I Am Killing My Fish & On The Point Of Giving Up!

[The Taffy Apple]

Without wantng to sound cheeky or anything.. if you both live so close, is there any chance of a mature media contribution from one hobbyist to the other?

Terry.

 

[Baltipal]

Right, I have Nutrafin test kit rather than an API but still a method of checking the water. Also have mature media, an entirely different type of filter but I hope still useful to me. Any suggestions of how I can utilise it?
In the box of tricks are Nutrafin AQUA PLUS & Nutrafin Cycle, any use at all?

 

[ainsy]

I may have missed in a previous post but have you done the advised water changes yet?

Somebody very wise once said:

The solution to pollution is dilution

 

[Baltipal]

I may have missed in a previous post but have you done the advised water changes yet?

Somebody very wise once said:

The solution to pollution is dilution

I've done one 90% water change & am about to do another. At the moment we're playing with the test kit trying to get a handle on how to use it.
Ammonia still reading zero but Nitrate is reading something like 0.8-1.6 but we're uncertain of the reading.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'm not really a fan of Nutrafin Cycle, but you might as well use it. Just don't follow the directions when it says not to do a water change for a week. (That is just crazy.) Add it at the dosage it recommends, as it won't hurt anything, but DO NOT ignore the need for water changes as it suggests.


Next, add all the mature media you have gotten your hands on and add it to your filter. Add it anyway you can to make it all fit in there. Cut it as it needs to make it fit, but get it in there. Remove your media if needed to get the mature stuff as needed. Ultimately, you have to have the bacteria in the filter so that they can deal with the ammonia and nitrite. Just get them in there SOME WAY!

The mature media will greatly help your issue. Do the water change as suggested earlier, then watch the levels, the mature media will be able to deal with a certain level of bioload. Do you know where the media came from? How many fish were in that tank? If there were a lot of fish and you have a small enough load, you are going to be cycled today! If not, it shouldn't take too long.


One thing, if the Cycle product hasn't been opened yet, try to return it. It really isn't worth having around, especially now that you have the mature media. Try to get store credit or exchange it for something that will help you, like Prime.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

I may have missed in a previous post but have you done the advised water changes yet?

Somebody very wise once said:

The solution to pollution is dilution

I've done one 90% water change & am about to do another. At the moment we're playing with the test kit trying to get a handle on how to use it.
Ammonia still reading zero but Nitrate is reading something like 0.8-1.6 but we're uncertain of the reading.

A reading of NitrAte is a good thing (and normally a sign that the bacteria in your filter are doing their job!)
Get the mature media into your filter anyway you can, even if it means cutting it up to make it fit in.. then do your water change, our good bacteria love a fresh supply of warm, dechlorinated, oxygenated water

Terry.

 

[ainsy]

Don't worry about your nitrate readings ATM

concentrate on getting your Ammonia and Nitrite to zero - Do another large water change if needed and get that mature media in!

 

[This Old Spouse]

I have a Nutrafin test kit myself, and I find it much more accurate than the API.

You're doing well! You still want your Nitrite levels at 0, but at least your ammonia is 0. Keep doing large water changes until that happens.

 

[Baltipal]

I'm not really a fan of Nutrafin Cycle, but you might as well use it. Just don't follow the directions when it says not to do a water change for a week. (That is just crazy.) Add it at the dosage it recommends, as it won't hurt anything, but DO NOT ignore the need for water changes as it suggests.


Next, add all the mature media you have gotten your hands on and add it to your filter. Add it anyway you can to make it all fit in there. Cut it as it needs to make it fit, but get it in there. Remove your media if needed to get the mature stuff as needed. Ultimately, you have to have the bacteria in the filter so that they can deal with the ammonia and nitrite. Just get them in there SOME WAY!

The mature media will greatly help your issue. Do the water change as suggested earlier, then watch the levels, the mature media will be able to deal with a certain level of bioload. Do you know where the media came from? How many fish were in that tank? If there were a lot of fish and you have a small enough load, you are going to be cycled today! If not, it shouldn't take too long.


One thing, if the Cycle product hasn't been opened yet, try to return it. It really isn't worth having around, especially now that you have the mature media. Try to get store credit or exchange it for something that will help you, like Prime.

The filter is from my partner's Auntie's tank which is beautifully clear despite not having the filter changed in twelve months. They only have one Black Widow Tetra,(not a Molly as stated earlier) but in good apparent health.
Do I crumble up the media & just put it in the filter housing then?
Not much of the other stuff left so no returns I'm afraid.

 

[ainsy]

Break it up only if you need to - but if not just fit it any way you can.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

There won't be much bacteria there, but it will be a mature colony. Did you get the entire thing from her? What does she have in her tank now for the filter?

 

[Baltipal]

OK, we've completed hopefully the last 90% water change, perhaps 50% tomorrow.
The material is from some kind of drum filter & had three of these round things, they've given us one. We have concerns however as we don't know what killed their other fish & we may be transmitting disease. Might we be safer just relying on these massive water changes?
If the ammonia is now zero how is the nitrite now being created?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Fish produce ammonia in their waste, as does leftover foods. The Abacs convert the ammonia into nitrites. 1ppm ammonia = 2.4ppm of nitrites. Nbacs convert nitrites into nitrates. so 2.4ppm of nitrites will convert to approx 3.6 nitrate.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If the ammonia is now zero how is the nitrite now being created?

We need a little trip down the nitrogen cycle plot line. Ammonia is produced by the fish, pretty much continually. The ammonia is then processed by bacteria into nitrite. The nitrite is later converted to nitrate by a different strain of bacteria.


Ultimately, the fact that the ammonia is zero right now is good, because that means that the bacteria is currently (it could fall behind later) handling the ammonia produced by the fish. (I mention that this is currently handling things, but that they aren't necessarily going to continue to do so from this point on. The test kit reading zero doesn't actually mean that it is not there, it means that it isn't there in enough concentration to get a reading. It could build up again, since it hasn't been that long since you did a massive water change.)


BTW, it is 2.7ppm nitrite, not 2.4ppm.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Oh dear me! Take me out back and shoot me over that 0.3ppm i was off!!