Nitrate From 5.0 To 10.0 And Fish Sick

[cowgirluntamed]

Just curious....but what kind of filter do you have on this tank? Is it a hang on the back that just takes cartridges? I have a 20 gallon that I had a hang on the back biowheel filter on. I cut my own filter pads since it was cheaper than cartridges. However I was always having the problem of 0.25 readings of ammonia too. I tested my tap water(from a well), and got the same reading. I had tried to go the route of adding ammonia remover things from marineland. Still never saw a change. Then I took that out and put some bioballs in from national geographic. They are small and I put them in a media bag in the filter after the sponge. No more ammonia! Turns out I didn't have enough places for the good bacteria to be on. Now...that filter broke, but I am running a sponge filter which is doing the job as well. It's going to be upgraded to a nice canister filter soon though for more media capacity. Hope this helps!

 

[Chad]

The water is very clear now. It was cloudy before I did the water changes/gravel vacs. It has been clear for about 4 weeks now.

 
When we talk about "water quality" we are talking about the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for the most part and with some fish pH. Colored or cloudy water can be a problem and sometimes it isn't a problem. Some fish keepers have tanks that are always dark such as in the picture from Google below. It looks brown all the time, but the water quality is good. 
 
When you stir up the gravel in a tank you release what is trapped in it. Some of this is rather inert detritus but there is also some nutrients in there. 
 

 

[mark4785]

So, I just did the 70% water change and gravel vac as discussed above. Then I tested the water and STILL had ammonia levels of .25 (possibly higher - it's hard to tell from the color difference). This did not seem right to me so I tested the tap water. Straight from the tap. Got the same ammonia reading. Is this possible? Has anyone heard of ammonia coming out of the tap water? Fortunately, I work with people who may know about this so I will ask them in the morning. They've all gone home now though as it is late. I should go home too. I am totally depressed to think that no matter how clean I keep the tank, the tap water is killing them anyway. Oh, and I found the little tetra dead when I went to do the water change. He didn't make it. I did not see any spots on him.
 
The water from the gravel has been a lightish greyish white color for little while now, so it seems like I got that much under control anyway.

 
 
You should try viewing the ammonia level result by going out in natural sunlight with the vial and the ammonia gradient card and it should be distinctively yellow. The water in the vial can sometimes look green when viewed in bad lighting conditions or under strong LED lighting from my own experience.
 
If you are indeed getting a 0.25 ppm reading for your tap water you need to call your water company because that could a legal issue.
 
To reduce the ammonia level to 0 ppm (should it be found to be above that at the tap) I would recommend installing small zeolite pieces into the aquarium filter which will take up the ammonia out of the water providing it is freshwater with absolutely no salt content.

 

[BeckyCats]

Hi All. To answer the question about the filter: I don't know what brand it is (fluval maybe?), but it has a charcoal bag and a bag of white rings that I was told should not be washed, so I assume that's where the beneficial bacteria live.

I suspect now that the fish might have columnaris. Based on research I've done, it could explain why 2 fish died with little to no warning and why the remaining are acting sick. The black molly juvenile developed a large white patch on her head over the weekend and has started either hiding near the heater or swimming next to the male. She has no other spots that I can see. The 2 remaining white tetras act like their tails are too heavy and keep drifting downwards. The male molly, bless his little fishy heart, is still swimming along despite his bout of shimmies last week, but his upper lip has become somewhat deformed. It looks like he got collagen implants. He still eats just fine though. I bought some medicine for it and am hoping it will make them better.

For future water changes, should I use seachem prime? I noticed it is highly recommended by many and also takes out ammonia.

 

[BeckyCats]

I will look into the zeolite pieces as well.

 

[mark4785]

Hi All. To answer the question about the filter: I don't know what brand it is (fluval maybe?), but it has a charcoal bag and a bag of white rings that I was told should not be washed, so I assume that's where the beneficial bacteria live.

I suspect now that the fish might have columnaris. Based on research I've done, it could explain why 2 fish died with little to no warning and why the remaining are acting sick. The black molly juvenile developed a large white patch on her head over the weekend and has started either hiding near the heater or swimming next to the male. She has no other spots that I can see. The 2 remaining white tetras act like their tails are too heavy and keep drifting downwards. The male molly, bless his little fishy heart, is still swimming along despite his bout of shimmies last week, but his upper lip has become somewhat deformed. It looks like he got collagen implants. He still eats just fine though. I bought some medicine for it and am hoping it will make them better.

For future water changes, should I use seachem prime? I noticed it is highly recommended by many and also takes out ammonia.

 
 
I would stick to using zeolite and doing 100% water changes as a temporary measure for removing ammonia. I personally use Tetra Aquasafe for my water changes due to the beneficial effects that the added vitamins and the collagen on the fishes skin and thins. 
 
I think Seachem prime is unnecessary since it claims to remove ammonia, nitrite and nitrate which is the primary role of natural processes such as your filter bacteria and plants. If you run into additional water quality problems my advice is to always do a 100% water change, followed by installation of zeolite OR addition of some established filter bacteria filter sponges from either an established pond or aquarium that has no water quality problems itself.

 

[HarpyFishLover]

Wow, I hope this all works out in the end... how's it going?

 

[BeckyCats]

Wow, I hope this all works out in the end... how's it going?

Hi HarpyFishLover! Thank you for asking. Actually, I am going to take the 2 sick mollies home tonight to a hospital tank to treat them. The tetras, platy, and pleco are all fine. The person who is in charge of the tank is back now so she has resumed responsibility for tank maintenance. I have volunteered to water change whenever she wants me to.
 
I am hoping to get the mollies back in better condition without treating the whole tank. The young black molly has white fungus on her head. The fungus spot got smaller with the last course of treatment, but did not resolve completely, so I am going to try a different medicine. I put a tiny amount of aquarium salt in the hospital tank's water (not enough to shock the fish, but hopefully enough to help them out a bit). I'll increase the salt a teeny bit when I do water changes. Hopefully that will help them as well.