testing water

[fritzfish]

I set up my tank about 2 months ago and I have lost 6 fish so fare. I did check my water stuff and it all came out to be Ammonia 0.50,nitrate 0 ppm,
nitrite 0 ppm, Freshwater PH 7.6, and the last one high range PH 8.4-8.8. Could some please help me understand all of this... This is the second tank I have had and I'm tired of loosing fish..... Thanks..

 

[DeadlyMixer]

As i've recently discovered being a newbie here myself any ammonia is a bad bad thing.... Have you cycled your tank? How often and how much have you been changing the water?

 

[rdd1952]

Since you have ammonia and no nitrite or nitrate, it looks like your tank has not started cycling. Also, with your pH, you really only need to check either the pH or high pH. When you say the pH is 7.6 and the high pH is 8.4 to 8.8 that is a little misleading. Actually, the regular pH test is useless as it only goes to 7.6 so even if it was 10, it would still only show 7.6. If your pH generally runs that high, you can quit using the regular pH test and just use the high test kit. My pH generally runs about 6.6 so I never even open the high pH bottle.

Can you answer these questions and we will try to help you out.

1) What size tank is it - gallons or liters?
2) What fish and quantities do you have in it?
3) What fish have you lost?
4) How often and what size are your water changes?
5) Have you tested your tap water to see if there may be a prlblem there?
6) How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?
7) What is the water temperature?
8) How soon after adding the fish have they been dying?
9) How do you acclimate the fish?

Sorry for all the questions but they will hopefully solve your problem.

 

[fritzfish]

) What size tank is it - gallons or liters? 29gallons
2) What fish and quantities do you have in it?I have 2 black mollies, 1 dalmation male mollie, 2 silver mollies, 1 sword tail, 1 ellge eater, and 1 ballon mollie, and finally about 12 fry that where just born 2 days ago.
3) What fish have you lost? I have lost 1 dalmation mollie, 1 sword tail, and 3 of them are not looking good now
4) How often and what size are your water changes? I do water change onces a week about 1 gallon on that
5) Have you tested your tap water to see if there may be a prlblem there? no I haven't how do i do that?
6) How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?I clean the fillter onces a week and run cold water over it.
7) What is the water temperature? 75-80
How soon after adding the fish have they been dying? about 2 weeks
9) How do you acclimate the fish? buy them from the pet store....

Thanks for all the help I'll be waiting to hear back from you...

 

[rdd1952]

4) How often and what size are your water changes? I do water change onces a week about 1 gallon on that

You should really be doing about 20% to 25% water chanes weekly. On my 29 gallon, I generally change 5 gallons one week and 10 gallon the next. WHile the ammonia and nitrites are that high, you should be chaneing 25 to 30 percent daily to get the toxins down.

5) Have you tested your tap water to see if there may be a prlblem there? no I haven't how do i do that?

Just run straight tap water and test it with the same tests you use on the tank water. If you are currently taking your water to the LFS to have them test it, I strongly suggest you buy your own liquis test kits. A master kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals runs about $25 at Petsmart and tests ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and high pH.

6) How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?I clean the fillter onces a week and run cold water over it.

You should rinse the filter in the tank water you just removed. If you use tap water, the chlorine will kill your good bacteria keeping your tank in a continous mini cycle. If you have well water (no chlorine), it may be ok but still best to just swish (not too vigorously) in the old tank water.

9) How do you acclimate the fish? buy them from the pet store....

To acclimate new fish, you should open the bag and place it in your tank to float, don't just dump the fish in. Also, take a sample of the bag water and test the pH. Most LFS keep their pH about neutral at 7.0 so a new fish going into your tank at 8.4 to 8.8 is a HUGE change. Float the bag for about 10 minutes and then add a cup of the tank water to the bag. Float for another 10 minutes and add another cup to the bag. Do this until the bag is full. If the difference in the bag pH and the tank pH is more than 1.0 (tank at 8.0 and bag at 7.0), I would pour about half the water in the bag down the sink and then keep adding tank water to fill the bag again. The main reason for the slow adjustment to the pH change is that a change of .1 is something like 10 fold (someone correct me if that is wrong) so a change of 1.0 is 100 fold and extremely hard on a fish, potenntially deadly.

I would say the main reason for your high levels though is the fact that you are washing the filters in tap water and that you aren't changing enough water to keep the levels down.

 

[sinistral]

In addition to what rdd1952 wrote, the pH scale is logarithmic (base 10), meaning that a change in 1.0 from 7.0 to 8.0 = 10^1, or 10x. A change from 7.0 to 9.0 would be a change of 10^2 or 100x.

 

[rdd1952]

In addition to what rdd1952 wrote, the pH scale is logarithmic (base 10), meaning that a change in 1.0 from 7.0 to 8.0 = 10^1, or 10x. A change from 7.0 to 9.0 would be a change of 10^2 or 100x.

Thanks for the correction on that. I couldn't find where I had read that before.

 

[gadazobe]

A newly set up tank of 2 months doesn't need the filter to be cleaned every week. Your tank has not yet cycled and that's what's killing the fish. Each time you wash the filter, you're getting rid of all the beneficial bacteria needed. Just do 20% water changes per week, more often if you see the ammonia level rising too high. Don't do gravel vacuuming until the tank has cycled, that is reaches the stage of no ammonia, no nitrite and a show of nitrate.

 

[fritzfish]

So how do i know when the tank has been threw a full cycle or is right for the fish. So let me see if i have all of this right. Do a water test on my tap water with the testing supplie that i have that I use for the tank? Then if that water is bad would using a filter on the tap water help??? Do a 10% water change every day. Take the filter and wash it out with the tank water I really hope I'm getting all of this. With the new fish I have done letting the fish sit in the bag for 15 mintues then add the tank water to the bag like you said. I want to thank everybody for helping me out with this. I was getting so mad at myself for loosing fish. I think having a smaller tank is much more fun. So please let me know about what I have asked.

 

[rdd1952]

So how do i know when the tank has been threw a full cycle or is right for the fish.

When you have seen the ammonia go down to 0 and stay there. By that time the nitrite will be showing a reading. When that also goes to 0 and stays there, you will be cycled FOR THE FISH YOU CURRENTLY HAVE. At that point, you will be able to add 3 or 4 fish again. You will get a little mini cycle with minimal ammonia and nitrite readings. When those go back down you can add more fish again provided you aren't fully stocked.

Do a water test on my tap water with the testing supplie that i have that I use for the tank? Then if that water is bad would using a filter on the tap water help???

That is correct. Your tap water should be fine but in some cases you will find some ammonia, nitrite or nitrate but if they are present, they should be in small amounts. If you do have readings on your tap water, a filter probably would work. I'm not really sure about that though.

Do a 10% water change every day. Take the filter and wash it out with the tank water?

As long as you have readings for ammonia and nitrite, I would do a 25% change daily. After you are cycled, 25% once a week should be fine. Correct on the filter but don'w get to rough with it. Basically, just swish it around gently in the water you just took out of the tank manily to rinse any loose gunk from the outside of the filter. If you rinse too vigorously, you can also shake loose some of the good bacteria which you don't want to do.

With the new fish I have done letting the fish sit in the bag for 15 mintues then add the tank water to the bag like you said.

Correct.

I was getting so mad at myself for loosing fish.

Don't beat yourself up over losing fish. None of us ever want to lose a fish but even though I'm not a rich person, I will bet everything that every member of this forum has lost fish because of mistakes they made. I know I am guilty. Read as much as you can through old threads, google searches, etc.

I think having a smaller tank is much more fun.

This hobby is a lot of fun. I just got my first tank in December and now have 5 so watch out, you might get hooked. Before long you'll be trying to decide which wall will look better with a 75 gallon sitting there. Isn't it ironic that instead of us hooking fish, they're hooking us.

 

[nc_nutcase]

QUOTE
Do a water test on my tap water with the testing supplies that i have that I use for the tank? Then if that water is bad would using a filter on the tap water help???


That is correct. Your tap water should be fine but in some cases you will find some ammonia, nitrite or nitrate but if they are present, they should be in small amounts. If you do have readings on your tap water, a filter probably would work. I'm not really sure about that though.

Rarely does tap water have an unhealthy amount of Amm, NitI or NitA. Definitely worth testing, but you should be safe. I would think PH would be the concern there. There are several items commonly used in aquariums that can alter PH and many fish don't stand up to fluctuation in PH very well.

QUOTE
Do a 10% water change every day. Take the filter and wash it out with the tank water?


As long as you have readings for ammonia and nitrite, I would do a 25% change daily. After you are cycled, 25% once a week should be fine. Correct on the filter but don’t get to rough with it. Basically, just swish it around gently in the water you just took out of the tank mainly to rinse any loose gunk from the outside of the filter. If you rinse too vigorously, you can also shake loose some of the good bacteria which you don't want to do.

But while your cycling don't rinse the filter at all. It will slowly be building up bacteria it needs and we just leave it alone to do it's thing.

 

[fritzfish]

Thanks for all the help you all have been giving me. I lost another fish tonight but I'm going to wait on buying anymore for about a month so the bacteria can grow more. I did a water change tonight and will do one every day until things are more better. I will keep you up dated on things... Can anybody tell me why the fry have not passed away yet? Will this affect them when the water gets to where it's suppose to be??? Thanks aging for all the help..