Just for future reference if anyone else wants specifics, here is my reply to Rena's PM.
Prime is the name of a dechlorinator which uses 1ml per 10 gallons. The company Seachem makes it. It also detoxifies your ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte. Do you have a liquid dropper test for those three things? If you don't I recommend getting one, they are invaluable during the cycling process.
What the store employee told you was wrong. It's a myth that you must have your tank set up, empty for whatever amount of time. What is really needed is an ammonia source to start your nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle is the process in which bacteria form to convert ammonia (which comes from fish waste) into nitrIte. Both ammonia and nitrIte are toxic to fish.
The second step of the nitrogen cycle turns harmful nitrIte into a less toxic chemical called nitrAte. NitrAtes are safe until they accumulate into numbers higher than 40ppm.
If you keep a large bio-load (that many fish) in your tank that is not cycled yet, it will be a very long time before your tank finally reaches the end point of having a complete colony of bacteria to convert the wastes of those fish into less harmful nitrAte. If you don't fishless cycle your tank (adding just plain ammonia to the tank without fish in it, until your test show your tank is cycled) then you need to start off with one small fish, then once the tank is cycled, you can begin to slowly add more fish one or two at a time until your bacteria has a chance to catch up to the added bio-load. I hope this all makes sense, if you have any questions about any part of it, please ask. I know it is a lot of information to take in at one time.
Most pet store employees receive no training at all about the nitrogen cycle, and hence they give bad advice based on what they "think should be ok" when they have no real knowledge about it at all.
Prime along with water changes will help protect your fish from toxic ammonia burns, and eventually nitrIte poisoning which is where the fish can not "breathe" through their gills and die from blood toxicity. It's very scary, and very sad. Also, the added stress on the fish can cause other problems such as ich infestation, fungal infections, and bacterial infections.
I spend a lot of time on a particular website replying to posts where people wonder what caused their fish to get sick, and 9 times out of 10, it is because the tank is not properly cycled, and the fish was susceptible to illness due to poor water quality.
Prime is the name of a dechlorinator which uses 1ml per 10 gallons. The company Seachem makes it. It also detoxifies your ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte. Do you have a liquid dropper test for those three things? If you don't I recommend getting one, they are invaluable during the cycling process.
What the store employee told you was wrong. It's a myth that you must have your tank set up, empty for whatever amount of time. What is really needed is an ammonia source to start your nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle is the process in which bacteria form to convert ammonia (which comes from fish waste) into nitrIte. Both ammonia and nitrIte are toxic to fish.
The second step of the nitrogen cycle turns harmful nitrIte into a less toxic chemical called nitrAte. NitrAtes are safe until they accumulate into numbers higher than 40ppm.
If you keep a large bio-load (that many fish) in your tank that is not cycled yet, it will be a very long time before your tank finally reaches the end point of having a complete colony of bacteria to convert the wastes of those fish into less harmful nitrAte. If you don't fishless cycle your tank (adding just plain ammonia to the tank without fish in it, until your test show your tank is cycled) then you need to start off with one small fish, then once the tank is cycled, you can begin to slowly add more fish one or two at a time until your bacteria has a chance to catch up to the added bio-load. I hope this all makes sense, if you have any questions about any part of it, please ask. I know it is a lot of information to take in at one time.
Most pet store employees receive no training at all about the nitrogen cycle, and hence they give bad advice based on what they "think should be ok" when they have no real knowledge about it at all.
Prime along with water changes will help protect your fish from toxic ammonia burns, and eventually nitrIte poisoning which is where the fish can not "breathe" through their gills and die from blood toxicity. It's very scary, and very sad. Also, the added stress on the fish can cause other problems such as ich infestation, fungal infections, and bacterial infections.
I spend a lot of time on a particular website replying to posts where people wonder what caused their fish to get sick, and 9 times out of 10, it is because the tank is not properly cycled, and the fish was susceptible to illness due to poor water quality.
