Help With These Test Results

[Jamie24]

Day 1.

Ammonia - Zero
Nitrite - Zero
Nitrate - 1ppm
PH - 6.9

Added 8 Cories & 3 plants that afternoon.

Day 2.

Ammonia - 0.08ppm
Nittrite - Zero
Nitrate - 3ppm
PH - 6.9

Day 3 (today)

Ammonia - 0.1ppm
Nitrite - 0.025ppm
Nitrate - 4ppm
PH - 6.9

All fish look very happy, swimming all over the tank, going through sand & showing no signs of any ill health but I'm slightly worried that the Ammonia is slowly creping up on the test, I'm also using Purigen & Prime & feeding 1 sinking pellet per day but it seems to be being eaten within the half hour recommended on the tub, should I let them go without food today & see if ammonia drops tomorrow ?

 

[BETTY BOO]

did you cycle the tank before you put the fish in?? by the results i doubt you did.the ammonia and nitrite are too high and you need to do a water change to bring it down.

corys need a mature tank around 3 months +.personally i would take them back to the store.

 

[Jamie24]

did you cycle the tank before you put the fish in?? the ammonia and nitrite are too high and you need to do a water change to bring it down.

corys need a mature tank around 3 months +

Yes a full fishless cycle was done 5 weeks prior to adding fish, all was well & all test results were fine at the time as posted on numerous other threads... I know it's to high, just asking why it's rising so much when the cycle was done in full...


You doubt I did ??? check the thread titled "3rd week of my cycle"

 

[BETTY BOO]

scrap that sorry just see it .most ppl answer to what they see and dont look up past info first.
you really need to do a water change to get the levels down.
if all was good with your cycle im not sure why theres a mini cycle going on.do a partial water change today and test tommorow.its prob best not to feed them today also.

 

[leggoman]

what size tank do you have?
what size are the fish you added?
ten fish added in a fish-less tank you may of just over loaded it.
don't feed for a day or two
20% water change
and test again

 

[Jamie24]

Thanks guys.

20%-25% Water change just completed... To answer the above questions it's an Aqua One 620T, 130lts & I've added 8 Sterbai Cories about 1.5 inch long on Friday.

My fishless cycle completed on Monday but carried on & done my big water change on Thursday before adding the fish the next day

 

[BETTY BOO]

adding the 8 corys would not have been too much as your filter would have had enough bacteria to cope with the ammonia they produce.all the fish you see in my sig i added within 2 days after my tank cycled and alls been great.test the water again tommorow.due to you getting the fish a day after you done the water change.some of the bacteria may have died off but i doubt that much.btw i love the filters on the aquaone 620t i nearly brought 1 myself.they are a nice tank also.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Day 3 (today)

Ammonia - 0.1ppm
Nitrite - 0.025ppm
Nitrate - 4ppm
PH - 6.9

All fish look very happy, swimming all over the tank, going through sand & showing no signs of any ill health but I'm slightly worried that the Ammonia is slowly creping up on the test, I'm also using Purigen & Prime & feeding 1 sinking pellet per day but it seems to be being eaten within the half hour recommended on the tub, should I let them go without food today & see if ammonia drops tomorrow ?

Jamie those parameters are nothing to worry about, I wouldn't even have changed any water as it may make things worse (by shocking the bacteria). As long as you've got Prime in the tank the fish will be fine, as you've observed. If it continues to rise and the ammonia and/or the nitrite rise to 0.25 then start changing water to reduce.

Did you add or change anything, apart from the corys?

 

[Jamie24]

Changed nothing else, I added 8 cories, 3 plants & fed 1 pellet about an hour after adding them.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

I suppose it's just possible that you brought something in on the plants that is affecting the filter but not the Corys but unless you see a dramatic increase in ammonia or the corys start behaving unusually I wouldn't worry.

 

[Jamie24]

Changed nothing else, I added 8 cories, 3 plants & fed 1 pellet about an hour after adding them.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

I see the problem, you added twice as many corys as you thought you did!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I'm inclined to agree with PO. at 0.1ppm for the ammonia and .025 for nitrite, you may be just be experiencing a tiny spike from the addition of fish. What did you use for your fishless cycle as an ammonia source? (i've been gone so ive not seen the thread) and what did ppm did you take it to? Perhaps the bioload of the fish exceeds that and it may take a day or two to get on track.

But as Prime said, if those levels get to 0.25 or above, then do a water change. At the levels they were at, it may be better to let it balance itself out.

 

[Jamie24]

The Cories are up & down the tank a lot, not going for air as there stopping half way but there not spending much time on the bottom... I thought it might just be that they have the tank to themselves but would you class this as unusual ??

Homebase 9% Ammonia was used to 5ppm initially until that dropped to zero then I dosed to 3ppm every time it was needed

 

[Jamie24]

Just to let you guys know how it's going...

Yesterdays test results were

Ammonia - 0.05ppm
Nitrite - Zero
Nitrate - 3ppm
PH - 6.9

Today

Ammonia - 0.02ppm
Nitrite - Zero
Nitrate - 4ppm
PH - 6.9

Seems better to me.