Oh My God What Is Happening!

[tenohfive]

Hows about Krib and Sterbai take the argument somewhere else-the OP needs help and all you're doing is confusing matters.

Read what Minxfishy posted, as he said you're now fish-in cycling. The link goes into greater detail but what you really need to concentrate on doing is big water changes daily. If you haven't already, (assuming you have the money for one) get a water testing kit that tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate - the API Freshwater Master Test kit is the most popular one.

Ignore Sterbai and Kribensis and check out the link Minxfishy posted and if you follow the guidelines there you should be ok

 

[minxfishy]

Just for the record, minxy is a lady!!! But yeah come on guys, the OP needs help, whilst Im sure you originally intended to give help, its getting more personal now. Agree to disagree and go to your seperate corners

 

[tenohfive]

Sorry minx, I knew that - I'd just finished the first of 6 night shifts and wasn't all there.

How you getting on so far Eve?

 

[Sterbai]

Just for the record, Krib gives out great advice thanks and has helped out a lot of other fish keepers on this forum.

Great advice telling someone that there fish are going to die, yeah I thought not . And as for these bacteria products not working, yes there are many that are effectively useless but I have conducted tests outside fo the aquarium in the Lab and some do work.

Obviously you didnt read MY post right. I said her fish would MOST LIKELY die, if you a a degree in bio medical whatever ( which means nothing to me, just becaused i've passed algebra dosent mean i knew what they were talking about), you should know that ammonia burns and any amount is dangerous, and that Nitrite suffocates the fish ( making it harder for the fishes blood to carry oxygen), so, in that case, which a pleco poops its weight, and it belongs in a tank 9 times that size, and its over stocked with tetras ( which need to be in rather large groups), that means ALOT of ammonia, and NO bacteria to convert the ammonia, to Nitrite, to nitrate, then what happens? ALOT of Ammonia, and possibly some nitrate. And if theese fish were to live through the cycling process, then what side effects will theese fish live with? Will their immune system be comprimised? Will they not be able to swim right? Why would you put a fish through something like this?

To the OP: I would take your fish back to the lfs, try to get come MATURE CYCLED Media from a freind or a lfs, or you could listen to Sterbai's advice on the bottled "spores" ( which i would do because its a waste of money, especially since they dont even sporulate , thanks to Corleone's advice) . When you have gone throuhg eiother getting mature media or buying a product, or another means of cycling, i would get 3 guppies and maybe a snail or 2, but other than that, your tank cant hold much.

Some bacteria sporulate to produce spores, spores do not sporulate, Corleone was incorrect. I never said that ammonia and nitrites aren’t harmful to fish, I said there is no need to give such a bleak outlook. I know what I am talking about and chose to give advice, as you said yourself, you have just finished your algebra and it's evident as your immaturity comes across in your posts, you might also want to start reading through them before you post as they don’t make sense in some parts. Cycling with fish in the tank isn’t uncommon; a lot of people do it on the marine side including myself using Chromis. Take whatever advice you want, I have 16 years experience, whereas this guy is 16. I think the way the posts are constructed will give you an insight as to who has the better knowledge.

The increase in methemoglobin from the presence of nitrites can have detrimental effects on the fishes overall health as it effectively starves the fish of oxygen leading to susceptibility of other diseases i.e liver damage, ich, fin rot, baterial infections etc but this can be avoided by large water changes and a reduction in the amount you are feeding the fish until the cycle has ended. The addition of one half ounce of aquarium salt per gallon of water will prevent methemoglobin from building up.

Peace.

First off, im 14. You never said there is no need to give a bleak out look. You said " yeah, great advice telling someone that their fish is going to die", and that was smotherd in a sarcastic tone. Age dosent define how much a person knows, and i find that a little immature that you would use that card. I would not label myself immature , and you can if you want, but i know im not immature ( especially with all the remarks older people give me about being so mature for my age). The reason i dont have a good post structure is because i have ADD and i tend to have many different thoughts in my head and things spill out, such as i can be talking about ammonia one minute, and the next sentence involves a whale. I rerad through my posts, and i figure people understand what im saying. I usually cycle with my fish, but those arent the fish you should be cycling with, especially tetras, they are as hardy as a Discus( not very hearty). And the pleco isnt in the appropiate tank size. If you were to cycle with fish, i would start with feeder guppies( they can be carrying diseases) or something a little hardier. Some fish ( such as tetras) cant handle Aquarium salt anyway.

What I said was you gave a bleak outlook as to what will happen to her fish while I was trying to be more optimistic. I've actually given very good advice that I myself would follow. Water from the tap does not represent in any way the water the fish will experience in the wild, Amazonian water will of course have salt in it from the different substrates that it travels through and a small amount of salt will do the fish no harm. What it will do is slow down the effects of the nitrites on the fish which in turn will slow down the production of methoglobin meaning that there is more haem available for the uptake of oxygen and therefore will prevent the fish from suffocating.

The OP main priorities now are to establish bacteria in the new filter and to keep the nitrites and ammonia levels down to a minimum if not 0 by carrying out water changes frequently and large, minimising the amount you feed your fish to the bare minimum (less waste produced) and if possible providing extra aeration to the tank.

Can I ask what species of plec you also have in the tank as it is probably going to outgrow a10gal in no time at all?

 

[tenohfive]

You're giving a complicated solution to a simple problem - this is fish-in cycling. Lots of water changes regularly, whenever theres a trace of ammonia showing in the water until the bacteria builds up in the filter. Mature filter donation if theres someone local to provide it. Thats the easy way to cure this. Lets not overcomplicate things.

 

[kribensis12]

^ thats what i said. Im all for fish in cycling, just dont cycle with those fish. Its especially cruel to a pleco, and the tetras most likely wont survive from it.

 

[Sterbai]

You're giving a complicated solution to a simple problem - this is fish-in cycling. Lots of water changes regularly, whenever theres a trace of ammonia showing in the water until the bacteria builds up in the filter. Mature filter donation if theres someone local to provide it. Thats the easy way to cure this. Lets not overcomplicate things.

Now your just repeating what I said...