High Readings On Ammon And Nitrite

[-germ-]

Yeah sounds like it, there will be bacteria in there don't get me wrong, but the biological capacity isn't a great deal compared to the capacity of your filter, shouldn't be detrimental to your tanks condition to give it a good clean....
Did you say you have a tester kit?
Also not sure if this has been brought up, do you have anything (filter outlet, air stone) disturbing the waters surface in your tank?

 

[rdd1952]

As germ mentioned, there isn't enough beneficial bacteria to worry about in the gravel. For bacteria to colonize, there has to be water flow to bring them food (ammonia and nitrite), hence the fact that the filter is where the vast majority of the bacteria colonize.

Since you did such a large water change and still have 2 ppm of ammonia, it tells me you were somewhere in the 10ppm range before. Amazing your fish have made it so far. I would continue to do 25% water changes a couple times a day until you have the ammonia back under .25ppm. Then do them as needed to keep them there and start to monitor nitrite.

 

[Miss M]

We do have an airstone, some ceramic pieces, fake plants, and tetra whisper power filter. We do have the testing kits (dropper kits). I'll continue to do the small water changes daily, this time making sure to clean the gravel better. I'll keep you updated.

Thanks again.

 

[rdd1952]

Good luck.

 

[-germ-]

Quick one what dechlorinator do you use?
Not read back, just had a thought, SeaChem prime?

 

[Miss M]

just adding tetra aquasafe for the water changes. We have stress-zyme and kordon amquel/novaqua (small 2 bottle kit), but I'm holding off on adding anything other than the aquasafe and aquarium salt.

 

[Neo8223]

Hi, No one has suggested this, but i found this best when i was doing a fish cycle (as i am doing now) I add some filter balls from another filter and place them by the inlet tube for my external filter. This lets water flow through this and into the filter thus distributing good water around the tank. My levels are at 0 for ammonia and nitrite because of this. The tanks been running for two days. If these levels do rise, i will straight away do a 20% water change. Its best to stay on top of these things rather than let them spiral out of control. Before i set up the tank, i also added the biofilter to another tank and dispensed it under water so it could make some of its own bacteria. This helps speed things up, but unfortunately increases the risk of cross contamination between the tanks. IMO it is worth it tho.

 

[Miss M]

*****good update!!*****

Checked ammonia this morning, and it's reading zero. Nitrites are between 2 and 5 (colors are so close, it's hard to tell). I gave the gravel a good vac last night, only removing about 15% of the water, but I'm hoping that did the trick. I'm only feeding the danios every other day (for now) to see it that helps.

I'll let you know if anything changes.

Thank you everyone who offered suggestions. I truly appreciate your advice.

Miss M

 

[rdd1952]

Just as with the ammonia, you need to do water changes to keep the nitrite below .25 ppm too. Nitrite has an effect on the oxygen exchange of fish and is just as deadly as ammonia is.

 

[Miss M]

*******update*******

Tank has finally cycled (about a week ago). I did a thorough vac of the gravel, and the next morning, we had no ammonia and no nitrite. Nitrate is about 20. Algae blooms have disappeared also.

We added a cory catfish a day after the tank seemed ok, and we haven't had any spikes on ammonia or nitrite.

Thanks to all who helped.

Our fish thank you too!

Miss M

 

[rdd1952]

When you say you haven't seen any spikes, do you mean they have remained at zero the whole time? Hopefully, you have room to add some more corys as they need to be in groups of at least 3 and preferably 6.

 

[Miss M]

ammonia and nitrite have remained at zero. We only want to add 1 fish per week,(as long as the levels remain safe), but we do plan on adding more cory's. We also plan on doing a thorough gravel vac once a week, changing about 20-25% of the water.

If we should begin to get any reading on ammon/nitrite, we will continue to do water changes, and wait a bit longer before adding any new fish.

 

[rdd1952]

You can safely double your fish load without any problems. The bacteria will double in about a day so you shouldn't even experience a mini cycle. Adding 2 to 3 fish at a time definitely wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Glad to hear that your tank cycled. ^^ Good luck, enjoy your tank, and keep us updated!