Ga Ammonia!

[PDSimon]

If its showing nitrite, looks like the ammonia has being converted... sounds like a mini cycle maybe.

a waterchange 50%-70% would probably be the answer

Someone asked your tap ammonia? What were the results? are you using a new dechlor? there weren't lots of dying leaves? any fish/snails/shrimp missing? You sure you used enough dechlor? You didn't rinse the filter in tap water?

 

[Twinklecaz]

Hi Simon. No not loads of leaves, maybe 7/8? No new dechlore (Still Prime), deffo used enough. no fish missing and lol no didn't rinse in tap water.

Will test my tap water right now though, hang on.

[EDIT] Nope, tape water clear as a bell

 

[BethK]

Maybe it is a mini-cycle, it can happen once fish are introduced. I would water change on a daily basis, 50% and it should settle back in a week or so.

 

[Twinklecaz]

It's all clear this morning. How bizarre is that? I'm gonna do a 50% water change anway though.

I don't get how I got a mini-cycle. My stats were all good and my tank is lightly stocked compared to the 5ppm it was used to.

 

[JoshuaA]

If you notice a nitrite spike, give a large dose of Prime, whether water changing or not. You can use up to 5x as much in a Nitrite problem. read the bottle and it will neutralise a crapton of it! Just don't rely on it.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, about a week after adding some fish I got a random 0.5 Nitrite reading then tested again literally 15 minutes later and it was 0 Nitrite. Though I think the vial was contaminated from the other fish tank.

Anyway, dose some more Prime but just not too much ( I wouldn't use the 5x as much though ), then test the water some time afterwards. Just closely monitor and don't allow dead leaves to accumulate too long, I would suggest doing about a water change or at least a bucket worth for your tank (15Litre) (you have an elite 60 right) to pick up the gunk/leaves dropped every 5 days until the tank has "matured". It only takes a few minutes to do especially if you temperature match, if you can get the bucket above the tank on like a shelf or step ladders you can siphon the water back into the tank and go "AFK" so to speak. Or should I say AFT

How were those plants anyway? I ordered another batch and got a load of water sprites/crypts/water lettuce and bulbs. I only got one water lettuce and it was quite damaged It seems to be rooting though and well we'll see how it goes but I don't think it will make it!

 

[Harlequins]

It could of been a mixture of over zealous cleaning in one hit? i personally don't rinse the media in the externals unless the flow slows,this could be every 2 months or more...
How well did you clean the sand? -mine doesn't need 'settling' after a w/c and sand clean,i basically suck up the muck then give it stir through with my fingers and its fine,

I'm glad its back to zero

 

[Twinklecaz]

I put some more sand in, and it went everywhere coz I'm so cack handed so that was why I left it. I didn't clean the sand anymore than last week but I'm wondering if it is the plant thing. Maybe I left just a fraction too many leaves in there. What worried me is as I'd just done a 50% water change, what the reading might have been before!

Also I have dosed twice with General Tonic but the last time was a week ago so I don't think it can be that that caused it can it?


Joshua, the plants I thought were ok but not amazing. There were a few I threw out but then I didn't think I needed that many anyway. Ha but how funny, I was thinking of ordering some more today too. I've decided there's not enough after all. Plus I want to get that plant that Beth's got for Elmo to hide in.

Annoying thing is I was thinking of trying to get my Pygmys next weekend but I won't now until I'm 100% this has all settled down.

PS Harlequins, I always look at your sand in your sig and wonder how you get it so clean!

 

[Harlequins]

Meds can knock stats about,but if it was a week ago,i would've thought it would've shown up before then.

Just make sure the plants are in good order and not decomposing and try not to overfeed

Did you put carbon in to clear the meds out?

Regarding my sand - the mass of corys keep it this way , and 2 externals suck up the bits the corys kick around.

They're good cleaners

 

[Twinklecaz]

Noooo, that makes me want to get them even quicker.


No, no carbon coz it's not really a proper med in that sense. They actually recommend that you put it in once a month (though I suppose they would) as a preventative measure. It actually says on the bottle that it can prevent infections, it doesn't say it clears them up. Basically what I mean is I don't think it's bad for it to be in the water.

I never get what people mean when they say use carbon to remove stuff....what do you do, buy it in sponges and put it in your filter?

 

[Twinklecaz]

[EDIT] ooops double post1

 

[Liverbird36]

Noooo, that makes me want to get them even quicker.


No, no carbon coz it's not really a proper med in that sense. They actually recommend that you put it in once a month (though I suppose they would) as a preventative measure. It actually says on the bottle that it can prevent infections, it doesn't say it clears them up. Basically what I mean is I don't think it's bad for it to be in the water.

I never get what people mean when they say use carbon to remove stuff....what do you do, buy it in sponges and put it in your filter?

Yeah it's the black sponge in the filter. I removed mine and replaced with more biomedia. The carbon filter removes any traces of meds from the water. I'm wondering if it was the plants though. I cleaned out my filter completely and rinsed sponges and it didn't effect my stats at all.

 

[Harlequins]

i have 2 bags of carbon i didn't use when i first got the externals and haven't used them,but if it comes to a time when i need to use meds,i'll just pop them in the externals to clear it out

Have you definately decided on pygmys over pandas then?

I wouldn't change my corys for the world,they're so funny and active,just trying to decide when i eventually sell the pygmy juvi's to set up the fry side 10 gal with a trio of either pandas or golds to see if they'll breed

 

[Twinklecaz]

I think Pygmys is the only sensible option really. Having said that I was reading a post in the main forum yesterday and people were recommending more than I've been told to stock in mine......and my tank has 5 gallons on this particular one! So it is confusing.

I will get Pandas one day for sure. There's actually talk of us moving to a bungalow which means I'll have a ground floor bedroom. So you can imagine my first thought


My filter came with carbon (Fluval U2) but it's actually stuck to the sponges so I had no choice but to put it in. I didn't worry about it though coz apparently it's worn out after a few days anyway.

 

[JoshuaA]

Like all plants they will take a while to settle in. Both my batches have been fantastic. The weeds tend to be like that brown quite easily but you can trim them down a lot. Until they root properly they will drop a lot of leaves. Amazon swords well mine have probably lost every single original leaf they came with, now they all have brand new leaves deep greens, look great.

What else did you get? I asked for a bunch of rhizomes + bulbs + floaters and water sprites. In total this time I got about 40 plants lol. 21 Sprites alone!! Quite a lot of Crypts though I only used one haha, some nice bulbs and a lovely plant (can't remember the name of) though look fantastic. Some others, generally a really good deal I think it's just as long as it gets to you fast and you get what you want. I'd hate to order it without requesting anything though. Make sure you say what substrate/your pH etc you have and your water hardness and they will do quite a good selection for you.

I put 4 X Black Corys into my gf's tank and I've got 4 Bronze in my tank. Lovely lovely fish, so cute.

Just keep an eye on that Ammonia/Nitrite each day, I would suggest maybe a few hours after feeding and early in the morning. I don't think it will spike, like I said I had a irregular spike on mine that read 0 only a few minutes later.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Pfft just done it. I do not enjoy all the carrying of buckets I have to say. I'm gonna order a copper test kit today just to see if I can use the water from my bathroom. Then if I can I'm gonna get a really long hose

With Prime, say I do a 50% water change. It it ok to dose the whole tank straight into the tank and then fill the 50% up straight from the tap?

I have no idea what all my plants are. I know I have some Amazon Swords, some Amazonion Frogbites and some that look just like grass (which I assume IS...grass? lol) Other than that I have one that I have no idea what it is (it's kinda darker green and has very long quite thin leaves with edges that are kinda sqiggly). Then I have some tiny plants that look like they might be related to AS's. I'm good aren't I, I really need to learn about plants.

What do Water Sprites look like?