You should really get a good (liquid) test kit that tests at least ammonia, nitrate, and nitrate as soon as you possibly can. That will be how you'll know when and how much water to change. They're not super cheap (API around $25-$30), but worth the lives of your fish.

You probably need to do at least a 50% water change a week and when you get ammonia and nitrite spikes to keep them under control. And like Suzanne said investing in a kit is to your advantage. The cycle will probably take 6 - 8 weeks.

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50% a week is no problem. Should I dechlorinate each bucket of water before I put it into the tank? or should I put the water in, and then add dechlor according to the amount of water I added?

Ok i've bought the API test kit. Im going to need it anyway, so i may aswell part with the money

Always de-chlorinate before you put the water in... otherwise the chlorine will kill the good bacteria

ok, water testing kit on its way, along with a new 2 outlet air pump and a nice underwater volcano

2 new occupants:


Gorgeous red/purple male betta. He cost me £3.25 from my LFS. The guy I got him from keeps his bettas in the big tanks where they can swim freely, 1 per tank ofc.
Theres another store just across the road that sells male bettas for £10, and he keeps his in tiny little box tanks no bigger than 5"x5" It's really sad to see such beatiful creatures kept like that...


Young ruby shark, I believe cost me £2.50. Always loved these little guys. Love the way their whiskers twitch really fast when looking for food.


Got some Amazon sword plants. 3 of them scattered around the tank. I originally wanted Java fern aswel, but the guy at my LFS didn't have any, so I had to make do with the swords. Not sure what the plant is just to the right of it, but I got 4 of those too. £1 for the 3 amazon swords, and £1 for the other plants.


Cats are already chasing the corys around the bottom of the tank

Tank looks like its starting to clear up now. Definately doesn't look as cloudy as it has done the past couple of days. My test kit should hopefully come tomorrow.

from what ive read, it seems like the most likely cause of the clouding is a bacteria bloom, which should apparently clear up over time.

The nitrogen cycle doesn't start until you add fish or some other source of ammonia. The week without fish really meant nothing toward the cycle to complete. I hope that you have a test kit. Stop adding fish. The more you add, the more chance you risk killing them due to what they have to go through still. You should read up on the nitrogen cycle to better understand.

Just comparing the Angels to other things in your pics I would say they are about 3", but very hard to believe they are 1yrd old. Mine are 5-6" and just over 1yr old. Hard to believe they were stunted that bad. Neither one of them look like they are in good health.

i fully understand the nitrogen cycle. Thats why I've went ahead and bought a test kit. Yes it's a shame the angels are in the state that they are in, but hopefully I can get them back to good health.

It's amazing to think how many people have aquariums, but know nothing about the nitrogen cycle, yet they never seem to have any problems with fish dying and whatnot. All they know is "let the tank run for a couple of days before adding fish"
I used to be one of those people a number of years ago when I was younger, but i'm now the kind of person that likes to research everything I do thoroughly, so that I don't make any big mistakes.
Thats why I registered on this forum.

I think you really should have waited to get through the cycle prior to adding more fish. Especially since the health of the angels is already compromised, bringing in new fish that may potentially carry something could be the end of them and fast.

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

yes, I guess I did add the fish a little too fast. I don't have a lot of money, so i suppose I just wanted to add some more fish while I did actually have some spare money. Everything seems fine so far, but I will of course keep a close eye on everything, and test the water as soon as I get my test kit.

Watch out for red gills and gasping that may indicate ammonia poisoning as your tank is just beginning the nitrogen cycle and teh ammonia is probably spiking. If you notice these actions then you *need* to do a water change.

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

Ok I got my test kit this morning and these are my water readings. I've provided pics, so that you can judge for yourself.

ph = 7.2?


Ammonia = 0.50ppm?


Nitrite = 0 - 0.25ppm?


Nitrate - 5.0ppm?


My guess is that a 50% water change will improve these results, as my ph looks ok to me, but ammonia and Nitrate seems a tad high.

The water looks visably clearer this morning too, so im assuming the bacteria in the water is beginning to calm down.

yes your tank is def. cycling. Be prepared for those ammonia readings to go even higher, then for the nitrates to jump. I wouldnt worry about the pH

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

well thank you for the help Summer, I'll do a water change over the weekend, and update this thread if I encounter any issues.

good luck

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin