I had my water tested at the local fish shop all was fine, and was told it was ok to add my fish which we have done! I have tested the water again tonight,Ph 7.6, nitrate 10, nitrite 0, ammonia 0.25,should i be worried about the ammonia? or will it go down? as the tank is still in a cycle? cheers

yes you should be worried about the ammonia as it will kill your fish... a water change to keep it in check.. the ammonia will go down then your nitrites will go up until tank is fully cycled.. actually if you look on the home page there is a full description of what to expect during your tank cycling and how long each phase lasts

mrziggz had this input and i quote:

no the ammonia has not been put in the tank via the tap water ,the first tests showed no ammonia at all,so its the fish waste that is causing the rise i think,and that means we will have to do 30% water changes daily until the ammonia goes to 0, this may sound silly but it took us 2 days to get the tank to the 27-28 water temp ,so when we add the fresh water with the stress coat it c from the tap via hosepipe and english water is bloody cold even in the middle of summer (its our weather)so will this cold water affect the fish or the plants we have in there,or has someone got an easier way,we did see chemicals on the net that are supposed to remove the amonia without a water change ,didnt like the thought of that though,thanks tracy

Refilling your tank with cold water is not as good idea especially if you do a big water change as the water temperature will drop.

With large tanks refilling is the only really practical way to refill your tank after a water change. The best solution is to get a hose adapter and connect this to a mixer tap. Adjust the hot and cold until the temperature is the same as in the tank.
If you dont have a mixer tap then you things are more complicated. The way that springs to mind is to get 3 washine mashine(WM) hoses and cut one end off, and a t-piece for them. Connect the un cut end of the WM hoses to the t-piece. For the cut end, Connect 2 of the WM's to a hose adapter and connect to the taps. The 3rd WM hose can be connected to a hosepipe with a straight joiner.

thanks delboy ,we just carried out a 30% waterchange and the temp was 28 when we started and after refiling from the cold tap it only droped to 25 which didnt seem to cause distress to ben or jerry our os,but will keep your ideas in mind for the bigger changes,have you any tips on getting the big dumpers out of the tank we bought this siphon gravel cleaner but its not an easy job the tank is as deep as my arm and trying to keep your eyes on collecting the dumpers takes your mind of the other end and oooops missed the bucket, havnt spelt siphon right have i

It really isnt a good idea to refill with cold water. You will stress your fish if you do it regularly. Stressed fish have weakened immune systems and then they are more likely to get sick

By big dumpers do you mean the waste water out of the tank. Just get a long hose and connect one end to the gravel cleaner and the other outside the house either into a drain or just on the ground. You can also put one end into a sink, bath or even toilet. Give the end a good suck to start the flow of water. The good thing about a long hose is that you will not end up with a mouth full of water

Syphon is how you spell it

cheers good advice, syphon lol i can spell it !

and by doing so, you remove the water as you vacuum
your substrates. and if you have garden, that waste
water is good fertilizer and plants watering.

hey delboybully, nice to see you check-in. welcome back!

hi Tracy i live in the UK to. I have a 300 litre tank and refill from the garden hose even in winter I've never had a problem from the change in temperature.When refilling though add a chemical such as Stress Coat+ to kill the chlorine in the tap water.

hi chelsea fan ,our fish enjoyed the water change swimming around my hands and staying under the hose as it was filling,and i suppose the water temp will remain fairly constant throughout the year because its underground bit like a cave ,what fish do you have ? .

I've a an albino and a red tiger (called frankie & terry for obvious reasons), both are about 6 inches long and have a couple of clown loaches for company. Generally they get on well and swim around as a pair so I'm hoping that will continue as they get bigger. I've also go a red O in a seperate tank (vinnie) who's a bit of a monster and eats or bullies anything I put in with him. Pete