New and need help pls

[Banksy]

Hi new to this website and also new to keeping tropical fish. so please bare with me

Ok so ive bought a Jewel 180 Rio tank (180 litres) i set it up 4 days ago, all artificial plants etc... the temp is 26 degrees constant. i have put NO fish in as yet and dont really intend to until its cycled etc... what i have done is took my old filter out my old small goldfish tank and sqeezed it out into the tropical tank to get things going with the cycle, i am now on day 4 and just bought some test strips (King British 6 in 1 water test srtips) to keep an eye on the water . Here are the results of this.....

Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
GH:125
KH:100
PH:7.2
Temp 27 degrees

Question is how do i know when my tank has cycled, i can clearly see that i have some ammonia present at the moment, but nothing else it seems, do i have to wait for the ammonia level to be sky high then come down and the Nitrite level to go up? read in the test leaflet Nitrite level should be zero?

Confused.com is slightly and understatement ha!
ANY help would be appreciated on what i have to do now and what to expect in the next few days etc

Many thanks

[englishmx]

You need to introduce an ammonia source in order to start and complete the 'cycle' have a read here for starters.....

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling.htm

Test strips are renowned for there innacurracies, if you are looking for accurate results during the cycle bin them and buy a liquid test kit

[Banksy]

Noooo dont tell me that, just spent £14.99 on them lol.....

[englishmx]

Noooo dont tell me that, just spent £14.99 on them lol.....

They are not useless by any means, once they are gone get one off these, cheapest place probably eBay

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalo ... CCsQ8wIwAA

[Banksy]

ok, thanks .... when do u recommend i venture out and buy a couple of fish to put in, would that be a good idea? i keep reading different things on diff websites arghhhh

[Carylnz]

Here is what I just posted to someone else...
Keeping fish should not be confusing.
1. Buy tank and set it up with gear and water. Turn all equipment on. Add plants (if using them) and water conditioner if it is required in your area.
2. Leave to settle 3 or 4 days to make sure the heater has stabilised at the required temperature. Once it has...
3. Add fish - SLOWLY. If you have a 2ft tank (standard sizing here so 2 x 1 x 1) add 4 neon sized fish. Wait one month. If all is well, add another 4. Repeat until stocking level is reached. If you have a 3ft tank, add 6 neon sized fish then follow previous plan. 4ft tank - 8 fish etc. Always wait one month between additions.
If you do it like this and bought good quality, healthy, fish, you should not have any disease outbreaks although some fish are more sensitive than others.
If you need advice, ask someone who is not going to profit from it as they will be biased and sell you heaps of stuff you don't need.

You had a filter squeeze already but I wonder if the ammonia is from dying bacteria, since they have had nothing on which to feed. Once that ammonia level has halved (easiest to do by doing water changes of about 30%) start adding a few fish SLOWLY.