is dropping wtf..


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## Gaijin987 (Nov 14, 2006)

hmm..don't really have enough info..how about you start by listing off your equipment/set-up so we all know exactly what your dealing with......then some more specifics about whats going on.


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

55 gallon ph is 6.6 staying there now yey. penguin 350 water dirty but ive also been feeding alot of dirty stuff..

i think i should get another 350 what do you think?


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

yes...get another filter....but what do you mean by you have been feeding lots of dirty stuff?


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

brine shrimp cubes. um when p's poop does it come out in a line that hangs on for awhile and gets longer then falls off? 3-4 had this wile they were eating tilapia.


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

Are they wild reds or captive bred reds? I would say poop if they are captive.
Brine shrimp cubes aren't dirty if you are only giving them as much as they can consume at one sitting.


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## miamibusta69 (Feb 17, 2007)

does it hang out then fall off? kinda weird 3 reds had this at the same time... hope its no worms i did feed two feeders







they are captive


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