How to : Transferring to a bigger tank - advice please

[Sparx]

That looks amazing you should be proud of your work. How are the fishies settling in?

 

[newaquaentusiast]

That looks amazing you should be proud of your work. How are the fishies settling in?

Thanks man Appreciate it

I think pretty well, loads of room for them,

gave them some blood worms - ate it in a frenzy as always,
all seems well, knock on wood

 

[newaquaentusiast]

Hey - Quick help!!!

Just did a water check -
Ammonia 0,
Nitrite roughly 5 MG/L!!!
Nitrate 40PPM

Did a 50% water change

what else do i need to do??

 

[Essjay]

A bigger water change, I'm afraid. And lots of them until nitrite stays at zero.

Or follow the instruction s in the second part of this link on how to use salt to reduce the effects on nitrite on fish.

Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part Il

Part II SO YOU STILL WANT TO KEEP CYCLING WITH FISH? If you are determined to ignore the above advice in Part I and still think you want to proceed with a fish in cycle, then you need to be aware of the information presented below. SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT AMMONIA Ammonia in water exists...

www.fishforums.net

Common salt is sodium chloride, and chloride blocks nitrite from binding to the fish's blood.

 

[newaquaentusiast]

A bigger water change, I'm afraid. And lots of them until nitrite stays at zero.

Or follow the instruction s in the second part of this link on how to use salt to reduce the effects on nitrite on fish.

Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part Il

Part II SO YOU STILL WANT TO KEEP CYCLING WITH FISH? If you are determined to ignore the above advice in Part I and still think you want to proceed with a fish in cycle, then you need to be aware of the information presented below. SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT AMMONIA Ammonia in water exists...

www.fishforums.net

Common salt is sodium chloride, and chloride blocks nitrite from binding to the fish's blood.

That's pretty much what I thought.

However, would like your insight,
as my LFS told me that after the initial water change, I should be adding the liquid beneficial bacteria every other day but NOT to do an additional water change for at least a couple of weeks...

Is this good advice?

I feel that I should be doing daily water changes until everything settles... who is right?

Thanks

Actually, this is possibly an entire new thread, isn't it?
I think I will open an new one?

 

[Essjay]

The bacteria grow faster when ammonia/nitrite is higher. But the high levels damage the fish. So it's either grow bacteria faster and risk the fish or take longer to grow the bacteria with less damage to the fish. I sometimes wonder if shop workers know what ammonia and nitrite do to fish - ammonia burns their gills making it harder for them to take up oxygen and nitrite blocks the oxygen receptors in their blood.


That's one advantage to using salt. You can allow nitrite in the water to grow the bacteria faster without the fish coming to harm. I know it's a complicated calculation, and more salt has to be added if the reading creeps up, but it does help.
And you can add bottled bacteria as well, just make sure it's one that contains the correct nitrite eaters - Tetra Safe Start or Dr Tim's One & Only. Use of the correct species is copyrighted so no other products can use them. (Members who use it say Tropco Goop works as well but their website lists the wrong nitrite eaters).

 

[newaquaentusiast]

The bacteria grow faster when ammonia/nitrite is higher. But the high levels damage the fish. So it's either grow bacteria faster and risk the fish or take longer to grow the bacteria with less damage to the fish. I sometimes wonder if shop workers know what ammonia and nitrite do to fish - ammonia burns their gills making it harder for them to take up oxygen and nitrite blocks the oxygen receptors in their blood.


That's one advantage to using salt. You can allow nitrite in the water to grow the bacteria faster without the fish coming to harm. I know it's a complicated calculation, and more salt has to be added if the reading creeps up, but it does help.
And you can add bottled bacteria as well, just make sure it's one that contains the correct nitrite eaters - Tetra Safe Start or Dr Tim's One & Only. Use of the correct species is copyrighted so no other products can use them. (Members who use it say Tropco Goop works as well but their website lists the wrong nitrite eaters).

Thanks,

Kind of got the felling they just want me to eventually need to buy more fish.....

Any way, gout shecam prime and gave the tank a nice dose, I understand it detoxifies the bad **** so it's harmless to the fish until the renewed tank in fully cycled...

 

[Essjay]

Seachem Prime detoxifies ammonia and nitrite for something like 24 to 36 hours, then they become toxic again. It was originally intended for places where chloramine is used. Water conditioners split chloramine to chlorine and ammonia, and Prime detoxifies that ammonia then the bacteria remove it before it has time to 'undetoxify'. They later discovered it does the same for nitrite.
Prime is best used to treat the new water at a water change rather than add it to the tank as a sort of medication - because the detoxification lasts only a few hours, water changes are needed anyway.