Urgent Help have i done something wrong?

Good news today. Seachem prime turned up today. So I did a 70% water change adding the guide amount of prime to use. The results have shocked me.

Nitrite 0ppm
Amonia 0.15ppm

Massive drop from the test last night. Is this just because its a recent water change and then will rise again over 24 hours or should I just keep testing daily and act on if it gets high?

Also I have the other Stability arrive tomorrow so all should help me get there?

Lee

That is good. I wold not think Prime did this, but more likely the bacteria are established sufficient to handle things. Keep testing ammonia and nitrite, once daily in the morning should be adequate (if it remains zero).

And yes, Prime may interfere with some tests, though I cannot remember now which, but I'm sure other members have mentioned this in threads. Always test before a water change, always. Tests post-water change are fine if you want to see the difference for something specific, but when doing tests for "problems" always test before any water is changed so you can see what the tank is doing.
 
It is true that Seachem Prime does bound ammonia and nitrite, so testing after a water change does little, exactly as Byron reasons.

So if you have to test water after a water change, then best to wait at least 60 minutes but preferably at least a couple of hours afterwards as the results will likely be more accurate.

Have always thought that Amazon Swords grow to be pretty big plants, so having three in one tank......unless of course these are dwarf amazon swords.
 
Have always thought that Amazon Swords grow to be pretty big plants, so having three in one tank......unless of course these are dwarf amazon swords.

This takes some explaining. The "Amazon sword" plants (which are in the genus Echinodorus) can have a different growth habit and appearance depending upon the aquarium. Light, nutrients, water parameters all seem involved, but there may be more. I have several of these plants that regularly (usually two or three times each year) produce inflorescences (sometimes just one, sometimes two, sometimes three or four, a couple times even five at once) from which adventitious plants arise (when grown submersed, flowers are very rare). Sometimes I remove these and cultivate them in other tanks. I have had adventitious plants from the same parent plant that have grown to varying sizes in different tanks, over periods of 3-5 years. I have also had one plant that in three years had leaves that remained about 4-5 inches in length, but when moved within the same tank (after a complete re-aquascaping) developed new leaves that were twice the length, and now for a year. So variableness is definitely a strong aspect of these plants.

Second, we come to the taxonomy. Rataj (1975) described 47 distinct species in the genus Echinodorus. A major revision of the genus by the botanists R.R. Haynes and L.B. Holm-Nielsen (1994) listed 26 species. In his 2004 revision, Rataj increased the number of species to 62. More recent work by Samuli Lehtonen—incorporating phylogenetic (DNA) analysis—proposed 28 valid species (Lehtonen, 2007). As of 2013, The Plant List and the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (maintained by Kew) have 30 distinct species listed for Echinodorus. Lehtonen's taxonomy is accepted, and there have been a couple new species.

This is where it gets interesting. The most common "Amazon sword" is Echinodorus bleherae (Rataj, 1970). There has also been Echinodorus amazonicus (Rataj, 1970) which was described as a "dwarf" species. Another very similar plant is E. grisebachii Small, 1909. Then there was E. parviflorus (Rataj, 1970) which looked similar, and from which the Tropica "parviflorus" plant was supposedly derived, having very different leaves. This is as far as we need go for our purposes, but there are another five "distinct species" identified by Rataj that will enter this in a moment. Haynes & Holm-Nielsen (1994) considered that E. bleherae, E. amazonicus and E. parviflorus were not valid distinct species but were the same as E. grisebachii. Many eminent botanists like Kasselmann (2002) noted that the differences in size between these "species" had to have some basis and she retained Rataj's classification for the most part.

When Lehtonen (2007) conducted phylogenetic analysis, he discovered that all the species I mentioned in the preceding paragraph are the same, one distinct species. Under the rules of taxonomic nomenclature, the first name (chronologically) assigned to a distinct species must prevail, so this plant is now deemed to be Echinodorus grisebachii Small, 1909. The other "species" names are synonyms and invalid as distinct species.

These different "species" are growing in habitats in South America, and they seem to retain their distinction in aquaria, to some extent; of course, after all these years, we do not know how much hybridization may have occurred in aquarium or nursery-raised and cultivated plants. Lehtonen did not delve into this, but botanically we can refer to them as Echinodorus grisebachii, "bleherae" and similar. And this probably helps avoid even more confusion. Maybe think of it as different children who are all the same species, even though they have different colour hair and eyes.:) I'm not suggesting this is the same thing biologically, but it may serve only as an illustration.

Byron.
 
That is good. I wold not think Prime did this, but more likely the bacteria are established sufficient to handle things. Keep testing ammonia and nitrite, once daily in the morning should be adequate (if it remains zero).

And yes, Prime may interfere with some tests, though I cannot remember now which, but I'm sure other members have mentioned this in threads. Always test before a water change, always. Tests post-water change are fine if you want to see the difference for something specific, but when doing tests for "problems" always test before any water is changed so you can see what the tank is doing.

Must have been incorrect results as I did test pretty soon after the change. Levels in the tank has spiked again but not as much as first results I posted the other day, I am following the guide on the stabilizer and prime bottles which says allow about 7 days.

Still no fish deaths :)
 
Prime worked well for me, I have a 250 litre tank and to start the tank cycle I used some dirty filter water from a tank I know is well established.
The info I got and how I used it.
Prime works immediately upon adding it to the water, it works regardless of the water's pH, Prime will bind ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for 24-48 hours At which point, if they are still present, they will be released back into your tank.
Ammonia will show on your test kit, this is ok as it is bound and held in a inert state until such time that bacteria in the biological filter are able to take a hold of it.
Day 1. Prime says 1 capful for 200 litre I used 1 capful and bit to cover 250 litre for 48 hours.

Day 3. Prime will only bind ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for 24-48, So i removed 50% water and added just over half of capful of prime to my water left in the tank, I then added just over half of capful of prime to my new water and put that in my tank.

Day 5. still see ammonia so did the same again 50% out half of capful of prime in my tank and prime in my new water.

Day 7. not as much ammonia but did it again.

Day 9. same again until I had no ammonia.
Your fish should be ok as the prime will bind the ammonia.
This is how I did mine and all is good, back to back 50% water change until you have no ammonia.
Hope this helps. :)
 
Last edited:
Prime worked well for me, I have a 250 litre tank and to start the tank cycle I used some dirty filter water from a tank I know is well established.
The info I got and how I used it.
Prime works immediately upon adding it to the water, it works regardless of the water's pH, Prime will bind ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for 24-48 hours At which point, if they are still present, they will be released back into your tank.
Ammonia will show on your test kit, this is ok as it is bound and held in a inert state until such time that bacteria in the biological filter are able to take a hold of it.
Day 1. Prime says 1 capful for 200 litre I used 1 capful and bit to cover 250 litre for 48 hours.

Day 3. Prime will only bind ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for 24-48, So i removed 50% water and added just over half of capful of prime to my water left in the tank, I then added just over half of capful of prime to my new water and put that in my tank.

Day 5. still see ammonia so did the same again 50% out half of capful of prime in my tank and prime in my new water.

Day 7. not as much ammonia but did it again.

Day 9. same again until I had no ammonia.
Your fish should be ok as the prime will bind the ammonia.
This is how I did mine and all is good, back to back 50% water change until you have no ammonia.
Hope this helps. :)

Thank you, I am on day 5 at the moment still see amonia and nitrite tho?
 
Posting an update on my levels, after 5 days and one 70% water change using seachem prime and stability.
Tested using api master test kit,

my levels are-
Amonia - 0.20ppm
nitrite - 0.25ppm
nitrate - around about the 20ppm mark.

Does this seem like things are heading the right way from the previous messages / help?

Thanks in advance
Lee
 
Posting an update on my levels, after 5 days and one 70% water change using seachem prime and stability.
Tested using api master test kit,

my levels are-
Amonia - 0.20ppm
nitrite - 0.25ppm
nitrate - around about the 20ppm mark.

Does this seem like things are heading the right way from the previous messages / help?

Thanks in advance
Lee

I would say it is getting there. The last nitrite number was 1.0 last Thursday, so that is now 0.25 ppm. Ammonia seems to be the same roughly, that's fine here. Nitrate is showing, that's good.

Remember that so long as you are seeing nitrite above zero, do alternate day water changes using Prime. Add the Stability according to their directions. Prime binds the nitrite so it will still show as "nitrite" with the API test but be harmless for 24-48 hours. I prefer to play it safe and expect it to bind for 24 hours, hence daily water changes until it is zero.
 
I would say it is getting there. The last nitrite number was 1.0 last Thursday, so that is now 0.25 ppm. Ammonia seems to be the same roughly, that's fine here. Nitrate is showing, that's good.

Remember that so long as you are seeing nitrite above zero, do alternate day water changes using Prime. Add the Stability according to their directions. Prime binds the nitrite so it will still show as "nitrite" with the API test but be harmless for 24-48 hours. I prefer to play it safe and expect it to bind for 24 hours, hence daily water changes until it is zero.

Thank you Byron, I will do water change tomorrow and then again each day untill it is Zero.

Would just like to add a massive thank you for the continued support and the suggestion to get the Seachem bottles, both those and your support along with other members I finally feel my tank its getting there.

Lee
 
Update.

Testing on Sunday, Amonia was 0.5ish and nitrite was 0 nitrate was still around the 20ppm mark.

This has been the case for the last two days same results no change.

What should I do next keep using stability for another week or stop using it now?

Should I do anything else?

Thanks
Lee
 
Update.

Testing on Sunday, Amonia was 0.5ish and nitrite was 0 nitrate was still around the 20ppm mark.

This has been the case for the last two days same results no change.

What should I do next keep using stability for another week or stop using it now?

Should I do anything else?

Thanks
Lee

There is no reason to continue Stability, but once it is opened it has a limited shelf life. I tend to discontinue it and just toss the remainder out as it may be years before I would have any need for it again. But it can't hurt if used now, following directions.

Numbers sound good, indeed. I've read of others with very low ammonia, not sure what this is, I don't ever see it. Keep the nitrate low now, water changes (not so frequent, just a substantial one once a week, maybe twice now) should get this down. Assuming you have zero nitrate in the tap water. The lower the nitrate the better, with 20 ppm usually considered max. My tanks run 0 to 5 ppm, one is 10 ppm.
 

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