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New tank


Bradc

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Hi all my name is brad and ive just started up a new tank after about 3 years of not owning a tank i use to have a few cichlids but unfortunately i never got into it as much as i would have liked .. so ive had this new tank running for about 4 weeks while it cycled and used some quick start in the tank to help speed things up abit .. i finally got my tank stable and added some lake Malawi mbunas (love the character of these fish). Now ive got just a standard 3ft tank with a canister filter that turns over 1200L an hour. Ive put in 3 hongi, 3 red empress, 5 yellow labs, 4 striped obliques, and was thinking of adding 4 yellow tailed acei once i see if it will handle them (probably wont). Had the fish in the tank 4 days in total and just done a mild water change of 40L so probably 30% water change. One question with all of this, i added some quick start and water agent to the fresh water i put in, im worried about doing big water changes straight up because im a little unsure if my tank is stable enough or if im doing the right thing .. i raked and cleaned the gravel as well amazing how much they have dropped in 4 days .. just looking for a few pointers to keep everything spot on cheers!!

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I wouldn't touch the gravel, rocks, decoration on a new tank as bacteria will colonise those surfaces. Water changes are ok and even beneficial if the test kits detect ammonia and/or nitrite.

Sent from my D5833 using Tapatalk

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How long would you give it before scrapping the gravel i read you should do it so it doesnt compact and hold matter which creates ammonia or nitrites but on a new tank didnt read anything

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Do you have ammonia and nitrite test kits and if so what do they say? That is the best indication of whether the tank is fully cycled.

15 fish in a new tank is a lot. Make sure to feed sparsely.

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Yeah ive got no nitrites and had some nitrates starting to show before my water change hence why i done the water change .. just bought ammonia test kit today but havent checked it yet .. and ive just been feeding 2 pinches of pellets twice a day on weekends and once a day during the week and havent had any spikes etc so far .. pretty confident in my cycling of the tank i was just concerned in removing good bacteria from the gravel by racking it and was also concerned i might not have had enough bacteria to handle adding fresh tap water which would have ammonia or nitrites or what ever tap water has straight up .. i find myself doing alot of research this time around with having an aquarium maybe because ive recently bought my 1st home and i dont have to worry about moving my setups haha .. already price bigger tanks and more tanks .. can see the missus getting the poops with me soon haha

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