New tank!

[diamond_dog]

I have a new tank, about sitting for 3 weeks and fish added about 1 week ago. I have added some bacteria from a bottle to speed up the Nitrogen cycle. I have taken a reading and the Nitrite reading is at 0 and the Nitrate is at 50. My question is this. Can i add some rocks, gravel etc. from my mothers mature goldfish tank. Will this harm the fish? Will it speed up the nitrogen cycle?
I have 5 neon tetras, 3 guppys and 1 zebra danio. I had a black tetra and he was nipping all the other fish. I have since removed him and now the zebra danio has started although he was OK before. He is actually worse than the tetra was and has only started since i removed him. Will he be better behaved if i add some more zebras so that he can school? Are these fish known to be nippy?

[Lady Hobbs]

It is always good to use some "seeded" items from another tank. Possibly you could borrow some of her gravel and that would really help as well as some used filter media. If you don't want her gravel colors mixed with yours, you can put hers in a nylon stocking and just add the bag to the tank that way.

Good luck with your cycling.

[jeffs99dime]

adding substrate and rocks will definitely speed up the cycle. see if you can get filter material from an established tank also. welcome to a.c.

[Severus]

Your zebra danio will be happier with others of the same species. Danios are very energetic fish and if he has friends he will mess around with them. Good luck with your tank!

[Cichlid_Man]

Yes, go ahead and add gravel or substrate from an established tank, although
Your water chemistry seems OK... but what about ammonia levels?

Nitrite 0 and nitrate 50 sounds fine. Ammonia???
If ammonia is 0 then do nothing...you are cycled.

Zebra Danios are a bit "nuts" and they do like to school, so a lot of them is better.
They usually just chase but do no harm from my experience.
100gw said it best regarding Danios.

[Lady Hobbs]

Nitrite 0 and nitrate 50 sounds fine. Ammonia???

Nitrates should not be over 20.

Nitrate
Although less toxic than ammonia and nitrite, excess nitrate causes stress making a fish’s organs work harder to adjust to their environment. The increasing stress results in the fish losing the ability to fight diseases, heal themselves and reproduce.
It is essential for you, to maintain a proper environment for your fish. High nitrate levels are a sign of poorly maintained aquariums and will cause problems.

[Abbeys_Mom]

Welcome to the forum :)

[Cichlid_Man]

Nitrite 0 and nitrate 50 sounds fine. Ammonia???

Nitrates should not be over 20.

Nitrate
Although less toxic than ammonia and nitrite, excess nitrate causes stress making a fish’s organs work harder to adjust to their environment. The increasing stress results in the fish losing the ability to fight diseases, heal themselves and reproduce.
It is essential for you, to maintain a proper environment for your fish. High nitrate levels are a sign of poorly maintained aquariums and will cause problems.


OK,
Ultimately, Nitrates should be 0. All I was trying to establish was if there were any ammonia readings or not. I didn't see a post relating to ammonia here and that is quite important.
If the ammonia is 0, and you have 0 nitrite and 50 nitrate, water changes would help reduce nitrate, not seeded substrate at this point.
My test kit is an API test kit and it shows 50 for Nitrate is still safe, UNLESS there is ammonia present, then they both become more toxic.
Sorry if I misled anybody but I don't think I did.

[Lady Hobbs]

0 ammonia 0 nitrite and high nitrate is a cycled tank. Large water change then add the fish. Sorry Joe. You scared me for a second.

[f1oored]

Welcome to the forum.

[Incredulous_Ed]

welcome to ac

[Cichlid_Man]

0 ammonia 0 nitrite and high nitrate is a cycled tank. Large water change then add the fish. Sorry Joe. You scared me for a second.

I thought to add substrate too, then I read the post better and figured the tank was cycled...No harm done.

[diamond_dog]

Thanks for the info. guys. The problem with the test sticks that i have is that there is no ammonia readings on it. Just NO3, NO2, GH KH and pH. I will do a water change and try and reduce the Nitrate level. I will be posting again with more questions.

thanks

[jeffs99dime]

Thanks for the info. guys. The problem with the test sticks that i have is that there is no ammonia readings on it. Just NO3, NO2, GH KH and pH. I will do a water change and try and reduce the Nitrate level. I will be posting again with more questions.

thanks

i would get a liquid test kit like the "freshwater master test kit" that aqaurium pharmaceuticals makes. way more accurate than test strips. the kit has low/high range ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests. you can purchase individual kits for things like copper, calcium, hardness, iron, etc..