Ammonia, Nitrite, And Nitrate Levels

[RyanV]

I posted on here a while back out my Nitrite Levels being high, Here is the link --> Nitrite Level

I just did another 60%-70% water change yesterday. Today I got the API liquid test kit and tested the water. Came up with these results:

Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm

Did my water changes work finally? There seems to be no more nitrites Now what about the other 2? Are they okay at those levels?

 

[fluttermoth]

Ammonia will cause trouble at any level over 0.25ppm, and bearing in mind that fish will be excreting it all the time, that level is only going to go up, if your biological filter has been knocked back or compromised in some way.

I would do another, large water change now so it doesn't have a chance to get to a more dangerous level.

 

[RyanV]

I can do that. How can I prevent it from getting high again, if I keep doing weekly water changes will it take care of it? I don't have my tank fully stocked yet either, so that kind of worries me a bit. My second tank has the same levels, just has around 40 ppm of nitrates instead of 20, Is this still safe?

 

[fluttermoth]

You need to do as many water changes as necessary to keep both ammonia and nitrite below 0.245ppm at all times. This may mean daily or even twice daily water changes until the bacteria take over. You have to be guided by your test results as to how often and how much water you need to change.

Weekly water changes are ok but only in cycled tanks where no ammonia or nitrite is present.

As the end result of the nitrogen cycle, nitrate will always rise in cycled tanks, but 40ppm is nothing to worry about. Try and keep it to no more than 20ppm above your tap water.

If you have another stable, cycled tank, can you donate some media from that filter to this one to give the bacteria a head start?

 

[RyanV]

I can go to grab some media from the LFS, is there a specific way I need to bring it home to prevent the bacteria dying?

 

[fluttermoth]

No, just keep it damp and it'll be fine, as long as there are bacteria on it, of course!

 

[RyanV]

I will check with them tomorrow. I just realized something though as I was reading through this thread: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/139488-know-your-filter-media/
There's a section about sponges for filters and that made me think if mine even had one?
I have a Topfin Power Filter 60 on both of my 55 gallon tanks. They have 2 thin white pouches for the carbon media, is that also the sponge? I feel like I have seen sponges in my friends aquarium with these pouches, am I missing them?

 

[RyanV]

What do you mean by the media exactly? The carbon, sponge? I asked the LFS and they didn't know what I was talking about

 

[bmonki]

media tends to be the very course filter sponge/wool thing. almost looks like a scouring pad but thicker... without that you may have problems keeping enough bacteria alive to process everything... but i guess that depends what these carbon pouches are made of..

 

[turtlegirl]

What do you mean by the media exactly? The carbon, sponge? I asked the LFS and they didn't know what I was talking about

You have two tanks running? take some of the bio media from the other one and stick it in there, if you do NOT have any bio media in the other one, I recommend picking some up from the LFS next time you go (ASAP).

Also if you are going to a big box LFS I would highly recommend NOT taking any of their filter media due to what may be on it.

 

[JohnHuff]

Media is anything that bacteria can grow on. It can mean sponge (which is like something you wash your dishes with), or it can mean bioballs or something like biomax.

No media you buy from the LFS will have bacteria on it. Bacteria needs to be cultivated. Or you can try those instant bacteria solutions.

The white pouch in your TopFin60 is activated carbon. Afaik your filter doesn't have any sponges. The activated carbon pouches should be sucking up the ammonia and nitrites. Have you changed them yet? They should only last 4 weeks or so.

 

[RyanV]

Media is anything that bacteria can grow on. It can mean sponge (which is like something you wash your dishes with), or it can mean bioballs or something like biomax.

No media you buy from the LFS will have bacteria on it. Bacteria needs to be cultivated. Or you can try those instant bacteria solutions.

The white pouch in your TopFin60 is activated carbon. Afaik your filter doesn't have any sponges. The activated carbon pouches should be sucking up the ammonia and nitrites. Have you changed them yet? They should only last 4 weeks or so.

They have been in for at least that. I thought you didn't actually have to replace them every month? Do they just need to be cleaned? How can I replace/ clean without destroying any bacteria already on them? I also added 1 of these in both my tanks, I figured it wouldn't hurt? (they were just laying around from an old filter) http/www.aquariumguys.com/tetra-whisper10i-foam.html

 

[fluttermoth]

No, you don't replace them every month. Even though the carbon will become inactive very quickly it makes a decent home for bacteria.

If those sponges are in your filter they should soon start to be colonised; if they're just in the tank then they'll be doing you no good at all.

 

[Essjay]

The activated carbon pouches should be sucking up the ammonia and nitrites.

Carbon does not remove ammonia and nitrite. They are ions, carbon only removes things that bond covalently not ionically. It will remove medication, tannins, other organic acids etc by binding them to the surface of the carbon. Once the surface is full, it won't adsorb any more.

The ways to remove ammonia and nitrite are by water changes or growing enough bacteria in the filter.

 

[RyanV]

No, you don't replace them every month. Even though the carbon will become inactive very quickly it makes a decent home for bacteria.

If those sponges are in your filter they should soon start to be colonised; if they're just in the tank then they'll be doing you no good at all.

So Should I just clean the filter in some of the tank water when I do water changes and add more carbon?

The sponges are in the filter, they fit perfectly!