Bacteria

[Bonnied2005]

Check check and double check..... doing 50% water change daily.... salt in tank.....Adding bacteria supplement every other day.... Dang things just won't cycle so time for me to refocus on getting rid of the harmfull junk in the tank and keep my fish healthy...

The thing that has puzzled me all along though and still does is my 5 gallon...
1. there are not enough fish in there to produce 8.0+ of Ammonia
2. I just changed out 1/2 the water and the Ammonia reading is still 8.0+
3. If my Ammonia reading was really 8.0+ my fry at least would be dead

So it's obvious to me that my test is wrong however what are the chances that all the tests in the kit are wrong since I am not reading anything else in the tank either

hmmmmm

 

[Jezah]

Well are any of your fish showing ammonia poisoning? Cause livebearers are pretty hardy, so they could POSSIBLY survive a ammonia level that high. But its not good for them. I would reccomend getting another test kit, and try the test strip ones...the 5 tests in one. It tests hardness, alkalinity, PH, Nitrite and Nitrate. Also obviously a new ammonia test. Maybe even get test strips for ammonia too. They are very accurate and easy to use(less chance of making a mistake ). Also, maybe consider getting some live plants. They help cut down on ammonia build up.

 

[Bonnied2005]

I have the 5 in one strips and they also show no signs of anything. I'll invest in a seperate ammonia kit though later this week. As for the fish showing signs of ammonia poisoning... in my 5 gallon no.... in my 10 yes off and on.... brown patches will occationally appear on some of the fish and they will begin to act a bit sluggish or just funny in general... I do an extra emergency water change, throw in some ammo lock and within 24 hours their all swimming around normally again.

I had been hoping that when I removed the guppies last week and sadly lost one of my neons that the reduction in waste with 5 less fish would allow the levels to come down enough for the tank to show signs of the other elements but unfortunatly that plan is being put on hold since one of my females decided to start dropping her fry last night and I had to relocate 3 of the guppies back to the main tank. When she finishes her job in there, I may put the divider in the tank and throw the other 3 back in for a time. my other thought is to can the whole thing.... spend the extra money I don't have on a 20 gallon... and a few hardy mollys... pray it cycles and when all is said and done the whole lot get tossed in there....

I'm starting to run outta room in this little apt lol!!!

oh and I have seriously concidered live plants but haven't really had time to research them... I heard there are some that utilize the ammonia in the tank and hense aide the cycle process.. Any thoughts on some plant names I should be looking for at my lfs??

 

[MammaKitty]

I am a newbie who got a 40 gal tank for xmas and set it up let it run for 2 days and then went and got 3 mollies. That was not enought so I went and got 4tetras, 3 swordtailsand another molly. All the sudden Ich and ammonia(1.0) To make a long story short to many fish all at once causes problems. (lesson learned) and still waiting to get a couple more but in time. SLOWLY

My question to you is why would you get more fish with the new 20 gal to start out with if you alredy have fish that you could put in there ?

 

[paynts]

Mate dont add anymore fish try and stick to a fishless cycle. The more you add and the more chemicals you mix in your water your asking for trouble. Try to be patient and if that means losing your current fish "learn from it and move on" just imagine having a bath in lots of different chemicals and thats whats its like for your fish.

 

[Bonnied2005]

I am a newbie who got a 40 gal tank for xmas and set it up let it run for 2 days and then went and got 3 mollies. That was not enought so I went and got 4tetras, 3 swordtailsand another molly. All the sudden Ich and ammonia(1.0) To make a long story short to many fish all at once causes problems. (lesson learned) and still waiting to get a couple more but in time. SLOWLY

My question to you is why would you get more fish with the new 20 gal to start out with if you alredy have fish that you could put in there ?

My answer to you would be that my fish can't take anymore ammonia poisoning.....my female guppy started giving birth in the hospital tank last night. From what I can see she had 1 fry that I saw last night... Assuming it is the same fry I saw this morning and she was still laboring when I went to work... I just got home and found her dead... The one fry is doing fine so far though, just treated the hospital tank with ammo lock just in case since I can't trust my test results they all come back with 8+ level.....

So you see, mollys are a hardy fish. I would start fresh new tank a few new fish and go from there till it cycles properly...

That is if I even go that route. At this point I'm to heart broken over momma guppy to want to do anything.

 

[MammaKitty]

Im sorry to here about your guppy. I had a swordtail that was pregnant when I got her so I was not sure how long she was pregnant, and I had the ammonia and Ich at the same time so I was treating my 40 gal (did not have hospital tank yet) with meds and doing 10% water changes everyday while in the middle of my water change I noticed a dead fry which I think the meds and ammonia was to much after the water change I noticed the mamma giving birth and she was having a difficult time I watched her for 3 hrs on 1 fry and had to go to bed. fortunatly when I woke up mamma was still alive but no fry to be found I was not trying to be mean or anything I was just thinking mabey a fishless cycle in one of your tanks so you do not have to go through the stress of feeling like crap when your fish go to that big lake in the sky, it sucks I have had 1 die of cotton mouth and Im not sure about the other I think it might have been dropsy then 1 just disapeared still cant find it 2 weeks later, still cant figure that out I think mabey she was eaten which is weird considering the fish I have are not supposed to be aggressive.

Sorry this was so long, good luck with your fish, It can be very frustrating but dont let it drive you crazy like it is me.

 

[rdd1952]

I'm a newbie so this may not mean much but I had read on a couple sites that if you plant the tank pretty heavily, you could add fish immediately rather than go through the cycling process as the plants will help with fish waste. I don't know if you are planning on many plants or not but it may help. Below is a link to a site/thread.

http/www.aquariumfish.com/anforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=76625

 

[BobK]

First of all I'd like to say I'm sorry about all the problems you're going through. Now I just have a dumb question so bear with me. Are you using a water conditioner that gets rid of chlorine and chloramine? I'm sure you are but if you aren't, this could be killing off your bacteria and be causing some of your problems.

 

[paulthegreat]

If you can get some filter material from and established tank it should have all the bugs you need. Plants will help some. It could be that you have dead snails in your substrate and their decomposing is releasing ammonia. Also, have you looked for Tetra Bactozym?