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Action plan for your new Aquarium Once your aquarium is in position with all the equipment (follow the manufacturers instructions), gravel, decorations and water in place turn the power on to test everything is working satisfactorily. Now add Biotap (Tap water conditioner) to the water followed by the Aqua Bio (bacterial culture) 1 hour later, if you are having live plants add some Aqua trace 7 (fertiliser) now and also Bioextract (Black water tonic) to help keep plant leaves clean and shiny. We use Biotap to remove chlorine, chelate metals like lead, copper and zinc, to add plant extracts to protect the fish after handling and a change in their environment and to mature the water with Vitamin B. We use Aqua Bio to help establish a health colony of bacteria within the biological filter as to begin with there is none to break down the fish waste. We keep adding bacteria for a couple of months or until the ammonia (NH3) and nitrite (N02) are near zero. Aquatrace 7 is used to provide the plants with the trace elements they require; For even better plant growth consider using a carbon dioxide set as well. They start from as little as under £10.00 depending on the size of the aquarium but make so much difference to plant growth, the health of the aquarium and your fish. Bioextract not only makes plant leaves clean-and shiny, it discourages algae and encourages many fish to spawn giving your aquarium water an Amazon look to it. Quantity of waste For the first couple of months it is important to make a few extra water changes on your fish tank NO2 NITRITE NH3 AMMONIA 0 1 2 3 4 5 Time in weeks NO3 NITRATE 6 7 8 9 A new tank is biologically less stable than a well established tank. The reason for this is that a new aquarium will tend to have higher waste levels than a mature aquarium because it takes time for the cleaning bacteria in the filter to establish in sufficient numbers to be able to "cope" with the waste produced by the fish. Have a look at the graph above. To begin with the fish produce waste which is broken down to ammonium (NH4) and ammonia (NH3). These levels rise over the first few weeks to what can be dangerous levels. As the bacteria grow they start to get the NH3/NH4 under control and turn It into Nitrite(NO2) which then rises over the next few weeks to what can also be dangerous levels. However, now another type of bacteria starts to establish and break down the Nitrite but only after the ammonia levels have dropped so low as not to damage these new bacteria. By the 7-8th week these new bacteria have normally caught up and got the nitrite (NO2) under control turning it to nitrate (NO3) which is relatively safe. So as we can see, the fish in a new aquarium have to run the gauntlet twice before everything settles down. Loss of fish in this period was often referred to as "New Tank Syndrome". We can stop this "New Tank Syndrome" from happening in the aquarium by simply making a few extra water changes over the first couple of months, adding Bacteria, not over stocking and feeding sparingly. Have a look at the action plan for new aquariums over leaf! New Aquarium Action Plan & Stocking Schedule Having setup the aquarium wait a few days before adding the first fish. Plants can be added after a day or two however. We have called the day that the first fish are introduced to the tank Day 1 as it is not until then that anything really happens in the aquarium as far as fish waste is concerned. On a well planted aquarium there is an advantage to leaving the plants to settle for a few days before introducing fish. Set Up Day Day 1 Water change & Conditioners Water Treatments Plant Fertiliser Biotap + Aquabio Full Dose Bioextract ½ Dose Aquatrace 7 st 1 fish in + Biotap + Aquabio Day 4 25% + Biotap + Aquabio ½ Dose Bioextract ½ Dose Aquatrace 7 Day 7 25% + Biotap + Aquabio ½ Dose Bioextract ½ Dose Aquatrace 7 Day 10 25% + Biotap + Aquabio ½ Dose Bioextract ½ Dose Aquatrace 7 Day 14 25% + Biotap + Aquabio ½ Dose Bioextract + Ammolock? ½ Dose Aquatrace 7 Day 17 25% + Biotap + Aquabio ½ Dose Bioextract + Ammolock? ½ Dose Aquatrace 7 Day 21 25% + Biotap + Aquabio ½ Dose Bioextract + Ammolock? ½ Dose Aquatrace 7 Day 28 25% + Biotap + Aquabio Full Dose Bioextract + Ammolock? Full Dose Aquatrace 7 Day 35 25% + Biotap + Aquabio Bioextract Aquatrace 7 Day 42 25% + Biotap + Aquabio Bioextract Aquatrace 7 Day 49 25% + Biotap + Aquabio Bioextract Aquatrace 7 Day 56 25% + Biotap + Aquabio Bioextract Aquatrace 7 After a couple of months your aquarium should be on its way to being biologically well established. After this period change 25% of the water every 2 weeks but if you have a small or heavily stocked tank then there is no harm in changing 25% each week. Always add Biotap to new water! Always add Biotap and Aquabio when adding new fish! The above action plan is a guide as to when to do water changes. This sequence has worked best for us. However, a couple of days either way is not going to make a lot of difference. It is best not to do a water change on the same day as adding fish, or maybe even the day after, as this may cause the fish stress, but certainly the day before is no problem. For the safety of your fish always test your water for ammonium/ammonia and Nitrite before introducing new fish! We recommend you test your aquarium water at home during the running in period to monitor progress. This can be done economically with easy to use test kits available in store. Day 1 Day 10 – 14 Day 24 – 28 onwards In a fish only aquarium introduce 5 or 6 fish for each 100 litres. Do not feed for a couple of days and only once per day very sparingly thereafter. In a well planted aquarium introduce 5 or 6 Algae-eating fish or shrimp for each 100 litres. Do not feed until the next fish are in. Introduce 5 or 6 medium or 10 – 12 small fish for each 100 litres. In a well planted aquarium start feeding only once per day very sparingly. In a fish only aquarium continue feeding only once per day very sparingly. In a well planted aquarium more fish may be added each week until fully stocked, as long as waste levels stay low. Please test water before adding more fish. In a fish only Aquarium more fish may be added every 2-3 weeks until fully stocked as long as waste levels stay low. Please test water before adding more fish. After about 2 months feed the fish 2-4 times a day only as much as they can eat in a few minutes. Pay attention to special feeding habits of some fish and vary the diet.