Help

[ktclayt]

I'm new to this, I'm not sure if I'm posting this question properly.

I always seem to have super high amonia, nitrate & ph levels, have changed water so many times, I've lost count, heater is at 27-29 degrees, filter working as far as I can tell.
My kissing gourami just died, and since starting the tank 3 weeks ago, have lost now 6 fish, the others guppies and 1 silver shark. I keep putting PH down and ammo lock in, but nothing changes. Any clues?

Thanks :

 

[Lorna]

Ph down won't work if the h20 is hard. Hard water has a buffer in it which will keep the PH high. What is your PH anyway?

How big is your tank? Silver Sharks need a massive tank as they grow up to 33cm, if your tank is too small I wouldn't buy another silver shark, What else do you have in your tank?

How much water are you actually changing a day? You need to change about 20% and you need to do this regularly during the day and don't over feed them, feed them every second day, and just a small amount. The other option is to take the surviving fish back to the shop and start doing a fishless cycle, there is more info on how to do this on this forum somewhere (I never did a fishless cycle).

 

[backtotropical]

I'm new to this, I'm not sure if I'm posting this question properly.

I always seem to have super high amonia, nitrate & ph levels, have changed water so many times, I've lost count, heater is at 27-29 degrees, filter working as far as I can tell.
My kissing gourami just died, and since starting the tank 3 weeks ago, have lost now 6 fish, the others guppies and 1 silver shark. I keep putting PH down and ammo lock in, but nothing changes. Any clues?

Thanks :

Firstly, your tank is slightly too warm IMO. I'd recommend between 24 - 26. Some fish will not like it any hotter than this. If having your tank at 27 - 29, i would get an airstone to help with aeration. Dont use chemicals to change your PH. These are generally quick fixes and if you start using them, you are normally committing yourself to using them all the time to keep your PH stable. You need a long term PH solution, like adding bogwood to your tank or filtering your water through a de-ioniser.

Your ammonia etc problem sounds like your filter is not cycled. Perform as many water changes as required until you can get ammonia and nitrite below 0.25ppm. Once you have done that, then worry about nitrate. Ammo-Lock detoxifies the ammonia, but it will still show up on your ammonia test. This as you can imagine can be quite misleading. Again, i wouldn't use chemicals. Water changes are the key. It may also be an idea to test your tap water for ammonia and nitrite so you know what you are putting in when changing water.

Keep posting and asking questions. Someone will be sure to help.

 

[Lorna]

Bogwood is a good idea but it is only temporary. Once all the tannins have leached out of it, it makes it useless for lowering PH.

 

[ktclayt]

My PH is about 8 and I change water 20-50% on average once a week at the moment. My tank is 3 ft, 150 litres I think.

Also how often should I clean my filter, I have a ChristelProfil 120 Canister, but it doesn't say how often to clean it.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Also how often should I clean my filter

I check my filter pads once a week and rinse them in old tank water to remove debris if they look clogged, but I use hang on back filters which are much easier to check.

 

[Fish2u]

"My PH is about 8 and I change water 20-50% on average once a week at the moment"

You need to do 20-30% water change EVERYDAY to keep ammonia and nitrite low.

 

[ktclayt]

Sorry if I'm asking silly questions, didn't realise I had to change the water that often, will start doing it tonight.
I have 2 male mollies & 2 females, I think the females are pregenant as they have got rounded tummys but since they are dark colours I can't see any dark spots, (do they get any?).

Also how many fish should you have in a 150 litre tank.

 

[rdd1952]

In a cycling tank,, you hae to change water up to 3 or 4 times a day to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels low. What are your actual readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH both in the tank and from the tap? Your goal with water changes is to get ammonia and nitrite under .25ppm even if that means doing a 75% water change to get it down to a decent level so the smaller 25 to 30 percent daily water changes can keep the toxins under control.

The problem you are having that is killing your fish is high ammonia. The high level is made even worse by the high pH as ammonia toxicity increases as pH increases. Using the ammo-lock will help but it only neutralizes the ammonia in the tank when it is added (ammonia will still register on your kit) but does nothing to ammonia produced from then until the next time you add it. According to the people at API, a proper size dose will only lock 3ppm of ammonia. So if your ammonia reading is 6ppm, adding a dose only locks half of it so the other 3ppm are still toxic and killing your fish.

As mentioned don't use pH adjusters. Most fish can readily adapt to any pH as long as it is stable. Using adjusting chemicals only puts the pH in a constant swing. Down for a while after you add it and then back up. It is important to know what the pH of your tap water is so we can tell if maybe there is something in your tank such as the substrate or some decoration that is raising it.

Last but not least, the number of fish you can have depends on the size of the fish you choose. For small community fish like guppies, tetras, etc., the general guideline for beginners is 1" of adult fish per gallon of water so you would be looking at about 40" of adult fish. That's not to say that you can't have more. It's just easier to get your tank up and running if you aren't stocked too heavily. That was part of your problem to begin with. If my count is correct, you had at least a gourami, a silver shark and 8 gupppies in the tank which is way too many to begin with. usually, about 3 or 4 small fish is all you should begin with if you cycle with fish.

 

[ktclayt]

another stupid question, how long do I have to keep changing the water (4 times a day), is this what cycling means?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Cycling is growing enough bacteria in your filter to consume the Ammonia and Nitrites that are produced by your fish. After the cycle is over you can drop your water changes down to 25% per week...(although some of us prefer more often or a larger amount).

 

[rdd1952]

Cycling refers to the process of building a bacteria colony in your filter that will eventually process the fish waste (ammonia) so that you never see ammonia or nitrite at anything onther than 0. Any other reading on them indicates a problem. It takes time for these bacteria to develop and multiply to the necessary levels to handle the waste. The actual process is that ammonia will eventually be processed by one type of bacteria and transformed into nitrite. Then nitrite will be processed by another bacteria and transformed into nitrate. This is called the nitrogen cycle (thus cycling). Both ammonia and nitrite are toxic even at low levels. Nitrate is only toxic at levels about 80 to 100 ppm and is removed by regular water changes.

While the tank is cycling and developing the bacteria, you need to do water changes as needed to keep ammonia and nitrite as low as possible, preferably under .25 ppm. That may mean 3 or 4 times a day or it could be every other day. It really depends on the stocking level and how much you feed. Feeding less will help as less food means less fish waste and also less uneaten food to decay in the tank and become ammonia. Feeding every other day during cycling is fine. The fish can easily go a week without food.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Kept my first answer short 'cause I didn't want to totally ninja rdd's answer.

Anyway, a tank can take several weeks to cycle...I think mine took about 4, but others have had it range from 3 to 6 weeks. Test often and hopefully you won't have to change water too much. Also, you don't have to do it every time you change water, but siphoning the gravel will help remove waste that will continue to release ammonia as it breaks down.

A note about Nitrates...keep them low. Nitrates may not be poisonous until they get to higher ppm levels, but they do make the water quality poor (which can lead to illness), and nitrates are a major fuel for algae blooms. Hence why we do weekly water changes to keep the Nitrates down.