I Think I May Have Done The Wrong Thing

[lemond68]

Hello, I have not posted in a long while but your help has been excellent always so I need your expert assitance:

My good ol' 55 gallon tank started getting harder and harder to keep clean, it had however a healthy population of fish that I had kept for 3 or so years.

We decided that since the tank was a hand-me-down and it was not the prettiest thing, we decided to get a nicer curved glass 72 gallon tank. the transfer of the fish was the trick and after asking several people at the LFS they gave us some ideas.

we removed 10 gallons of water from the tank and placed the fish in it in buckets in the dark as we emptied the 55 gallon tank and removed the rest of the substrate and water and carted it out.

we placed and set up our new tank, and installed a new Fluval 305 filter with the standard carbon, biological media and foam pad (i cut a large chunk of the previous foam filter from the 5 gallon tank and placed it along the biological media).
i filled the tank with water at 75F (23.8 C) and added dechlorinator. then i added as much of the previous water as I could, started the filter and the heating element. I squeezed some of the foam in to water and then after the water settled added back the fish I have listed.

However after getting this done and after the fish settled down some i did some internet reading, and begun to worry about nitrogen spikes and other possible problems.

I am wondering if I should add something like zeo-carb with ammonia reducer? should i just do 25-50% water changes for several days?

 

[TylerFerretLord]

If the chunk was large enough, you should only have a mini-cycle. Test for ammonia and nitrite and do a 50%change daily until the ammonia and nitrite drop.

Do you still have the old media, and is it still wet?

 

[lemond68]

I may still have some of the carbon in the garbage bag with the rest of the old filter material (except the sponge/foam).

but i think i will have to do the 50% water change.

how quickly (how many hours before I notice a Nitrogen spike? is it immediate or 12 hours (overnight) type of thing

thanks in advance

 

[doresy]

Hi, sounds like you have done all you can regarding the media. I wouldn't bother with the carbon at all or any additives. Any media outside the filter/tank will loose bacteria in a matter of hours.

As previously suggested do a daily test for ammonia/nitrite with a good kit (API) and do water changes upto 50% as soon as any is detected.

During this period keep feed to an absalute minimum.

good luck

 

[lemond68]

thank you for the answers, but:

is not feeding them a good idea for the first 24 hrs to minimize waste? and thus cut back on nitrogen production?

 

[lemond68]

ok i think I am looking ok-ish

this AMs first readings were

pH 7.2
ammonia 0-0.25 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 10 ppm

just got to get that nitrate down with a water change

I wonder if it would help to not feed... too stressful.... too much waste?

 

[vinylman]

Nitrate that low isn't a problem; the water changes are needed to get the Ammonia down. ANY Ammonia reading is a bad thing.

 

[n3ont3tra]

I think you should be okay, just do water changes daily until ammonia goes down, it shouldn't take longer than a week. Also, I wouldn't feed your fish until its sorted out.

 

[lemond68]

thanks that is one question that I had, but it makes sense to avoid making extra nitrogenous waste material... but how long can they hold out?

 

[n3ont3tra]

At least a week, by two weeks they'll be a lot thinner but should survive. Assuming you don't have any predatory fish...

 

[vinylman]

Don't worry about feeding them; fish are opportunistic feeders, they could go for days on end in the wild without finding anything decent to scoff. Lots of fishkeepers hold off with the food for a day or two a week.

 

[piranha_tim]

If you brought over the filter media.
Kept the filter media wet at all times.
Didn't run chlorinated water through them.
You should be good with a little buffer of 20 Gallons as well.

Just make sure to check daily and do water changes atleast every 24hrs until the stats return to normal