Oh, by the way did you think that we are having a mini cycle, and I take it that my PH level is fine.
Your tank IS cycling, nothing ‘mini’ about it. Your pH is fine, but remember: The higher the pH the higher the ratio of toxic ammonia.
Question: When you do a water change, do you use a dechlorinator or? If so, can I ask you which one you use and how much per volume do you use and HOW you use it?
should I wait for the nitrate to get higher for it too reduce the nitrite
These are two separate chemicals. The presence of one does not (to my knowledge) reduce the other. The bacteria in your blue filters converts Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate. All three chemicals can co-exist in whatever quantity.
or if the nitrate is still high should i still be water changing, what could have happened to my poor catfish he was so tiny, but i suppose lonely, was the level of nitrite at .2 or .5 too high for him to breathe.
Nitrite >0.3 ppm typical of a cycling tank. I had levels above this when my tank cycled (with fish, ahem ahem).
My tank dimensions are 30" long x 14" high, x 12" in depth
OK, there is another rule for applying maximum fish length for stock that states 1†of fish length for every 12sq inch of surface area: Hence by this rule, your maximum stocking should be 30†(as opposed to 21†using the inches per (US) gallon). Average out the two I guess you’re looking at a reasonable absolute maximum of 25â€. If I were you I’d stick with 21†as you’ve got, so I stand by my previous post for maximum stocking levels for your tank, this will mean that sticking with your Fluval 2 should be OK – hopefully another member can back me up or give a good reason as to why you should instead be thinking of replacing it or doubling up on it.
You are right, replacing it would mean going back to square one, hence I wouldn’t replace it with a bigger one if I were you!
Your readings:
Ammonia = 0-0.25
Nitrate = 0 <- Nitrite I assume.
Nitrate = 5 - 20 but i say nearer the 5 scale.
PH 7.8
Looking at your ammonia reading then & taking the worst case: 0.25ppm of NH3/NH4 @26° with a pH of 7.8: Using this table I linked for you previously:
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=154313
We find on the temperature = 26°C table that a pH of 7.8 gives a ratio of 0.7013%.
0.7013% of your ‘Ammonia’ reading yields: 0.0018ppm of TOXIC ammonia (and hence 0.2482ppm of safe Ammonium).
This level of TOXIC ammonia is fine, anything above 0.02ppm (ten times your current levels), is considered a lethal level. Some people will say that your ammonia HAS to be 0.00ppm BUT if you have fish in a body of water then of course there WILL be ammonia in it! Also, you are in a bit of a vicious circle because I think your tank is still cycling, i.e. the bacterial colonies are still building up. In order for them to do this they need ammonia (and Nitrite, but this comes from the Ammonia) BUT this very same ammonia is toxic to your fish!
Nitrate = 0 = fine (of course – aim for nothing, best kept below 0.3).
Nitrate 5 to 20ppm = fine.
So he says no water change for a week, put the carbon filter into the Fluval 2+ and add a live plant which he gave me free to help reduce the nitrate.
I am little sceptical about his advise,
Please what would you all do if you were me, he wouldn't sell me another filter as he said we don't need it. but do I?
Should I do these steps, or leave it.
Keeping aquatic plants IMHO, is 10 times more difficult to do than simply keeping fish. Plants should be sanitized BEFORE putting into a tank (did he tell you this?) For sanitizing new plants, see here:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=167686
Anyway, this is beside the point, you do NOT
need plants. Yes, they do remove Nitrate, but so will regular water changes and carbon in the filter. (I am not a great fan of Carbon and hence I have removed mine – it does not last very long & if not properly maintained, i.e. changed then it can leech back whatever it has cleaned).
In a nutshell
Your levels appear fine but I think your tank is still cycling. This is not great with fish but not that bad. You are stuck with those fish so this is a mute point anyway. I’d do a weekly 33% water change using a vac to clean your substrate.
You do not need plants. I’d avoid them to start with!
Your stocking level is at maximum considering the filter you have which I believe will be fine for the level of stocking of fish you have. Just let it be and it should continue to cycle – as it seems to be doing quite well.
I do not believe that you have to start again from scratch – this is very drastic measure! I also don’t think you need under-gravel filtration (an utter sod to install now you have fish) and is now considered an old-fashioned approach to fish-keeping. You also don’t need a power-head – this is mainly for marine tank setups.
The last thing I’ll mention before I go is that I got bad advice from my LFS and ended up doing a cycle with fish. 6 months later all my fish are (apparently) fine, they school, muck about and generally appear happy well settled little fish! While cycling my Amms, Nitrite and Nitrate levels were all over the bloody place!
Keep monitoring the stats daily, & if any one of those readings looks dodgy think about doing a water change.
Andy
Hi my name is Nicole, me and my kids aged 14 and 11 have just bought out fish tropical fish aquarium, ( my husband doesnt see the attraction)I am finding it a bit of a minefield, we had had 15 fish in a 38litre tank, have had various bad advise and conflicting advise and now we only have 6 left, we now have an 80 litr tank but lost another fish this morniing. have ended up here seraching pages for help as we almost gave up on fish keeping. I have many questions so will post them in a different topic, as that is what understand I need to do.
