Alkalinity.. Tank out of whack.

[staredecisis]

My tank recently went into a mini-cycle I think.. My Nitrates (not nitrites) have been out of control. 1 fish has early signs of Ich, and my Alkalinity just dropped drastically.

To combat the Ich I am raising the temperature to 83. I cannot do salt, scaleless fish.

The Nitrates, I have been doing 40-60% water changes every 2 days, and I am feeding the fish a bare minimum of once every 2 days. I may get a live plant, too.

But I don't know what Alkalinity is, or what to do about it. Is this really bad for my fish to have it so low? It was perfect before my Nitrates went crazy. What is alkalinity and how can I get it back to normal?

Thanks for the help.

 

[susangc]

Alkalinity is the capacity of the water to resist changes in pH. Also known as buffering capacity, there probably is such a thing as too high a reading, but in general, higher is better. A good reading keeps the pH stable.

The water in my 3-gallon is soft (low hardness) and tests on the low side for alkalinity. The pH is stable at 7.2 because I'm careful not to add anything that messes with the water's natural pH. I've also made a commitment to choose only those fish that can tolerate the natural condition of southeastern USA lake water (my water source), because its low alkalinity will make it really hard to keep naturally 7.2 water at, say, 8.0.

Edit: Water changes will probably get it back to normal, but tread carefully with stressed fish.

Hope this helps!
Susan

 

[staredecisis]

Thank you for the reply, it definitely helps.

I think with all the water changes and change in diet, (plus one having Ich) my fish have GOT to be stressed.. Is there anything I can do to make it easier on them? I don't want any of them to die, but if I don't go through all this to get rid of the nitrates, they'll be poisoned.

 

[susangc]

We've been lucky enough in my household not to have had to deal with ich, so I hope someone with success can give you more complete advice. From what I've read, though, small (15-20%) but frequent water changes aren't such a bad thing for ich. In fact, some folks suggest vacuuming the gravel regularly to get rid of ich parasites shed by the infected fish (long story; read up on the ich lifecycle -- my favorite article on ich is on the aquamaniacs site). But nothing succeeds like real-life success.

How high are your nitrates? I believe that for most fish, you're okay until the reading goes much about 20ppm. (Some sensitive fish need less.)

Susan

 

[staredecisis]

How high are your nitrates?

Not quite sure.. I probably need a better testing kit. I have 6 shades of Nitrate levels on my dipping sticks.

Safe 1-2 Stress 3-4 Toxic 5-6

It spiked over 2 days from Safe 2 to Toxic 6, and is now down to Toxic 5. Hopefully it will continue to receed in the next couple days. Definitely not good.

I think its all caused by me listening to the directions on the filter cartridge box. I change it after one month. I've since read that I should just rinse it out in separated tank water and keep using it for a long time.

::sigh:: just hope I don't lose any of my fish. I know I'm at least as stressed as they are right now.

 

[Shizat]

stare: The carbon in your filter should have nothing to do with your nitrate problem. All the carbon does that you replace once a month is take the odor and color out of your tank water. It is usually advised to wash the filter off in tap water once a week and then replace it once a month. List how big your fish tank is and how many fish you keep in it and what size some of them are.

 

[staredecisis]

how big your fish tank is and how many fish you keep in it and what size some of them are.

My tank is 20 gallons. In it I keep:

5 guppies
1 platy
1 cory
1 glassfish
1 swordtail
1 african dwarf frog
1 ghost shrimp

I also just had to take one of the guppies out because last night I noticed he has Finrot. So 1 fish has Ich, 1 has Finrot, my ammonia/nitrate is out of control, and my alkalinity plummetted.

I have no idea what is going on I'm trying everything I can to fix it.

 

[Shizat]

your getting high readings of ammonia now too? That would probably the source of your problem. High ammonia = stressed fish = fish diseases. I would recommend doing small daily water changes until your bacteria builds up in your gravel to combat your high ammonia problem. In the past week have you disturbed your gravel at all?

 

[susangc]

It doesn't sound like too much for the tank. Replacing rather than rinsing the filter might very well account for loss of ammonia/nitr*te control, though. I rinse mine in the outgoing tank water after a water change.

Sorry for next question; it's like asking if the broken appliance is plugged in: Have you by any chance tested the water you're using for water changes? I mean, before putting it in the tank...

I found my tap water still had 3ppm ammonia after using the usual chemical for clearing chloramine. (I discovered this after setting up my tank but before putting the fish in it. I didn't even bother adding ammonia to the tank to cycle it ) This is not a problem for my fish now that the tank's cycled, but it would be stressful in an uncycled tank.

If you're willing to trust your LFS, you might ask them if they have any filter media they can give you to innoculate the tank. It's risky, but it comes down to how urgently you feel you need to solve the problem.

Susan