I have a 40l tank running for 4 weeks and endless problems are arising. I have fish dying some have white spot and had my water tested today ammonia and nitrates are way too high. I don't have readings as lfs did test for me. Put white spot treatment in on thurs and the spots are fading away but after today's tests been advised to use another treatment to get rid of the ammonia. The water test for ammonia looked quite lilac and the nitrate was really green instead of blue. Any ideas folks pleas let me know.
Ammonia And Nitrite
- Thread starter Tracy1
- Start date
Lets start from the beginning..
Did you cycle your tank?
What fish do you have?
What test kit did they use? If you know ;-)
To get your levels down, do large water changes for the next few days, but keep testing. Maybe get the API master test kit, it is £20 on amazon and will save you alot of money in the future.
I would also suggest reading up on the life cycle of the ich protozoan (white spot), what treatment are you using for it?
The spots on the fish you see aren't treated by the medication, but rather the 'free swimming' protozoa in the water as the organism is protected whilst attached by the white outer coating. I would suggest SLOWLY raising your temperature to 29 degrees to speed up the life cycle of the ich, so the treatment can get to work. However depending on the species of the fish and how badly they are effected you could already be at the point of no return. You will need to dose a minimum of twice for mild infection.
Hope this helps
Did you cycle your tank?
What fish do you have?
What test kit did they use? If you know ;-)
To get your levels down, do large water changes for the next few days, but keep testing. Maybe get the API master test kit, it is £20 on amazon and will save you alot of money in the future.
I would also suggest reading up on the life cycle of the ich protozoan (white spot), what treatment are you using for it?
The spots on the fish you see aren't treated by the medication, but rather the 'free swimming' protozoa in the water as the organism is protected whilst attached by the white outer coating. I would suggest SLOWLY raising your temperature to 29 degrees to speed up the life cycle of the ich, so the treatment can get to work. However depending on the species of the fish and how badly they are effected you could already be at the point of no return. You will need to dose a minimum of twice for mild infection.
Hope this helps
David J
Fishaholic
I think we have to assume your tank isn't cycled. Start doing BIG water changes daily to keep the ammonia in check and get reading up on cycling in the resource centre on this forum.
In an ideal world you would have done a fishless cycle but what's done is done so you will need to read up on fish in cycling.
David
In an ideal world you would have done a fishless cycle but what's done is done so you will need to read up on fish in cycling.
David
I start from beginning being a novice in all this. Bought the tank used tap safe in the water and ran it for 3 days. They said we can put fish in after this time so introduced 6 mollies. Next morn they all gasping top of tank so put air pump in did water changes for three days. Water cleared up things going well used ( not sure what it was called) but something to put good bacteria in to kick start the filter. everythin seemed good few days later so introduced 2 silver sharks and 3 neons. Think I over fed them as water started clouding up again. Test at lfs confirmed ammonia so 25 %water changes for four days. Now fish start dying as a mollie I thought was bullying them and stressing them out so returned bully to lfs. Two days later white spots started appearing on the mollies first then the sharks lfs sold me king British original formula ws3 for treating white spot but also ammonia was still up so gave me a bag of dirty water from their tank to help. Fish hardly been fed by the way to reduce ammonia fed them tiny bit once this week. Tested yesterday and ammonia is really high and the nitrites are too high was sold ammonia remover to use with a water change yesterday. Fish that are left seem ok at the moment I was told to do water change again tomorrow use lower dose of ammonia remover ad again two days after that then test the water again. I may buy my own testing kit though sounds better as I will be able to test it daily. Thank you for you help
There's a few issues going on there.
I would add my support to the notion of buying your own test kit - that way, you can test what you want, when you want, and don't ahve to rely on the LFS being open, and the staff member you are served by being competent to interpret the results correctly.
Have a read of the green link in my signature area, it deals specifically with the situation you find yourself in. You really need to be doing water changes every day to keep the ammonia and nitrite as low as possible.
I would add that none of the fish you have selected are really suitable for a 40l aquarium. This is why your ammonia and nitrite have built up so quickly - you have a lot of fish in a small tank. Have a read of this thread, these are all fish which are suitable for your tank - I would suggest as your fish naturally die off, you replace them using that thread as a guide.
And if you have any more queries, however trivial you might think they are, please just post them - we were all beginners once, and some of us are young enough to remember what it was like!
I would add my support to the notion of buying your own test kit - that way, you can test what you want, when you want, and don't ahve to rely on the LFS being open, and the staff member you are served by being competent to interpret the results correctly.
Have a read of the green link in my signature area, it deals specifically with the situation you find yourself in. You really need to be doing water changes every day to keep the ammonia and nitrite as low as possible.
I would add that none of the fish you have selected are really suitable for a 40l aquarium. This is why your ammonia and nitrite have built up so quickly - you have a lot of fish in a small tank. Have a read of this thread, these are all fish which are suitable for your tank - I would suggest as your fish naturally die off, you replace them using that thread as a guide.
And if you have any more queries, however trivial you might think they are, please just post them - we were all beginners once, and some of us are young enough to remember what it was like!
It seems you have fallen foul of the poor advice the LFS gave you. They are in the business to make money so replacing dead fish, selling medications for sick fish etc. fits the bill perfectly. It sounds like your situation may not end well and if, unfortunately this is the case, can I recommend you read the new article on Fishless Cycling by TwoTankAmin in the beginners section and seriously consider fishless cycling if the worst should happen and you lose all your current fish. http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/Similar threads
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