Help

[atkinspa]

Seems I should have looked here first. Made all the mistakes listed. (Dont trust the LFS? read that here i think after the event)

The problem i have is as follows

The tank was set up and left to run for a week with just water gravel and rocks, no problem. (tank size 24 x 12 x 15 inchs 15 gallons)

A week later i put in three plants, don't know the names but one looks like long grass, one is a type of lilly and the other is green these were suggest by the local LFS as good plants as i have only one light.

No Ammonia but the Nirit climbed to 0.8 mg/l after three days. this dropped back to normal after two days (below 0.3mg/l), nitrat 5 mg/l

after another week to let the plants grow with the a nutrafin CO2 diffuser. I now have four small (3/4 inch each) clown barbs, along with two pair of sunset gouramies.

the problem i have is no ammonia but nitrit keeps at 0.8mg/l after two days with the fish in even doing 25% water changes daily. I have now removed the plants and carried out a major water water change (75%) as i was told the plants are the cause of the problem in new tank by another LFS
help I am being told drifferent storys by every LFS.

I am now stuck with the fish an i do not wish them to die so what is my best course of action now. After the water change the nitrit is below 0.3 mg/l but i must have stressed the fish with all these water changes.

 

[tstenback]

I believe your initial nitrate readings were due to the plants bringing in the beneficial bacteria from an established tank. The nitrite reading has me puzzled. Can you measure your tap water to see if it contains any nitrite and let us know? The fish you added are alot for cycling the tank. If you are not sure what this means see the important topics at the top of this forum. You should only add 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons when cycling with fish. So you have a choice either take the fish back or at least the gouramies or if you cant take them back or find other accomodations for them then you will have to cycle with all these fish. This will be an exercise in patience. The fish will create ammonia as they produce waste. Bacteria will be produced to change this toxic ammonia into nitrITE whcih is less toxic. Then other bacteria will grow to change the nitrITE into nitrATE which is far less toxic than nitrITE and can be dealt with through regular weekly water changes. The problem in cycling with fish is the stress all of this places on the fish. Tha ammonia level should be kept down under 1 ppm through water changes. The nitrite level must also be kept down to at least that level as well by the same method. Your cycle will be complete when the ammonia level and nitrite levels get back down to 0 and the nitrate level is increasing. This will require strict vigilance in order to keep your fish healthy. Good luck and keep us posted

 

[atkinspa]

the normal tap water contains no Nitrite. This is what had me confused? where is the Nitrite come from, all ammonia tests have been negative. I have removed the plants now, so have just a bare tank with gravel rocks and fish.

 

[tstenback]

You have no ammonia with that many fish in the tank...How long have they been in the tank? That many fish in a 15 gal should have broought the ammonia up pretty quickly. Perhaps the ammonia test kit is flawed. Try taking your water to the lfs or a friend to have it tested and see if the readings compare to yours. Let us know

 

[atkinspa]

The fish have been in the tank 3 days. i have been using the nutrafin mini master test kit. The Nitrite seems to appear from nowhere, the test kit may be faulty i will verify. thanks for your help

 

[tstenback]

The nitrite comes from the breaking down of ammonia by bacteria. This is why if there is no nitrite in your water source then there must be ammonia available for the bacteria. You have proven that the nitrite kit works fine but i have my doubts that the ammonia one is fine. Is there anything else in your aquarium wood, rocks, pots, too much food? These may cause the nitrite reading as well.

 

[atkinspa]

having had the fish three days they have only been fed twice, one small pinch once a day, went in minutes.
I have two bits of volcanic rock, two bits of slate and one small bit of bog wood all of which were washed prior to going into the tank (the bog wood was soaked for four days in clean water)
I did have three plants but these have now been removed.

 

[StevieJack]

I had your exact same experience (got tank, wait 1 week, put in fish, found this forum).

I had 8 tiger barbs to start and it took a couple of days but the ammonia levels did rise quickly, maybe you just need to allow the process to start before the water changes.
You may be slowing it down considerably. I am now on the nitrite spike and it is the worst ever (Off the charts it seems), I have lost all fish but 2 and they don’t look so great (If they die I will continue with frozen shrimp and raw steak until it cycles).

My nitrate levels are just now starting to show above 0 but it has been some time now.

Could the wood you mentioned have something to do with it all?
I have added wood in the past and my fish were dead the next morning in a pool of cloudy water. Since then I found some good advice to boil it for a while before adding it to the tank.

Anyway, I know I did not really answer any of your questions but wanted to share my similar experience.

Basically it sounds like the cycle has not started good, if you can take the wood and other objects (rocks etc.. ) and soak them again and test the water for nitrite I would be interested in the results. **Edit** I meant test the new water that you soak the objects in (bucket or such), not the tank water.


Stevie

 

[atkinspa]

I will try taking the wood out soaking it and testing that water.
Bought a Tera ammoina test today, so you can see some thing happening. the result is still 0. I have got the Nitrite down to 0.3mgl with water changes and got some gravel from a mature tank. hopefully this will start to control the levels.