Need Emergency Help.
- Thread starter Shirako
- Start date
Its not making sense, your nitrates are high and nitrites.
When they are high once the tank has cycled.
1. Overstocked
2. Lack of maintance.
3. Filter not coping with the load of fish.
4. Over feeding
Any algae in the tank.
Test kit make and how old is it.
When did you last change your black carbon if you use it.
When they are high once the tank has cycled.
1. Overstocked
2. Lack of maintance.
3. Filter not coping with the load of fish.
4. Over feeding
Any algae in the tank.
Test kit make and how old is it.
When did you last change your black carbon if you use it.
Tank can't be overstocked, the tank has been fine with the same amount of fish for months. Water changes were every week or so except this last time which went a bit longer. I dont understand how the 2 filters arent cylcing out the ammonia, should I use the extra containers and add extra loss carbon?
Feeding has been the same for months, as a matter of fact I cut down starting a few weeks ago to try and cut back in cloudiness, didnt work. There was algae on the top of the glass but I wiped it off last water change. The filters use the marineland carbon which is supposed to be the best you can get, one of the filters slots were changed this morning, before thatm the were changed only a few weeks ago.
Feeding has been the same for months, as a matter of fact I cut down starting a few weeks ago to try and cut back in cloudiness, didnt work. There was algae on the top of the glass but I wiped it off last water change. The filters use the marineland carbon which is supposed to be the best you can get, one of the filters slots were changed this morning, before thatm the were changed only a few weeks ago.
Have you used any meds, though i wouldnt expect a high nitrate reading.
What live plants do you have in the tank.
I would change the black carbon if its leeching something into the tank as it wants changing.
What substrate do you use.
Sorry you replyed to the black carbon.
Sounds like your filters are not working properly, as you are doing everything right.
Racked my brain over this, high nitrates with a high nitrite reading says to me like the filters are not coping as though it can't keep up.
Your tap water stats you say are fine.
You are doing gravel vacs and water changes.
Fish tank is not overstocked.
Not over feeding.
Cloudy water can be a bacterial bloom but that not it as you have a nitrate reading.
Also cloudy tanks lack of maintainence but you do them weekly.
Cloudy tank can mean filter not working right or its not coping.
http
/www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_waterchange.php
Just want to make sure you don't use an undergravel filter as well do you.
What live plants do you have in the tank.
I would change the black carbon if its leeching something into the tank as it wants changing.
What substrate do you use.
Sorry you replyed to the black carbon.
Sounds like your filters are not working properly, as you are doing everything right.
Racked my brain over this, high nitrates with a high nitrite reading says to me like the filters are not coping as though it can't keep up.
Your tap water stats you say are fine.
You are doing gravel vacs and water changes.
Fish tank is not overstocked.
Not over feeding.
Cloudy water can be a bacterial bloom but that not it as you have a nitrate reading.
Also cloudy tanks lack of maintainence but you do them weekly.
Cloudy tank can mean filter not working right or its not coping.
http
/www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_waterchange.phpJust want to make sure you don't use an undergravel filter as well do you.
No undergravel filter, should I go for the media cartridges and use extra carbon and see if that works? and if my filters cant keep up, how did this all of a sudden creep up when they were working just fine, I mean at 660gph combined that turning the tank over 12 times an hour, it doesnt make any sense, especially since the filters are new. And 2 water changes in 2 days at more than 50% of the water, and water keeps getting cloudy. I'm thinking of maybe taking the fish out for a while to maybe change all the water down to the gravel, is this a viable option or will it disrupt the cycle? Not all of the water just as low to the gravel as I can.
When is the last time you cleaned the filter media & what procedure did you use? Are you on a municipal water supply, or well water? What product and how much are you using as a water treatment to remove chlorine?
Ammo-Lock converts ammonia to ammonium, which is harmless to fish but still available to your nitrifying bacteria. Ammonium will register as ammonia on a single reagent test, but not on a two reagent test.
Sounds as if you are in the US, depending on your area the water may fluctuate depending on different situations, it does for me.
Carbon will do nothing for a bio filtration problem, which it sounds like you probably have. It's mainly used as a chemical filtration media.
As long as you keep your filter media & gravel wet, 100% water changes shouldn't hurt anything, as long as you ad the proper water conditioner. I do it on a regular basis, breaking down & setting up tanks is a normal activity for me.
Ammo-Lock converts ammonia to ammonium, which is harmless to fish but still available to your nitrifying bacteria. Ammonium will register as ammonia on a single reagent test, but not on a two reagent test.
Sounds as if you are in the US, depending on your area the water may fluctuate depending on different situations, it does for me.
Carbon will do nothing for a bio filtration problem, which it sounds like you probably have. It's mainly used as a chemical filtration media.
As long as you keep your filter media & gravel wet, 100% water changes shouldn't hurt anything, as long as you ad the proper water conditioner. I do it on a regular basis, breaking down & setting up tanks is a normal activity for me.
A couple things could be happening here, it could stem from your tap water. Water companies will err on the side of caution, and add more chlorine, chloramine, and buffers from time to time. They are concerned with water borne bacteria way more than anyone's aquarium.
To combat this, get some Prime, made by Seachem. The regular dose is 1 ml per 10 gallons, dose with 3 ml per 10 gallons. I regularly double dose my tanks, and use 4 times the dose on hatching tanks when the water quality is bad. My water supply is Lake Michigan, they will jack up the chlorine, chloramine, & buffers after a heavy rainfall, snow melt, or like today, when there are high winds churning up the lake. The dechlor you are adding may be dealing with the added chemicals only partially, letting them affect your bio filtration, or breaking down the chloramine and not dealing with the ammonia that is left.
When you replace the filter pads you are removing some of your nitrifying bacteria. The bio wheels are supposed to take care of this, but this is not always the case. Try rinsing the pads in dechlored water instead of changing them, this may help.
To combat this, get some Prime, made by Seachem. The regular dose is 1 ml per 10 gallons, dose with 3 ml per 10 gallons. I regularly double dose my tanks, and use 4 times the dose on hatching tanks when the water quality is bad. My water supply is Lake Michigan, they will jack up the chlorine, chloramine, & buffers after a heavy rainfall, snow melt, or like today, when there are high winds churning up the lake. The dechlor you are adding may be dealing with the added chemicals only partially, letting them affect your bio filtration, or breaking down the chloramine and not dealing with the ammonia that is left.
When you replace the filter pads you are removing some of your nitrifying bacteria. The bio wheels are supposed to take care of this, but this is not always the case. Try rinsing the pads in dechlored water instead of changing them, this may help.
This problem sounds similar to one a friend of mine had. He was losing angel fry a few daily for no explainable reason. He was using Amiqel+, and was getting an ammo spike after water changes. Sometimes water companies have to increase additives, better to lose a few fish than have hospitals swamped with people suffering from dysentery.
Ok, I bought some chlor-out by hartz, and i'm draining the tank completely down the gravel, going to leave some water in there, as to not kill any of the bacteria, but I'm going to take out my whole filter units and clean them, but im going to take the bio wheels and filters out and let them sit in some of the tank water in a bucket, then i'll rinse the filters with dechlorinated water and use a double dose of chlor-out, this sound ok?
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