Urgent Help have i done something wrong?

Byron said:

I would do another water change, about 70%. Ammonia at .25 could be managed (especially with live plants that would readily take this up), but nitrite at 1 ppm is very dangerous.

The fastest uptake of ammonia in an aquarium occurs with live plants; ammonia can be both assimilated (as a nutrient in the ionized form ammonium) and taken up (as a toxin, NH3) by plants. But ammonia is also taken up (though more slowly) by certain nitrifying bacteria, and this produces another form of nitrogen—nitrite, which is also highly toxic to all life at very low levels. Fish readily absorb nitrIte from the water and it combines with the hemoglobin in their blood, forming methaemoglobin. As a consequence, the blood cannot transport oxygen as easily and this can become fatal. At 0.25 ppm nitrite begins to affect fish after a short period; at 0.5 ppm it becomes dangerous; and at 1.0 ppm it is often fatal.​

[from an article I did for another forum]

This is where Prime will benefit, by detoxifying the ammonia/nitrite for 24-36 hours. The conditioner you are now using claims to deal with nitrite in some way, so it may be helping in fact, I can't say. And remember, with Prime the "nitrite" will still show as nitrite with the API test, even though bonded into a harmless form, so don't get worried when you see that after using Prime. Alternate day water changes with Prime should keep this detoxified until the bacteria catch up. And Stability will help with that aspect.

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leebrook said:

Should I do another water change right now?

I do have 2 live plants but I dont know which ones they are I can take a image and upload it off the tank if that would help?

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Byron said:

I would do the WC. It's the nitrite I am most concerned about here, as it seems to be high. Of course, we have to consider the accuracy of the API test, but better safe than sorry. The ammonia is less of an issue, at these levels, and plants will help. I also don't know how effective the conditioner you have is on nitrite, they just say this on their website. Let's hope it is true.

Upload a photo if you like, we might as well know the facts.

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leebrook said:

Will upload in next 10 mins. Im just waiting on amazon to deliver what you said yesterday so at least then we are talking the same language for advice with the right products

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I have been doing 20 / 20 % water changes on daily basis.

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leebrook said:

This is the tank, The sponge in it is part off a donor sponge from a local store they said use what i can in the filter and just place the rest in the tank for the friendly bacteria?

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Byron said:

That's good, those plants. They will (should) take up any ammonia so few fish can produce, bacteria or no bacteria. And this will help with the nitrites in time, as less ammonia changed into nitrite means...less nitrite.

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leebrook said:

Great news I bought something right, I can get another couple plants if it will help while the cycle happens they are pretty cheap?

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Byron said:

We should talk about your lighting, the prime issue with plants. Some plants need stronger light than others, so it is best to find plants that suit what you can provide (same as fish).

The plant in the centre is an Amazon sword. I love these plants; I have them in most of my tanks. They do well with moderate light. They are heavy feeders, so substrate tabs are very good.

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leebrook said:

All i know is its led

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Byron said:

Can you find a link to data about it, and post it so we can take a look?

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leebrook said:

https://www.gardensite.co.uk/aquati...IjJius_rR1ItpCK6KcQXK3DImM3Wij2p2gaAlrK8P8HAQ

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Byron said:

I dug a bit and found some data on this light, I think. If this is the one
https://www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/Products/Lighting/LED/NovoLux-LED/NovoLux-LED-White/

it seems OK as far as spectrum, though I cannot say about intensity. But from the photo of your tank, I don't see a problem, so let's assume you have decent light.

The stem plants are high light plants. The sword is moderate. Moss and ferns are low to moderate. Very general, but should give the idea.

If I were you, I would get another two swords. Space them irregularly, closer to the back than the front (as this one is), but not equidistant which looks artificial. Swords look best as single plants or three or more; two makes the space look smaller.

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