TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
You should be doing what your test results indicate you need to do. If you have to reread that article ove rand over ntil it is almost nurned into your brian, it really explains what to do. It would help a lot if you posted your water paparmeters- pH and temperature at leats and KH and GH would help as well. And of course your test reults. Saying nirite is higher doesn't tell much. posting the actual numbers healps a lot. I would like to see these over time for ammonia and nitrite. Nirtate is way less important at this time.
1, you test for nitrite.
2. Based on the nitrite level you calculate how much salt you should add. If the nitrite goes up, you recalculate and then you add enough additional salt that, when combiined with the salt you have already added, it adds up to the new total needed.
3. If you have an ammonia reading, then you need to find out how much of that reading is actually in the NH3 form. There are directions for how to do that as well in the article. Plus it tells you when to change water.
4. If you have to change water to reduce ammonia, then when you replace the water you need to add back the amount of salt removed by the water change. If you change 50% of the water, then add 50% of the amount of salt that you had in the tank before the water change. You do this because we expect that the reduction in nitrie from the water change will likely be replaced pretty quickly. Of course you always have the option to be more prices and after the change retest and then add salt accordingly.
There are a few more caveats here as well. If you are using a dechlor which claims to detoxify ammonia then the odds are you will not be able to have accurate results for ammonia. What these products do is temporarily convert the ammoonia from NH3 to NH4. The bacteria can still use but with much less efficieny, So this does slow but not stop a cycle. You can only get an accurate reading if you test very soon after you refill the tank and have added new dechlor. Wait and you cannot know the NH3 level based on the test. It will mostly or all be in the NH4 form.
And the above issues are one of the most cogent arguments for no cycling with fish. If one is well versed in the factors involved and the chemistry as well, fish in cyclng can be doe without many issues. But I have yet to meet a new fish keeper who had the requisite knowledge and experience to so this without running into problems unless a lot of luck is involved.
The reason I wrote the two rescue articles is that I am not inclined to help people do fish-in cycles from the start. I do not believe new keepers should do them and I will not help one start down that path. Those two articles give one all the information needed to get through the process. You will note that my preferred advice is in the first article. The second is for people who cannot or will not take the advice offered in the first article.
Finally, I am not not big fan of the typical hobby test kits. They use color to indicate the results and there is a huge issue with this being a subjective thing when human eyes have to make the judgment as to the exact color. In science, they use a digital photometer to read the exact wavelength of the color which then produces an exact reading. But this sort of equipment is pretty pricey and out of the budget for most fish keepers.
it sounds like your betta was better after you added the salt. Bear in mind that the salt (chloride) blocks the nitrite from getting into the fish. But is does nothing about getting out what is already there. If there is no nitrite in the water that can enter the fish, it takes between 24 and 48 hours for what is in the fish to work its way out.
The above is why it is preferable to use chloride to deal with nitrite rather than water changes. Water changes will lower nitrite but there will stll be some on the water afterwards. if you have 2 ppm of nitrite and change half the water, you still have 1 ppm. Change no water, add the right amount of salt and that blocks 100% of the nitrite. This alllows the fish to become nitrite free in a day or two. It also means that the part of the cycle where the nitrite bacteria are multiplying to move as fast as possible rather than slowing the process with unneeded water changes.
1, you test for nitrite.
2. Based on the nitrite level you calculate how much salt you should add. If the nitrite goes up, you recalculate and then you add enough additional salt that, when combiined with the salt you have already added, it adds up to the new total needed.
3. If you have an ammonia reading, then you need to find out how much of that reading is actually in the NH3 form. There are directions for how to do that as well in the article. Plus it tells you when to change water.
4. If you have to change water to reduce ammonia, then when you replace the water you need to add back the amount of salt removed by the water change. If you change 50% of the water, then add 50% of the amount of salt that you had in the tank before the water change. You do this because we expect that the reduction in nitrie from the water change will likely be replaced pretty quickly. Of course you always have the option to be more prices and after the change retest and then add salt accordingly.
There are a few more caveats here as well. If you are using a dechlor which claims to detoxify ammonia then the odds are you will not be able to have accurate results for ammonia. What these products do is temporarily convert the ammoonia from NH3 to NH4. The bacteria can still use but with much less efficieny, So this does slow but not stop a cycle. You can only get an accurate reading if you test very soon after you refill the tank and have added new dechlor. Wait and you cannot know the NH3 level based on the test. It will mostly or all be in the NH4 form.
And the above issues are one of the most cogent arguments for no cycling with fish. If one is well versed in the factors involved and the chemistry as well, fish in cyclng can be doe without many issues. But I have yet to meet a new fish keeper who had the requisite knowledge and experience to so this without running into problems unless a lot of luck is involved.
The reason I wrote the two rescue articles is that I am not inclined to help people do fish-in cycles from the start. I do not believe new keepers should do them and I will not help one start down that path. Those two articles give one all the information needed to get through the process. You will note that my preferred advice is in the first article. The second is for people who cannot or will not take the advice offered in the first article.
Finally, I am not not big fan of the typical hobby test kits. They use color to indicate the results and there is a huge issue with this being a subjective thing when human eyes have to make the judgment as to the exact color. In science, they use a digital photometer to read the exact wavelength of the color which then produces an exact reading. But this sort of equipment is pretty pricey and out of the budget for most fish keepers.
it sounds like your betta was better after you added the salt. Bear in mind that the salt (chloride) blocks the nitrite from getting into the fish. But is does nothing about getting out what is already there. If there is no nitrite in the water that can enter the fish, it takes between 24 and 48 hours for what is in the fish to work its way out.
The above is why it is preferable to use chloride to deal with nitrite rather than water changes. Water changes will lower nitrite but there will stll be some on the water afterwards. if you have 2 ppm of nitrite and change half the water, you still have 1 ppm. Change no water, add the right amount of salt and that blocks 100% of the nitrite. This alllows the fish to become nitrite free in a day or two. It also means that the part of the cycle where the nitrite bacteria are multiplying to move as fast as possible rather than slowing the process with unneeded water changes.
