I couldn't find surfactant free ammonia at Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, Walgreens or my LFS.

What I did find was Tetra Safe Start. I added it and 20 minutes later added my fish.

I have a 35 gal hex with a Marineland Biowheel 200 (200gph) filter and two 10" air stones.

Tank was stocked on 7/20 with:

2 Angels, 1 Ballon Ram
4 Cories, 3 Sunburst Wagtail platys
3 Swordtails, 2 Hatchet Fish
3 Dwarf Gouramis, 1 Redtail Shark

The fish are all tiny (1/2"-3/4") I think I'm overstocked (advise, opinions please.)

I have a twenty gallon long I'm going to setup and off load some into it here in the next week or two.

My initial water analisys done on 7/20 remains unchanged today 7/22

PH 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates no kit

The tank was initially set up on 7/16
The water was crystal clear before adding fish/safestart. It has now clouded up. I'm thinking from what I've read this is caused by the bacteria. Would that be correct?

Question on feeding and filtration.

Should I shut off the filter and the bubble stones when feeding?

So far one of the angels was found dead today, according to the LFS owner the angels are stressed when shipped and this isn't uncommon. I replaced it with a second ballon ram.

The rest of the fish all appear to be fine, all eating and after some initial hiding they are swimming about now.

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Do fish get thirsty?
How to fishless cycle your aquarium http://www.aquariumforum.com/f66/fis...cle-15036.html

Information on API FW test kit http://www.aquariumforum.com/f2/api-...ion-15347.html

Are you able to post some pictures of your aquarium.

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I would say it's a little overstocked, but if you stay on top of it you can keep it under control. When your ammonia spikes you may need to do daily water changes. The target is to keep ammonia at 1ppm or below, but I was only able to keep mine at 2ppm or below. It only stayed at 2ppm for two days and then it started to drop. You should see ammonia on your test kit pretty fast. Wouldn't worry about testing for nitirites until you have seen ammonia for a couple of days. Good luck and hope all of your fish make it through it.

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From what I have researched, it looks like most of your fish are hardy ones that are good for cycling the tank. The angels and (I think) the hatchet are not so hardy. They may not make it through it. :( It looks like your tank hasn't really started cycling yet. It took me awile to figure out that the tank is not cycled until you have nitrate readings so watch for those and then throw a party when you have them!

You actually will be cycled when the "only" reading you have is nitrates. It is possible to have a reading on ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate at the same time, which means you are not completely cycled. Albeit, very nearly there.

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Thank you all for the advise and information!

Should I be doing any water changes? The water clouded up after adding the Tetra Safe Start and all the fish. Ammonia and Nitrates still read zero.
Would a small water change say 15-25% help with the cloudiness or just slow down the cycling? I need to get a kit to test for nitrates, this so called master test kit does not have one.

__________________
Do fish get thirsty?
How to fishless cycle your aquarium http://www.aquariumforum.com/f66/fis...cle-15036.html

Information on API FW test kit http://www.aquariumforum.com/f2/api-...ion-15347.html

It will possibly help. Water changes will slow the cycling process, but they are necessary for the health of your fish. You could possibly wait until you started getting readings of ammonia before your first water change.

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