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

[This Old Spouse]

Well, if you're going to quote numbers ...

 

[Dieses Madchen]

He knows I'm playing. I read on one site that it was 2.4, but EA is a science buff so I am sure he is absolutely correct lol. I gotta mess with him though

 

[This Old Spouse]

He's probably double checking all his sources right now!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Actually, I am a science teacher! The teacher in me has to say this:

0.3 is more than a 10% error, unfortunately, with that type of error you can't get more than a B- on your lab report. (DM, you should know that you can't just trust sources found on the internet, you need to verify their accuracy for yourself! )


(For anyone interested in the math...)

NH3:

N: 14. g/mol
H: 1.0 g/mol

So, 1.0 mol of NH3 = 17. g/mol


NO2:

N: 14. g/mol
O: 16. g/mol

So, 1.0 mol of NO2 = 46 g/mol

NO3:

N: 14. g/mol
O: 16. g/mol

So, 1.0 mol of NO3 = 62 g/mol


1.0 ppm (or g/ml) of NH3 would then convert to 46/17 or approximately 2.7 g/mol (as measured to 2 sig figs ) The key here kids is that the same nitrogen atom gives up its hydrogen to get oxygen... which increases its mass/volume ratio. (And for anyone who has actually read this much and is still interested, nitrate would be processed as 3.6ppm.)



EDIT: Not checking the source. I am the source! Just making sure that the work was all accurate before I posted.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Just so you know EA, I FAILED Chemistry II

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hey, my last chemistry course was back in freshman year of college - well over a decade ago... nearly two now. (Am I getting older? ) Although, I will be teaching it next year, if all things go as I expect thanks to a curriculum realignment at my high school. I'm a physics guy by trade, so the number side of chemistry has always come easily.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Maybe you can learn me some chemistry lol. Although I passed Chem II second time around lol

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'll have to brush up on it myself first.

 

[Baltipal]

Morning all. Up bright & early first job of the day is a water test.

AMMONIA 0

NITRITES 0.8

NITRATES 20

Still coming to terms with the test kit & haven't got the kind of chemistry back ground as you guys(I drive a forklift truck in a warehouse!) but smaller water changes from now on, yes?
Also we will put four flakes of food in today, first feed since Wednesday morning.

 

[gforce17]

Don't undervalue yourself B!! I'm very impressed with these guys too BUT

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Do a 80+% water change. Anything less will not bring .8 below .25. You're doing great! And like Gforce said, so not undervalue yourself! Fishkeeping is a lot to learn and mistakes are going to happen. The fact that your doing everything you can to help your fish says a lot. A lot of people would not be here looking for advice to better your fishies environment

 

[This Old Spouse]

+1

You still need to get your nitrite level to 0, and the best way to do this is with large water changes, which you're getting used to by now! But you are doing great. You've come a long way since your first post!

And ... it doesn't matter a bit your background. Fishkeeping is a learning experience and you're picking it up just fine.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Morning all. Up bright & early first job of the day is a water test.

AMMONIA 0

NITRITES 0.8

NITRATES 20

Still coming to terms with the test kit & haven't got the kind of chemistry back ground as you guys(I drive a forklift truck in a warehouse!) but smaller water changes from now on, yes?
Also we will put four flakes of food in today, first feed since Wednesday morning.

Good job! Ammonia is holding steady at zero! Now the nitrite is the issue. As stated by others, another large water change is in order. You could get away with a 75% water change, but I would still lean towards 80-90% myself, but I am a bit aggressive in water changes. I prefer to keep the levels as absolutely low as possible. And if we are talking about 75% being the minimum needed right now, why not just do the extra 15%? Doing that much this time might mean that you could get away with only a 50% tomorrow.


And don't worry about your background... I couldn't drive a forklift inside a warehouse without deshelving EVERYTHING! We can help you with everything on the chemistry side. You just worry about handling those water changes. They can get a bit monotonous. You are doing the right things though, it is getting MUCH closer to being over, especially with the addition of the mature media. There really is a lot to learn in fishkeeping. And to be honest, it doesn't matter how many ppm of nitrite comes from 1 ppm ammonia. (Although it does give you a bit of insight, and helps to know that the nitrite colony is probably about 3 times as big as the ammonia colony, so it can actually reproduce a bit faster. Which means you are getting very close to needing far less frequent water changes. )



How do your fish look and act right now?

 

[ainsy]

Don't be so hard on yourself!

We all started out somewhere in this hobby and I haven't yet met someone who claims to have never made a mistake.

It may all seem new and too much to take in now but please stick with it - things will soon come good and you will never look back!