I Give Up...! (((update)))

[irvs]

hi all this is sum first post
.....FIRSTLY I WAS A TOTAL NEWBY ADVISED BY A STUPID PET SHOP PLEAS DO HATE ME.....
12 weeks ago i bought a tetra 60l tank from my local "Pets At Home" store telling me to set it up and fill with decelorined water and wait for a week, then i could add fish. Soo waited a week, went back and got 10 neon tetra, 1 betta and 4 peper cories. About 2 weeks later a neon died AND THEN i researched I was told to do a 25% water change once a week, dam were they VERY VERY wrong as i found out with my research.

Ok so the problem deepens, the tank has been running without a hitch now for 12 weeks, all fish are looking, acting and eating normely, not a single problem. EXEPT!!!! no nitrites or nitrates just amonia for the entire 12 weeks. Ive been doing a 25% water change ever day for the past 10weeks and still nothing.

Ive been using for the past 10 weeks an API master test kit, API stress coat+ (deceloreneator). The reading ive been getting for the ammonia has been a constant 0.5-1. After a water change it drops to 0.25 but over the 24h peroid it goes back to 0.5-1.

What the hell is going on, is it eventually going to work??? Im at my wits end over this and feel very put off with the hobby


please help, neil.

 

[m00se]

Ouch. Your P@H basically failed on a fairly epic scale there. You may have got lucky. I suspect that when that fish died was the height of your nitrite peak, and the others just managed to tough it out. The fact that you have now been going OK for 12 weeks with healthy normal-looking fish suggests you're through the worst of your cycle to me. Your ammonia may be creeping up because your filter's not quite on top of things - is it big enough for the tank you have? You'd do well to get yourself a second filter, either way, or a bigger one. And you say your nitrAtes are at 0? That's pretty unheard of to be honest, most tapwater in the UK has about 20ppm. Are you following the instructions properly on the test kit? (i.e. adding the 10 from bottle 1, inverting for a minute or so to mix, shaking the second bottle as hard as you can for a minute or so until your arm feels like it's going to fall off, then adding the 10 from that, then mixing for a minute? Not shaking that second bottle until your veins pop is basically a recipe for getting a dodgy nitrate reading.

 

[waterdrop]

OK, couple' ideas: I think it would be good for the members to go through all the types of media in this new member's filter and make sure there's not any Zeolite or other stuff we don't want, hopefully all will be ok but seems like it should be checked out.

Secondly, its great that you were changing 25% water daily... you had the right idea, just not enough! Too wimpy! You need to use the feedback that your API ammonia test is giving you to adjust the percentage and frequency of the water changes to acheive 0.25ppm only as the -maximum- that's reached prior to another water change when you're doing a proper fish-in cycle. I know it sounds rough, but a fish-in cycle is usually "an accident" (as described) and it takes a lot of manual work to match what a biological filter can do for a tank. In your case 50% or 60% water changes might have done it. Remember, any poison above 0.25ppm is a much more urgent concern for the fish than any perceived shock from a larger percentage water change.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[irvs]

Thanks for the quick replies folks.

The filter is the one tetra spesify for the 60l tank (it came as a tetra starter pack tetra heater, filter and chems). Hmm ive been thinking about getting a small but addiquite external filter to free up more swimming space, think this could be my chance.

The nitrates are at the bottom of the scale(yellow) 0ppm. From what i beleave i need the nitrites to cycle through before i will see any nitrates, or have i pickes this up wrong??

I'll step up the water changes to 50-75% daily and see where things go from there. Could it be too large a load on the filter at one time making it work soo slowly?? This is what im now thinking

Last friday i got a bottle of API Stress Zyme+(biological filter booster), could this help, anyone use this stuff

Again thanks loads and loads for your quick and informative replies i dont no what i would of done if i hadent found this site.

neil.

 

[waterdrop]

The larger water changes are just to start and give you feedback via your ammonia tests, you might be able to reduce the percentage after a bit, but you have to test and use what I said before. The bottled bacterias (stress this that and the other, lol) are basically you buying a bottle of dead bacteria, brings a grin to any sharp retailers face as they cross the back room after a sale, no actually just joking, usually they don't know enough about fishless cycling to even understand that much. The tetra filter may not be enough, you're correct, but the members can discuss it with you hopefully. Maybe the smallest external Rena or Tetratec could be looked in to. Correct, fish respiration, fish waste, excess fishfood and plant debris all break down into ammonia (which is toxic), is converted into nitrite(NO2) by the first species of bacteria (Nitrosomonas) and then that's eaten by the second species of bacteria (Nitrospira) and converted into nitrate(NO3) which is removed by weekly water changes in a normal running tank.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[drobbyb]

Don't give up! Lots of people get into the hobby this way, and the people here are used to helping in precisely this situation. The best advice I can give you is to read the topics in the beginner resource center found here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=277264

Once you understand the nitrogen cycle and it's relationship to your tank, the rest comes easy. This initial stumble is just that, a stumble. Pick up that fish net and lets get going!

 

[irvs]

Is it nitrite that plants help to lower??? I was thinking about this today as ive a couple of amazon swords in the tank.

The fact its been 12weeks and no single trace of nitrites is really puzzling meAnyone else come across this or have a quick fix get me on the right track cause its costing me a fortune in dechlorinator.

Thanks for the help neil.

 

[m00se]

Is it nitrite that plants help to lower??? I was thinking about this today as ive a couple of amazon swords in the tank.

The fact its been 12weeks and no single trace of nitrites is really puzzling meAnyone else come across this or have a quick fix get me on the right track cause its costing me a fortune in dechlorinator.

Thanks for the help neil.

Plants help to lower nitrAte. Also, if you're spending a lot on dechlor, get the pond dechlor, it's way more potent and it's perfectly safe to use in your aquarium. Total money-saver, it's saved me a fortune since upgrading to my new 75gal

 

[drobbyb]

Live plants will remove ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. They are adapted to use any of the 3 as food, and will readily do so.

I'm not sure what impact that would on lowering your nitrites. Lets wait and see what the plant people think.

 

[irvs]

whos that suposed to be cant really see that picture helping the situation
-moose that tip on the pond dechlorinator is a good'un thanks
-drobbyb thanks for the link above ill give it a good read tonight.

neil.

 

[arobinson1984]

Hi Irvs, what is you PH reading or your tank water? and your tap water?

Its possible the tank has never cycled if the PH is too low

Andy

 

[irvs]

Well last night i took waterdrops advice and did a BIG water change (75%). 24 hours later (today) when i tested the water i got these readings;

ammonia-0.25
nitrite-0
nitrate-0
ph-6.8

As i'd expected the amonia was lower and the water way more clear, but the ph had went up 6.4 to 6.8. i also did the tap water;

ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-0 (an i not suposed to be getting a reading for this one)
ph-7.8

i supose just give it a few more weeks with the big water changes and "hopefully" i shoild see some sort of change. Any more imput would hepl loads and loads and loads!!!!!!!!!!

thanks neil.

 

[drobbyb]

nitrate-0 (an i not suposed to be getting a reading for this one)

In some areas there is no nitrate reading in the tapwater. It's not uncommon to find nitrates in tap water either and those people keep fish without incident.

Your reading of 0 is a good thing.

 

[Bobtastic]

Isn't it a bit odd that the pH of the water in the tank is so much lower than the water straight out of the tap?

 

[arobinson1984]

What things do you have in the tank? Certain types of wood will lower your PH.

If your PH dropped as low as 6 then the cycle would have probably stalled

Andy