Eeep!!

[PereguineFalcon]

I checked my water parameters last night and holy cow!! Scared me there for a bit! I was using those quick dip strips...don't know how accurate they are but i'll give them the benefit of the doubt. It was odd though cuz some of the things were unporportionate. Like the Ammonia was only at about .15 ppm, which i believe was in the safe zone, still a bit high, but in the safe zone. My pH was at 6.8..right where i wanted it. Alkalinity was about 50 or so i think. Hardness of my water was VERY HARD according to it. What makes your water hard? I have crushed coral in there to buffer the water because of my co2 injection, is that also making it harder? My nitrates were up in the 120s....i was like...whoa!! I had just added plant tabs about 5 days ago or so so perhaps thats why it was so high. Then my nitrites were in the 100's. Very surprising. I did a immidiate 35% water change and then checked it again in about an hour and a half. Ammonia had dropped to about 0.05, Hardness of the water was only HARD now...lol, My nitrates dropped down to 80 or so, which is on the outer limits of the danger zone, and my nitrites were in the 60s...which is in the stress zone i guess. I was gonna give it another 25% water change tonight, or maybe tomorrow night, not sure which would be better. I'm thinking the main reason for these crazy readings is that i just redid the tank, so the plants are still trying to get themselves set up. They were my main removers of these toxins. Also i added about 20 fish or so in about a week and a half...hehe...so perhaps that has something to do with it as well. All the fish in there right now are doing great and don't appear to be showing any signs of stress, i would have never known if it wasn't for those test strips. Some of my Rummynose became more active after the water change though which is a good thing. Anywho, imput would be highly appreciated. Any hints or ideas on what to do? I'm confused about how to adjust my alkalinity and my hardness, so anyone who can help me there lemme have it! Thankz!!

 

[crazie.eddie]

Which tank is the one your having problems with? I don't see the rummynose tetras on your signature. Is this tank still being cycled?


Also, the Harlequin tetras are not tetras. They are actually Harlequin (Red) Rasboras.

 

[PereguineFalcon]

lol, i need to update my signature. Yeah i know they are rasboras, just been to lazy to edit my sig. Lemme go change it. Well, i used a new method of cycling where i use lots of live plants. Its been working great, but i removed all my plants and then replanted them after i put in new gravel so i think it slowed them a bit. Plus i added some new fish. They should catch up here real soon i'm hoping.

 

[crazie.eddie]

I never heard of cycling with plants. I'm not sure how's it done though, since plants don't produce ammonia. How long is your tank been cycling?

 

[PereguineFalcon]

Well, here is the website to where i found how to cycle with plants. Pretty much what the plants do is use up all the harmful toxins in the water before they become a problem..i.e ammonia. They can use all these to grow. http/www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm
check it out...really kewl. My tank has been cycling for about 2 1/2 to about 3 weeks now.

 

[crazie.eddie]

The only thing is, with any type of cycling, the idea is to establish benificial bacteria in your tank. Yes, you can use plants, ammonia removes, zeolite in your filter, etc. to remove ammonia, but without the help of benifical bacteria to support the bioload, your tank will not be suitable to support fish. YOU NEED TO GET THE BACTERIA STARTED FIRST. You can get bacteria started by using gravel, decor, or filter media from an already established tank. Then even so, you should add your fish slowly to avoid stressing your fish from the amonnia and nitrite spikes.

 

[PereguineFalcon]

Did you even read that article? It totally goes against what you just said. Prehaps you should read it. Makes sense to me.

 

[crazie.eddie]

I got to read it partially..the site was too slow and somehow didn't load the whole page.


I just tried loading it again... and read it and realized..this guy is still cycling with fish. Look at step 5....He added a few fish and waited a week. The reason you wait is for the bacteria to build up to support the load. Bacteria is contained in the fishes gills, which will build up in the tank. As the fish create waste, the ammonia builds up. Then the bacteria multiply to consume the ammonia. This continues until the bacteria can support the load.

Step 6 states you add more fish, which you keep repeating every week until the tank is stocked. This is the same procedure for a regular cycle. Plants or no plants.

So, the article is not contradicting what I'm saying. If you can contact the person, ask why you add fish slowly. He will tell you the same thing I will, to let the bacteria build up.

Also i added about 20 fish or so in about a week and a half

So did you do this overtime or did you add 20 fish after about a week and a half?

 

[G_Sharky]

I have to agree with crazy eddie here that you should let the beneficial bacteria build up before loading it. I was currently cycling a new tank and as soon as my parameters hit 0 I coudn't wait for a week before going to the LFS instead after the 4th day that the tank finished it's cycle I added 3 fish and to my surprise 2 days after, NitrIte went up to 0.1 not too dangerous but it's a big step back for me....

 

[PereguineFalcon]

Well scum bucket. I shouldn't have too much of a problem though right? Because i waited a week after i started the tank and then i added 1 otto. Then i waited 4 days and i added another 4 otos. So I'm sure that there has been some beneficial bacteria added to the tank. Also, some of my java ferns, elodea, and amazon swords came from two different already established tankz, one for almost a 8 months, the other for over 2 years. So i'm sure there was some bacteria that hitchhiked it in with these plants right? I waited about 9 days before i added any more fish. The next fish that i added were 4 congo tetras. They were really shy at first and didn't come out for almost 2 days but now they are the rulers of the tank...lol...beautiful little buggas. After i added the congos i waited 4 days before i added 7 more otos. Two days after i added the otos. I added 5 albino cherry barbs. 4 more days after adding the cherry barbs i added 3 cories and one more congo tetra. Then finally, 5 days after adding the 3 cories i added the 3 more final cories and 4 rummynose tetras. Two of the rummynose died with in 24 hours, one of them was dead before i could start acclimitizing them. The two that survived are doing great!! Really bright red heads. And that is all that i have in there now. The last time that i added fish was this Sunday. Been tempted to get some more congo tetras but after checking my water parameters figured it would be best if i just layed off the fish for a few days. I checked my parameters on Tuesday morning. and they were kinda crazy. After i did the water change they were a little less outrageous but still enough to stress the fish. Wednesday i did another water change, but before i did i checked the water again and the parameters had dropped dramatically, in much more acceptable levels even though they weren't what i would label as ideal. I have fed the fish only twice since Tuesday morning, and that was a very sparing amount, in an attempt to reduce the amount of waste being produced so the bacteria would have a better chance. I have yet to still check the water today to see if it is any better. I am thinkin that i shall do one more water change today and then wait till after the weekend to see if things have changed. I restarted two new co2 bottles, the old ones were almost out...so perhaps the extra co2 in the water will help the plants grow a little faster and comsume the nutriets a little better. Thankz for you info. Fill me in more and tell me if what i am doing now was the stupidest thing in the world. Keep em coming! They are helping me out a great deal! Ciao!