Bit Of A Wierd One

[ChrisPeo]

So will start from the beginning. Cycled a 48l tank for a month and the levels were ideal. went to local pet shop bought 6 molly and a bristle nose pleco.

Turns out i also bought about 40 ponds snails. managed to deal with the snails and did a full substrate change to insure none of the lil sods got left in. levels were fine and the fish were returned to the tank for about a week.

Check the levels and bought 4 cory catfish. Seems that i had missed the molly had birth 7 babies that are now at a size were they cant be eaten.

during this period of time i have had to replace live plants almost constantly as the fish just destroy them when i put them in

A week later the levels are fine. two days ago i posted about a fish having a wierd bubble on its backside and unfortunatly it died, checked levels they were ok. yesterday a fish dies check the levels out of this world so i did a 70% water change and the levels are still high and they dont seem to be going down preformed another 50% today and still high any ideas whats going on?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

You have bought fish way beyond a 48l stocking...

BN Catfish are messy catfish, because they are vegetarians, they eat a lot and poop a lot (which means a lot of ammonia). This is why they are not recommended for anything less than a 125l tank, they are quite chunky adult fish of ~15cm in many cases.

Mollies again are big active fish that reach ~12cm, a minimum 3-foot tank is suggested. Not to mention all teh likely the fry that will add to the bioload and potentially cause you a headache of how to raise them.

Most Corydoras are not suitable for a 48l, exceptions being the miniture species (habrosus; hastatus; pygmeus) and the slightly bigger panda. Given how these are social fish, a group of 8 of these alone fully stocks a 48l.



How did you cycle the tank?

Small tanks are incredibly difficult to keep in tip top shape, their small volume means ammonia and nitrite can quickly reach toxic levels, espcially if "fish in cycling."


Short term fix: ~95% water change, leaving just enough of the current water to cover them on the tank floor.
Long term fix: Much bigger tank, daily 50% water changes (possibly bigger if test results show dangerous ammonia/nitrite levels), or rehome the fish.

 

[ChrisPeo]

I cycled the tank empty adding prime and 3ppm ammonia and kept an eye on the levels waiting till the nitrite and ammonia levels were at 0 before I added the molly.

hopefully getting a larger tank soon to transfer them into thanks you for the advise.

 

[deftuch]

I cycled the tank empty adding 3ppm ammonia and kept an eye on the levels waiting till the nitrite and ammonia levels were at 0 before I added the molly.

hopefully getting a larger tank soon to transfer them into thanks you for the advise.

you nned to test the tap water in your home. it probably has ammonia in it which would then cause nitrate to spike also. seems as you have a cycled filter your nitrate too!

 

[Moby-Krib]

as nobody of the goat stated you have an overstocked tank, your stats may never be stable unless you modify your stocking.

 

[ChrisPeo]

I cycled the tank empty adding 3ppm ammonia and kept an eye on the levels waiting till the nitrite and ammonia levels were at 0 before I added the molly.

hopefully getting a larger tank soon to transfer them into thanks you for the advise.

you nned to test the tap water in your home. it probably has ammonia in it which would then cause nitrate to spike also. seems as you have a cycled filter your nitrate too!

I tested the tap water before stocking as well it read 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and around 5ppm nitrate, i do a 30% water change when the levels are nearing 15-20ppm nitrate

 

[deftuch]

15 to 20 ppm isnt all that bad. infact is rather good, when nirtrate levels are over 120 and the fish live in it for months thats when they start dying. i woudnt worry about 20 ppm. below 40 is a good target for any fishkeeper ( except discus lol ) let alone 15 to 20. remeber its a cycle and nitrate is the end product. how do you expect to keep it that low? the best way is to do say 15 percent water change weekly for a month then test your nitrate levels and if they continue to rise raise it to 20 percent a week for a month then if it still rises go to 25 percent. if that doesnt work then its clear your tank is overstocked. but quite simply do the same amount of water change each week till you get a steady nitrate reading. then you have found your level

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I cycled the tank empty adding prime and 3ppm ammonia and kept an eye on the levels waiting till the nitrite and ammonia levels were at 0 before I added the molly.

hopefully getting a larger tank soon to transfer them into thanks you for the advise.

I think this is the root cause of your problems, if you wrote this as you meant...

Fishless cycling involves keeping the tank at 2-5ppm ammonia daily for typically at least 30 days, when an ammonia dose gives zero ammonia and nitrite 24 hours later, you are pretty close to cycled. A "qualifying week" of seeing that same ammonia dose give double zeros within 12 hours confirms the tank is ready for fish after a big water change.

 

[deftuch]

15 to 20 ppm isnt all that bad. infact is rather good, when nirtrate levels are over 120 and the fish live in it for months thats when they start dying. i woudnt worry about 20 ppm. below 40 is a good target for any fishkeeper ( except discus lol ) let alone 15 to 20. remeber its a cycle and nitrate is the end product. how do you expect to keep it that low? the best way is to do say 15 percent water change weekly for a month then test your nitrate levels and if they continue to rise raise it to 20 percent a week for a month then if it still rises go to 25 percent. if that doesnt work then its clear your tank is overstocked. but quite simply do the same amount of water change each week till you get a steady nitrate reading. then you have found your level

seems you have 0 ammonia your nitrite should rapidly be converted to nitrate which will increase your nitrate offcourse. jusyt dont worry. keep testing and when your nitrite and ammonia are 0 then start recording your progress