Water Levels

[pandapops001]

Okay i finished my fishless cycle, bought four fish 2mollies and 2platys, had to get another female molly, to prevent aggression in the tank.

Tested my water yesterday afternoon, it was
Nitrate 50-110, Nitrite 3.3, Ammonia 0.1

Did a 25% water change

Tested again last night
Nitrate 50, Nitrite 1.6, Ammonia 0.3

Did another water change this morning (30%), just done the tests again, and its
Nitrate 50, Nitrite 1.6, Ammonia 0.1

I took out the filter and cleaned this in some water that i removed from the tank, and it was filthy, put it back in, will this help, and what else can i do to get the levels down? as i thought a 55% water change over 24hrs would easily sort it out, is it because the filter was so dirty

Please help,
Regards
Miranda

 

[luxum]

You fishless cycled with ammonia, stocked lightly, and still got toxic spikes? That's very odd. Which recipe did you use? At any rate, now that there are fish in there your only remedy is the traditional one = water changes. Keep doing water changes every day if needed to keep those levels down, if this is just a minicycle it won't take too long for the bacterial bed to catch up to fishload.

 

[tstenback]

Just keep doing the daily water changes. This spike will play out in probably a few days but all you need to do is the water changes daily and watch your fish. If the fish looked a little tired or troubled then do another water change. It wont hurt the fish, which is the main concern here, and it wont slow down the cycling by that much. HTH

 

[pandapops001]

The fish were originally swimming around at the bottom of the tank, but are now surfacing more often is this a bad thing?? and did cleaning help do you think??
Thanks again for all your advice, i will continue to water change as advised but was just curious about these other aspects.

I suppose the more you learn the better fishkeeper you can become, and i assume thats how you are all so well informed, via experience etc

 

[tstenback]

When fish are first added to the tank they will usually go to the bottom and hang there until they get comfortable then they will move around the tank. Mollies and platties generally move all around the tank and do spend time at the top. So unless they are acting strangely, lazy, gasping etc then i would not worry about them too much. If they are doing any of these things an extra water change wont hurt. Depending on how it was done exactly it may have helped or hurt. If it was vigorously scrubbed then it may have damaged some bacteria. but if gently rinsed then it definitely wont hurt.

Experience always comes from set backs and challenges. that is why this is the perfect hobby/obsession for anyone who wants to gain lots experience but never master it.

keep us posted

 

[impur]

Why did you add fish if you still had readings of nitrites and ammonia? Your nitrates appear to be the problem here, as 50 ppm is extremely high. WC is the only solution at this point short of removing the fish. It WILL extend your cycle so be prepared to do it often. Good luck.

 

[pandapops001]

Hi, my fishless cycle finished as follows
nitrate 30, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, i then did a water change before adding fish, which i was told was safe to add fish, i'm happy to do a water change as often as it needs it, just so long as they are safe, i will do another water change in a minute and post the results, wish me luck, and thank you everyone for all your help

 

[impur]

Hi, my fishless cycle finished as follows
nitrate 30, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, i then did a water change before adding fish

Ahh ok, well done

Good luck keep us updated!!!!