First Time Water Test?

[pugwash666]

Got up this morning,and noticed one of the fish has white spots on him.Went to the local aqaurium shop this morning,and asked for advice.I asked if he could look after the fish whilst the tank is cycling,he said he could not.I asked if i could have or buy some mature filter media out of one of his tanks,he said no.

He told me to buy these,i did not question,i am not the expert.

King British--white spot terminator-------he said to put some of this in the tank,but take the carbon out first,else medicine want work,but surely the filter wont work if i take carbon out?

Tetra Safe Start BACTERIA STARTER-----50ml bottle,he said put 3/4 straight in the tank.

Tetra Aquasafe------he told me to put told me to put so many ml's straight into the tank.

He said do not do any more water changes.He did not seem too concerned about nitrite levels(even though i am worrying terribly about them).

He also sold me a heater(has the platys do not have one)he advised a few weeks back "no you do not need a heater,platys are hardy,adaptable fish".

Should i use all this stuff and follow what he says,i do not know what to do for the best,help please.

 

[minxfishy]

OK, calm down

First do the white spots on the fish look like little grains of salt? If so then its ich/whitespot and the meds will help. Carbon is only really useful for the first couple of weeks of its life in the filter, after that its best to replace it anyway, most people only use it to REMOVE meds from the water, I replace any in my filters (as do most others here) with extra sponges or bio balls. So removing wont hurt and you will need to remove it or he is correct the meds wont work (as carbon removes meds!).

Tetra safe start bacteria remover, is useless at best, all these miracle filter maturing products are just hype to encourage you to part with your money, saying that it couldnt hurt to try it, but I doubt it will do anything.

Tetra aquasafe is a dechlorinator, which I assume you are using anyway (whatever brand it maybe) if you havent been using any dechlorinator in your water or during water changes, then you indeed do need it, as it eliminates chlorine and chloramines from the water that comes from your tap. However if you are already using a dechlor products, then no need for the aquasafe.

He is correct that you need a heater, set to about 24-26, they are tropical fish and such need warmer water than most room temperature tanks for coldwater fish.

The fact that he has told you to NOT do any more water changes though is complete Bullsh*t as you are well aware as we have all been advising you to do the water changes, as many as possible to get the nitrIte down as this will if left to continue and rise will kill your fish and the fact the the fish are now showing signs of stress with the whitespots is proof of this. Please please carry on with the water changes, if it means you do 4 50% water changes in a day, that is better for the fish than these high levels of nitrIte and ammonia they are living in now.

 

[pugwash666]

Well,to tell you the truth i waited for an hour for a reply,but nothing.So not knowing what to do for the best,i fiitted the heater at 26c,i did a 50% water change,and added aquasafe and safestart in the bucket before puttung in the tank,then left it for an hour,then i removed the carbon from the filter,then added half ml of white spot meds.
I hope i am doing the right thing

P.s. i have fed them just a tiny bit of food today(had not had any for 2 days).

 

[minxfishy]

Sorry you didnt get a reply sooner, its a slow day on here

Anyway, as I said, adding the stuff wont do any harm, the heater is a good idea and you needed to remove the carbon.

I would do more water changes, but thats me.

 

[pugwash666]

Wont that dilute all the products i have just put in though?

 

[minxfishy]

You will need more of the dechlor - you can add the bacteria stuff again if you want, dont think it will help to use it though as previously said.

Water changes are the only thing that will reduce the nitrite and ammonia, nothing else.

 

[pugwash666]

I will do a 20% change then,now?

 

[lana]

I will do a 20% change then,now?

hi there you may want to read my thread "second stage started today" see what i have been doing

i am also in the fish in cycle have been for a month now , please read the tread great help in there as well and i have all my readings posted 2 and 3 times a day water changes


you can do this just keep the water changes up i even get up almost an hour early in the morning for work cause i know i have to do a water change



good luck you have great people helping you now........

edited to add link
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=258673

 

[pugwash666]

I have searched all over the place on the internet,and about 80% of comments say that aquarium salts/and or heat treatment,30c,will or may kill the white spot parasites.The heat supposedly kills the eggs before they hatch,is this true?

The temp in the tank,before the heater was 23c,and i have 3 platys.When i got the heater turned up to 26c,then read about heat treatment,so turned up again.Going to LFS to buy a better thermometer,have one of those sticky plastic ones,but going to get a proper mercury one,more reliable.

It may be wishful thinking,but when i got up this morning the fish in question,did not seem to have so many white spots on it?

My last readings(this morning)are

PH 7.5-7.6
ammo 0.25
nitrate 10
nitrite 1-2?

 

[waterdrop]

You'll need Wilder or one of the other disease experts for that part of the questions, but as far as your water goes, having either ammonia or nitrite go above 0.25ppm (your nitrite is way above and your ammonia will be there by the time we read this) actually -trumps- almost all other problems and should be addressed immediately with large water changes (I'd recommend 70% with dechlor and rough temp matching assuming your source water doesn't have too much ammonia or nitrate in it.) The safety of smaller percentage water changes (like 30% for instance) have little meaning when the fish are being suffocated by nitrite that high - it will kill or permanently damage their nervous system in short order.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lana]

i so agree with waterdrop

YOU NEED TO DO A MAJOR WATER CHANGE

at least of 70% and FAST
those nitrites are way to high for the fish and on top if it you have ammonia at 0.25 again to high for them

 

[minxfishy]

The white spots could have been from the water changes, sometimes the water is too cold or not enough dechlor and the fish look like they have spots or bubbles on them.

You need to do more water changes, that nitrIte is still way too high, Another 50% now, another 50% an hour later, test again, if that nitrIte still isnt below 0.25ppm, another 50% change, carry on until the nitrIte is down to 0.25ppm or lower. You will need to carry this on until the cycle is done.

 

[SharonCC]

Raising the water temp. as you have done will aid in the cycling process.

 

[waterdrop]

When one water change doesn't accomplish the goal, another can be performed as soon as an hour later.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[pugwash666]

Done 3 50% water changes and the reading taken 7pm are:

Ph 7.5-7.6
Ammo 0
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 1-2