help

[christine]

I have a problem. My ammonia is not high, ph is fine, nitrate is fine... Until about 3 days ago so was the nitrite. Now it's at 3 ppm. I've done 4 water changes, 1 a day, and it keeps rising. The fish don't seem stressed... but it's not getting better. I've noticed recently that my bio wheel for the filter wasn't going and i got it fixed...should this help.. I'm getting worried.. how long does it take the nitrite to break down. Also, I don't have enough water to change every day.. I have 3 gal. sitting under my cupboard and I let them sit for 24 hours before using... however today I used 2.5 gal... can I add dechlorinator? when I treat it before putting it in the tank?
Maybe my fish are stressed. I've noticed that in the night my platies color fades,after about 5min in the morning with the light on, they go to good colors, but I was wondering are these the first signs of stress?
The book that said I could 1st of all put fish in after letting the tank sit 24 hours says I shouldn't worry about nitrite if the fish look ok ...
I need some advice....Thanx a bunch

 

[Losi]

How much of the water areyou changing?
Have you cleaned the gravel as well as the water change?
Do you add dechlorinator to the water that you have waiting to go into the tank??

 

[platypus]

Hi Christine,

Losi's qu's are good and will definitely help us to answer some of your questions. In the meantime I've had a go at some of them:

Until about 3 days ago so was the nitrite. Now it's at 3 ppm. I've done 4 water changes, 1 a day, and it keeps rising.

This is just a natural process that happens when your tank starts cycling. Your tank will need to go through this to establish all those lovely beneficial bacteria that will convert all the ammonia in your tank into nitrite, and then nitrate. There's a really great article here written by one of the members of this board that explains it really well.

As you're going through the cycling process with fish in your tank, it's going to take a little bit longer than it would do without fish. This is because you can't just let your nitrite levels go through the roof because it will kill your fish! So by doing regular water changes you'll keep the levels manageable, but also slow down the process so it will take a little bit longer for your tank to be 'cycled'. At least I think this is right - please anyone correct me if not!

can I add dechlorinator? when I treat it before putting it in the tank?

Yes I would definitely add a dechlorinating treatment to your water before adding it, to be on the safe side. If you have chlorine in your tank this can stress the fish and also wipe out any bacteria, thus restarting the cycling process ! If you haven't got one already, try to get one that gets rid of chlorines AND chloramines. In the UK there's one by Waterlife that I use that does the job just great

Maybe my fish are stressed. I've noticed that in the night my platies color fades,after about 5min in the morning with the light on, they go to good colors, but I was wondering are these the first signs of stress?

I've read LOADS of posts on here with people saying the same thing about their fish looking washed of colour the first few minutes after the light comes on, so I don't think it's anything to worry about.

OK I think that's it! Just one more question - how many fish do you have in your tank at the moment? And how long has it been set up for? Sorry that was two questions!

 

[christine]

I've been changing about 10-15% of the water...My tank has been set up for about 1 mo, w/3fish 2platies, 1molly. Ihave cleaned out the gravel but my gravel cleaner is very cheap , it works a little, but not very well... I have noticed though, just today the ammonia was at 0, it never has been this low, the nitrate is rising, and the high nitrites were going down a little , but not much... Should I continue doing water changes.... and how much ???

 

[pondfreak4365]

I'd keep up with the 10-15% water changes daily to control the nitrites. Sounds like you are at what I call the peak, ammonia drops to 0, nitrites are elevated, you start seeing nitate. This is a very critical time for your fish.

 

[aquamanis]

Hi, have a read of this, it will show you where you are in your cycle. Safe Cycling

 

[platypus]

I've been changing about 10-15% of the water...My tank has been set up for about 1 mo, w/3fish 2platies, 1molly. Ihave cleaned out the gravel but my gravel cleaner is very cheap , it works a little, but not very well... I have noticed though, just today the ammonia was at 0, it never has been this low, the nitrate is rising, and the high nitrites were going down a little , but not much... Should I continue doing water changes.... and how much ???

This is good as it shows you're getting towards the end of the cycling process . I would keep up with the water changes every day or every 2 days until the nitrites reach a safe level.

As for the gravel - you don't want to clean it too thoroughly anyway, as a lot of the beneficial bacteria lives in there. I often clean one quarter of the tank with one water change, then another quarter the next water change etc etc. However I change my water once a week! As you're doing it more often, you might want to leave the gravel alone apart from giving it a light going over once a week.

There's another really good article on this forum about what NOT to do when you're new to this hobby, I wish I'd read it when I was at your stage!! http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=13133

 

[christine]

aquamanis,
thanx for the good article, but with the days an' all.. my aquarium really didn't start into this cycling until about after this first month I've had it... is that ok???

 

[aquamanis]

Hi Christine, is sounds like your tank is going through another cycle probably because your filter broke down. If the bacteria were killed off when the filter broke down it will take a couple of weeks (roughly) to build enough bacteria up to use the nitrites. You should then start to see nitrates rise as the nitrite level goes lower. If your ammonia level is 0 then I would think you are in the second stage of the cycle. If you monitor the nitrite level and nitrate level you should be able to get an idea of where you are in the cycle. The days in the article are not relative to your tank but every tank goes through the same cycle, the time varies with each tank though.

 

[alex818]

help the re-cycling by adding some gravel from a matured tank and you can use "Amquel+" to lower Nitrates. Make sure its not the regular Amquel but the "Amquel+". You can also buy BioSpira sold at your local LFS. Thats live bacteria that they keep refrigerated. It helps cycle your tank faster.

Good luck.