Cant Get Rid Of Toxic Levels In Tank

[oreil]

Hi to all I just bought a ne w roma tank 5 1/2 weeks ago when I test the water it comes up a deep pink been like this for 5 1/2 weeks I have 6 hardy little fish they seems to like I introduced 3 angle fish and the first day 2 of them died after a week or so the other died what can I do to get the toxic level down thanks

ps I'm a newby

 

[Inchworm]

Hi oreil

Welcome to the forum!

I have moved your thread over to the New to the Hobby section. The members here are very friendly and will help walk you through getting your tank going successfully. In the meanwhile, let me give you something to read.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=224306

Good luck to you.

 

[AdAndrews]

do 50% water changes everyday until the water levels clear. you can also get some bacteria stuff to speed up the nitrogen cycle(if you know what it is?), it may seem your filter is unsufficiant for the fish you want to keep, what filter is it??

 

[paulbr1]

Hi and welcome,

Could you post your figures on here so we could have a look, the water change is a good idea but make sure you use dechlorinator in the new water and try to match the temp as near as the tank.

Good luck.

Paul.

 

[oreil]

@ AdAndrews my filter is a FLUVAL 305 external filter with all the media the fish I have in the tank is tetras mix with 6.2 to 6.8 ph range I introduced 3 angel fish 2 of the black family one yellow and silver the too Black's died within 24 hours the yellow and silver lasted over a week the tetras are fine

@paulbr1
as you can see I'm as green as the come to this hobby I don't know what you mean my figures can you please explain I do understand about the dechlorinator

 

[fatheadminnow]

@ AdAndrews my filter is a FLUVAL 305 external filter with all the media the fish I have in the tank is tetras mix with 6.2 to 6.8 ph range I introduced 3 angel fish 2 of the black family one yellow and silver the too Black's died within 24 hours the yellow and silver lasted over a week the tetras are fine

@paulbr1
as you can see I'm as green as the come to this hobby I don't know what you mean my figures can you please explain I do understand about the dechlorinator

to TFF!

What he means by this is that you need to test the water parameters in your tank. You NEED to test for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate

Your pH is a little low. A pH as low as yours wont stall a cycle, but would definitely slow a cycle down.

After you get a good test kit, or if you have one right now. You want a test kit that is liquid, as test kits that use strips are very inaccurate.

Since you are doing a fish-in cycle, your MAIN priority is to keep Ammonia, and when it becomes present, Nitrite, down as close to zero as possible by doing water changes.

Any amount of Ammonia or Nitrite above .25 ppm is toxic to fish, and that would explain why your fish have died, your Ammonia or Nitrite level was too high.

Refer to the link that Inchworm posted as a very detailed step-by-step process to doing a fish-in cycle.

So the first thing you need to do is get a good Liquid test kit that test for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.

Then after you find out how much of each is in the tank, do water changes accordingly to bring them down as close to zero as possible.

Ammonia should be below .25ppm

Nitrite should be below .25ppm

Nitrate will be safe to fish if it below 40-50ppm

Remember to do water changes to keep these in check, and after time, beneficial bacteria will eventually colonize enough in your filter to process these levels.

Hope this helps

-FHM

 

[oreil]

Hi fatheadminnow it looks like water changeing is the key. My testing kit is { NUTRAFIN essential mini master test kit ]

 

[Underwurlde]

Do you know of anyone who also keeps fish that has had a filter & tank set up for some time? Adding some mature filter media to your new filter will kick start things immensely.

Alternatively, see who on this list here:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=150631

lives near you.... drop them a Personal Message and ask for a donation of mature filter media.

This is well worth doing.

Andy

 

[Athena]

So, when you say you have tested the water and it turned dark pink - is this just the Nitrite test you were doing? Did you do an ammonia test too?

I've not used that particular test kit myself, but usually with these kits, on the results card where it has the coloured bands to compare your results to, there will be a numbered range for each colour level.

When people on here ask what your stats or levels are - this is what they mean - the numbered range that your test result falls into.

Hope that makes sense. If you're able to do a test for the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and then post your results on here, it will give us a better idea as to what's going on in your tank.

But, yes, you were right - water changes are the key to it all right now. Try to do a test before each water change so that you can see how well your filter bacteria are growing and coping with the fish waste. Might help to keep a diary of your daily results for a couple of weeks so that you can see how things gradually improve.

Oh, and don't add any more fish to your tank until your filter has cycled (could take a few weeks before you start getting normal test readings every day and then you can cut down on water changes to once per week).

Regards - Athena