10gal Tank Housing 12 Guppy Fry

[kuruptedseed]

Current stats using api test kit

ammonia 0
nitrite 2.0
ph 7.6
nitrate 5.0

Ammonia has been between 2.0 and .5 (slight reading) for last 5 weeks and nitrite at it's highest point was 3.0.. Ammonia has been slowly dropping daily as I've been testing and changing 15-20% of water daily trying to get things under control.. I used brown filter floss from my other established tanks in order to kick start the cycle.. My nitrate's were non existent up until 4 weeks ago and now they are slowly rising at 5.0... Now my ammonia level has been 0 for 3 days but my nitrite level only came down to 2.0 and I am stumped on what else I could do.. I'm still doing daily water changes and tests.. I even cut off a lil more brown nasty looking floss for the tank in hopes that would do it! My fish seem fine no gasping or shimmying.. And they are eating well.. I will also add that in the beginning I read somewhere that you should feed fry often when they are lil babies.. I know now that I was overfeeding and corrected that 3 weeks ago and now they only eat once a day.. Do I just need to be patient and let my nitrates rise naturally in hopes that my nitrites decrease? Or do I need to take more immediate and drastic action? 3 weeks ago my water cleared up and now it looks crystal clear as can be. (with a 2.0 nitrite reading I know this isn't the case) I've never experienced this before and need some help/advise please!! PS. tank is well oxygenated and I have a biowheel 200.. Thanks

 

[minxfishy]

You need to perform more regular water changes Im afraid to get those nitrItes down, the nitrAtes will rise on their own accord as the bacteria convert the nitrIte. I would suggest at least 2 water changes daily 30-50% each time, until those nitrites are under 0.25ppm for the health of the fry.

Might sound like a lot of changes, but believe me its better for the fish than being in that amount of nitrIte.

 

[kuruptedseed]

Thanks for the reply... I've been afraid to change that much water.. I didn't want to make it worse.. Should I keep changing 30-50% of the water until nitrites read 0 then stop? At what point should I quit the massive changes? Thanks again

 

[minxfishy]

If you start with a 30% water change, then test an hour later, see where your nitrItes are at, if they are above 0.25, do another 30-50% depending on what your results are. Your aim is to get the nitrItes and any ammonia to 0.25ppm or below, obviously 0 is best for the fish, but the cycle wont complete very well if there is no souce for the bacteria to work with.

As long as you temperature match the water going back into the tank to that of the tank water and add it slowly with dechlorinator, it wont hurt the fish, whereas the am/nit will cause serious long term damage.

Obviously once you start to see 0 ammonia and 0 nitrIte, but your nirAtes continue to rise, then the cycle is finished and you can go back to normal weekly/2x weekly water changes. It may take a few weeks, although in your case using some mature media will speed it up, but it will cycle eventually, hopefully with no repercussion to the fishies

 

[kuruptedseed]

Thanks for responding so quickly.. This is exactly what I will do.. It's great my tank is kept at 78 degress and water coming from my tap is 77-79 degrees depending on time of day.. So no worries there.. I am worried about my fry thou as they have been exposed to this nonsense for too many weeks now.. Although they are starting to show great color and I can sex them now as well.. Thanks again Minx

 

[minxfishy]

Your welcome, they are obviously tough little guys, if you need anymore help, just ask here, there are lots of people who can help you out