All Of The Things I Dont Want To Have Spiked Since Putting In Some Fis

[KnC]

Hi All,

I'm sure you must all have heard this a million times over but I really want to fix this so all of our fish stay well!

I am a complete newbie to fish keeping so I am a bit worried
We managed to get our Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite right down after weeks of trial and error with our new fish tank.

We added some fish just over a week ago and our levels stayed around the same give or take a bit (which I'm assuming thats normal).
We planned to be doing water changes of around 15-20% every Monday once things are stable enough.

Monday we tested and our ammonia had spiked a little bit... So we did a 25% change (as we were told to by the local fish place) and our local fish place sold us API Ammo lock which purports to detoxify the ammonia and we are testing every second day. Today I had my first casualty of the new fish tank and I have to admit although it was likely to happen I was still a bit upset

Today the Nitrite looks to be around 0.5 - 1ppm and the Nitrate is somewhere between 10 and 20ppm which is what is concerning me as much as the ammonia!

I guess my question is - is it normal for the chemicals to spike like this and how can I get them back down again?!

We have been using Stress Zyme and Stress Coat with every water change we have done thus far.
And now obviously the Ammo Lock too...

Many thanks in advance!

Kate

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Hi All,

I'm sure you must all have heard this a million times over but I really want to fix this so all of our fish stay well!

I am a complete newbie to fish keeping so I am a bit worried
We managed to get our Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite right down after weeks of trial and error with our new fish tank.

We added some fish just over a week ago and our levels stayed around the same give or take a bit (which I'm assuming thats normal).
We planned to be doing water changes of around 15-20% every Monday once things are stable enough.

Monday we tested and our ammonia had spiked a little bit... So we did a 25% change (as we were told to by the local fish place) and our local fish place sold us API Ammo lock which purports to detoxify the ammonia and we are testing every second day. Today I had my first casualty of the new fish tank and I have to admit although it was likely to happen I was still a bit upset

Today the Nitrite looks to be around 0.5 - 1ppm and the Nitrate is somewhere between 10 and 20ppm which is what is concerning me as much as the ammonia!

I guess my question is - is it normal for the chemicals to spike like this and how can I get them back down again?!

We have been using Stress Zyme and Stress Coat with every water change we have done thus far.
And now obviously the Ammo Lock too...

Many thanks in advance!

Kate

I was sold Ammo Lock through consumer powers when i had trouble with my small tank.. all it done was 'lock' the ammonia up for a few days then give me false readings until i done another large water change...don't trust the stuff IMHO.

 

[Caprichoso]

You should increase the % of water change to 50% weekly, as long as there is no ammonia. With ammonia present, aim for 75% water change 2x per day or at the very least once a day until ammonia/nites are at 0. Test daily until you get on track again. Don't use ammonia remover as it will give a false reading and it's best to just get it out of the tank rather than "locking it". The reason for the sudden spike is because it's a new tank and you just added fish. The sudden presence of fish waste caused the spike as there is not enough beneficial bacteria to deal with the ammonia from the fish waste.

Good luck

 

[KnC]

Thanks for that

We can do the regular water changes but only 1 a day as both of us work, but now we have a home testing kit we can keep a better eye on things!

Are there any additional ways to promote the growth of the bacteria that deal with the ammonia / nitrate / nitrite? And the water changes don't affect their growth at all?

We have been rinsing the filter sponges in the removed water...does this need to be done on every water change or less frequently?

I'm pleased that I asked on here because pets at home said that we only need to do a 20% and test weekly on the levels we have!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Bacteria grow best with plenty of oxygen - so by lowering the level of the water slightly and having the water splash back into the tank a little more you can increase the oxygen level of the tank. Another thing you can do to help the situation is to lower the amount you are feeding. You could probably just feed them half of what they are currently getting and have no problem with the fish. Less food = less waste. In addition, if any food is not consumed within 2 or 3 minutes, it should be removed, as it will produce additional ammonia as well.

The other things usually recommended for better bacteria growth are for fishLESS cycles, and wouldn't apply here. BUT, in case you ever find yourself in a fishless cycle, they are: higher pH: 8.4 and higher temp: 84F (29C). Obviously these conditions don't apply to you as they would also be stressful for your fish.

I should think that monthly is probably as often as you would need to rinse the filter sponges, unless you notice a decrease in flow. Stick with it, you'll get there. And don't worry about the fish during the water changes. Most of them are from rivers and streams, so fresh water and different water depths is something that they are used to.

Best wishes! And welcome to the forum!!!!

 

[The chilly dipper]

what do you mean by trial end error kate?

the info above is the best you can get

try not to feel so bad about your chemical problems in your water,we all have been there at some stage

keep up your waterchanges and keep ya chin up, your tank will be fine soon.

ps dont over feed lol thats a big thing in ammonia contribution,more than you would think lol.

welcome

the dipper

 

[KnC]

Thank you for the advice and welcome!

Regarding the bacteria - We have tropical fish in there so the temperature is around 27 C. We have a bubbler in our tank and the top of the water is never still its reasonably splashy! So hopefully that thats putting at least some oxygen through

We could feed them once a day? Would that be ample? We are currently doing two smaller feeds and anything thats not gone within about 5 mins gets taken out. We could cut that down to 1...

I will try the daily water change and see how we go on!

Hopefully no more casualties!!

By trial and error I was meaning following advice given by pets at home on aa week by week basis and not really getting very far... In the end we went with change more of the water than they are telling us to to get the chemicals down.

 

[The chilly dipper]

Thank you for the advice and welcome!

Regarding the bacteria - We have tropical fish in there so the temperature is around 27 C. We have a bubbler in our tank and the top of the water is never still its reasonably splashy! So hopefully that thats putting at least some oxygen through

We could feed them once a day? Would that be ample? We are currently doing two smaller feeds and anything thats not gone within about 5 mins gets taken out. We could cut that down to 1...

I will try the daily water change and see how we go on!

Hopefully no more casualties!!

By trial and error I was meaning following advice given by pets at home on aa week by week basis and not really getting very far... In the end we went with change more of the water than they are telling us to to get the chemicals down.

come on here in future,dont listen to pets at home.
feeding once aday is plenty a fishes stomach is the size of a pea,smaller even.
they are "grazers" by nature.

adding floss and things like that help too.(floss is great for this kind of thing)

the question is...is your filter bed have a large enough surface area to support the fish waste output?
so what is the filters name?

also rotting food in the gravel can cause spikes ,when disturbed.
i know this from experience.

 

[KnC]

I'm going to have to find that one out! It came with the aquarium when we purchased it... but my partner set it up so I'm not 100% sure.
We have a Juwel Bioflow 280 "Set" But that may tell you nothing or everything

 

[The chilly dipper]

I'm going to have to find that one out! It came with the aquarium when we purchased it... but my partner set it up so I'm not 100% sure.
We have a Juwel Bioflow 280 "Set" But that may tell you nothing or everything

yeah try putting another filter in there. you cannot have too much filtration.
like a marineland biowheel or a canister filter.

the filtering of the bioflow may be ok but you may need more.
how many fish you have in there?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

We could feed them once a day? Would that be ample? We are currently doing two smaller feeds and anything thats not gone within about 5 mins gets taken out. We could cut that down to 1...

The once a day feeding should be fine. In fact, they could even be fasted every so often, with no ill effect. Fish don't normally eat every day, all the time. So any occasional skipped meal isn't a bad thing. In fact it is probably beneficial. Right now you aren't trying to breed them, so you don't need to worry about fattening them up. Your goal right now is to just keep them alive through the cycle with the best conditions possible. The key to that is to keep the ammonia as low as possible and by cutting down the feeding, you can really do that. Less food will be wasted, and less food will be eaten and "processed" by the fish.

 

[Claire121]

Please excuse my ignorance - but what is 'floss' ?

Also think it's worth mentioning in this thread, I am by no means expert and have no fish yet as I am cycling, but my LFS told me that each fish needs to eat an amount daily which is 'the equivalent to the size of it's eye' !!!

As a non fish keeper I had no idea it had to be sooooooooo tiny !

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Floss would be a type of mechanical filtration.

For example...

Incidentally, the first time I heard the eye thing, I was taken aback as well. It makes sense though. The fish are not warm-blooded, so their metabolism is much smaller than we would assume for many other animals people keep as pets (i.e. mammals) and is actually more akin to reptiles in terms of how much food they require.

 

[Claire121]

Thanks for that.

I have a Fluval U3 which says it has Foam pad for large particals, poly/carbon cartridge for fine debris and Biomax for biological filtration.

I imagine my poly/carb cartride is the equivalent of 'floss' ?

Floss would be a type of mechanical filtration.

For example...

Incidentally, the first time I heard the eye thing, I was taken aback as well. It makes sense though. The fish are not warm-blooded, so their metabolism is much smaller than we would assume for many other animals people keep as pets (i.e. mammals) and is actually more akin to reptiles in terms of how much food they require.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You got it.


You can skip the carbon though, unless you are trying to remove a particular chemical from the water. Carbon is great for removing meds, but it doesn't last forever. It's ability to adsorb runs out quickly. So, it needs to be replaced often. It is good to have, but you could just use the poly, without the carbon and get the same effect for most of what you would need.