Water Conditioners

[hellstorm]

when i add in water condtioners, ammonia removers, or algae rid... the gouramis think its food and eats some of it, is this safe for the fish?

and my tank has 0ppm of nitrite and 1ppm of ammonia how can this happen? what do i do now?

thanks
all sugestions would be greatly appreciated

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[slt]

hi hellstorm , when ever i add meds or water conditoners, i always dillute first with either the tank water or water conditioner mixed in the new water
that i use when doing a water change, i never just put them straight into the tank, keep an eye on the amonia levels, and do water changes to help
keep them down, and check that every things ok in your tank, ie dead
plant leaves, left over particals of food, are the filters working properly?

 

[hellstorm]

yup the filters are working properly but theres a plant thats about to die...
every morning i have to take out dead leaves off it.

 

[shtinkypuppie]

Dead leaves anywhere in the tank will cause ammonia and/or nitrite spikes, i had a bad nitrite spike after all my plants died. If it's dying, it's best to yank out the vast majority of it and leave only the healthiest to restart.

 

[William]

Yeah cut it back quite a lot until you see only healthy stem and a few leaves.

 

[wetwetwet]

Hi hs ,

If the tank is established and the filter is working properly you shouldn't need ammonia removers - what are useing and why?

Likewise with 'algae rid' if this is added when you have algae - the algae dies and this can cause an ammoina spike - you really need to investigate the cause of the algae

 

[hellstorm]

well i added the ammonia remover cos the ammonia level was at the dangerous level and my tank get about 1 minute of sunlight in the morning about 7am.
and one more question..
my 2 dwarf gouramis are always pecking and chasing each other, but theres not injuries is this a worry? what kind of fish can i keep in the tank that they wont attack>?

 

[slt]

on the gouramis subject theres been quite a few posts about these fish, i my self in the past have kept both the dwarf and the larger species,
but i found both to be agressive towards other fish, so i ended up takeing them to lfs, as my other fish were becoming stressed, i would'nt keep either
in a comunity tank again, but other peeps might say different

 

[hellstorm]

so if i take them back to the lfs will they want them? i dont like them that much... in a 60 by 30 by 30cm tank would i be able to keep 6 rummys and 10 cardinals? if i do 10% water changes everyday? and is the more water changes the better? i have a powerful filter system pumps about 200gallons per hour.....

 

[slt]

i can't see why they would'nt take them, my lfs have taken a few of my fish,
i of my lfs has even let me have a couple of plants in exchange, the best thing to do is phone them first, if you do want to keep rummys and cardinal
tetras you'll have to make sure the water qualitys are right, making sure the is no trace of amonia, 1 water change a week should be enough
thats provided the amonia nitrites nitrates are not high, try to find the cause of the amonia spike, if the readings still the same then yes change the water daily, and cut down the food given to the fish, until there is no amonia reading

 

[hellstorm]

thanks for the replies slt i have a 60 by 30 by 30cm, it already has 3 cardinals, 6 rummys, and 2 blue dwarfs gouramis, my mum really wants to get 5 more cardinals... will that be possible?

 

[slt]

hiya yes i think that 6 more cardinals would be ok, good luck with the tank
hellstorm i love the cardinal tetras , but i don't keep them as i have some large fish in my tank wich would probably view them as food
lol but they a cool little fish

 

[hellstorm]

thanks again

but they havent eaten since i got them they just watch the rummynoses eat..is that a worry? and i dont have floating plants in the tank.. do i need some?

 

[William]

hellstorm, please don't add any fish until your Ammonia and NitrIte levels are both 0. You mentioned earlier using ammonia remover by adding more fish you'll just increase the ammonia level. Keep doing the tests until you get 0 for both then you can add the extra cardinals - I have cardinals myself a very cool and really long lived fish up to 12 years!

 

[slt]

oops sorry, thats what i was going to add wait untill amoni readings are 0
before adding new fish