Help Please! Too Much Ammonia

[Smells a bit fishy]

Ok checked the parameters again. Looks like ammonia is <.25 maybe 0 hard to say. Nitrites are 0 and nitrates are 25.

Does this mean my tank is close to cycling?

Oh had another Molly die this morning. However it wasn't because of the water, it's because he got his head stuck in a hole stupid fish!

 

[Blubble37]

ok good luck, looks like your tank is finally settling down at last! what filter are you using in that tank at the moment (and what one is in the 175 ltr tank?). Good luck mate

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

I don't know about 175 but this one is Fluval internal 4 plus. One that came with the tank as a set.

I will have a look at the new tank when I pick it up, also how do I set up the new tank? Do I add ammonia to it and one filter media from my existing tank? Or will that mess up my current tank too much?

 

[Blubble37]

~Aha, good choice of filter. No ammonia to be added. You dont want any anyway to be ideal. Buy one of those bacteria in a bottle things and dose the water with twice the recommended dose and leave for 2 days so it can start cycling. The rest of the bacteria will kick in after abot 5 days. Good luck

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Oh ok. So it doesnt need ammonia as there will be bacteria already on the filter? Cool thanks for the help

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Right. The 175 litre tank actually turned into 100 litres of water after 25 kg of sand substrate. #41#### people don't advertise correctly.

I am also having trouble with the eihm external filter that came with it. Second hand so didn't come with instruction. Got the assembly instructions however it doesn't seem to be pumping at all. Where could I post this as here isn't the best place

 

[Blubble37]

well, can you upload a picture of the pump and the best place would be here as it is kinda an emergency

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

It's ok. Done it now. I didnt realise I had to fill up the canister of water. Stupid me.

Added double dose of stresszyme to the water. And in a day or 2 will add a filter pad from my existing tank. With that should I put it in my tank or go the extra hassle and put it in my filter?

 

[orli]

Hi there, how is your tank doing? Iv just started a fish in cycle, tank has been up and running for 9 days and water was perfect before adding fish today, levels just got high. Ammonia 0.25 Nitrite between .5 and 1. Just did a water change and levels are now down to Ammonia 0 and Nitrites between 0 and .25, closer to 0 though, it seems such a fine balance between trying to cylcle the tank and making sure the fish are healthy. Especialy when LFS said not to change the water for the first 2 weeks. Hope your tank is doing well

 

[fluttermoth]

Obviously it's a good idea to let it run for a couple of days so you can do the aquascaping, check for leaks and all that stuff, but if you're going to move all the fish from your 50l to the larger tank, you can just move all the filter media and the fish at the same time.
The old media does need to go into the new filter though, sorry about that!

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

What's aquascaping? Never heard of that before.

So I can transfer the fish one the water has settled down and de-misted? Quite cloudy I think that's normal though?

However we are thinking about keeping the other tank to house smaller fish too. So I may just move one filter pad over. Also the new tank has a very large external filter, do I have to wait a little longer so the bacteria can multiply more?

I apologise for all the questions lol. I'm always very curious

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Hi there, how is your tank doing? Iv just started a fish in cycle, tank has been up and running for 9 days and water was perfect before adding fish today, levels just got high. Ammonia 0.25 Nitrite between .5 and 1. Just did a water change and levels are now down to Ammonia 0 and Nitrites between 0 and .25, closer to 0 though, it seems such a fine balance between trying to cylcle the tank and making sure the fish are healthy. Especialy when LFS said not to change the water for the first 2 weeks. Hope your tank is doing well

Yeh my LFS told me to do the same, so I didn't really check it until I took the water to the shop just on the off chance. I did panic. Even then they man told me to do 10-15% water changes daily.

Fish are ok now after loosing a couple of mollies. Just going to do another water check now, make sure everything is still ok, I don't fancy doing more water moving. Quite tired from setting up my second tank. If I have to I will though. Good to hear your tank is doing well. Just out of curiosity what size tank have you got and which fish?

 

[fluttermoth]

What's aquascaping? Never heard of that before.

Aquascaping is just putting your rocks, plants and wood or what-have-you have into a pleasing arrangement. I always like to spend a couple of days without fish so I can move things round (every half hour usually!) until I'm happy.

So I can transfer the fish one the water has settled down and de-misted? Quite cloudy I think that's normal though?

Yes, as long as it's dechlorinated and the right temperature. The cloudiness is quite normal; it's bits of gunk and whatever from the gravel that you've missed with your washing! The filter will soon clear it away.

However we are thinking about keeping the other tank to house smaller fish too. So I may just move one filter pad over. Also the new tank has a very large external filter, do I have to wait a little longer so the bacteria can multiply more?

What you need to do is think of the filter media (the pads or sponges) as being paired with the fish, not the tank or the filter. Unless you're going to be putting fish in the smaller tank within the next couple of days, you'll want to put all the media in the bigger filter, or the bacteria will die off.
The bacteria will quite rapidly expand into the available space, but you'll only get as many as are needed to proccess the wastes your fish are creating.
When you put fish in the smaller tank, you can get the pads out of your external and put them back in the old filter again. There may not be enough bacteria intially, but they'll soon multiply; you'll just have to moniter the levels for a few days until they build up (a bit like doing a fish-in cycle, but much, much shorter and less stressful!)

I apologise for all the questions lol. I'm always very curious

No need to apologise; we like answering questions, or we wouldn't come on here

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Ok thank you. Well we have had a major issue with the external filter, that 60 ltrs of water is on the floor dripping to the floor below. So now going to have the filter from my old tank in this new one as I dont trust this filter any more!

I will let the water get to temperature and cloudiness go and will move them over.

Thanks again for all the great advice

I will get pics on here as soon as I get the fish moved over as I'm sure you would like to see it.

 

[fluttermoth]

Oh, I'm sorry about your filter! Looking forward to pics