Hospital Tank Is Speed Cycling - With Preggo Fish In It!

[marcybeth0281]

So I have my preggo platy in my small 5g hospital tank because she is rather large and hopefully about to give birth and I want her to have the babies separated from the community tank.

I put her there about a week ago with some mature media from my established tank since the hospital tank had no beneficial bacteria yet. Some crushed coral rounded out the pH to a good 7.0-7.2 (we have normally very acidic water). Ammonia has been minimal, and when I do get a tiny reading, I just do a 50% water change to get it back to 0. She was very stressed the first 2 days - flitting all over the tank and very spooked when someone would walk by, but I did all I could to make her comfy. Put towel over the back and sides of the tank to minimize her view and made sure the temperature was exactly the same as the old tank. She's been eating well and is eager to eat.

Anyway....the crux of my problem is that because the media I put in was healthy and mature, the hospital tank is now going through a speed cycle, and yesterday I had nitrites of 1ppm in my reading. I quickly did a 70% water change and levels evened back out. But now because our water is so acidic. the pH is back to 6.0. I tested again before leaving work this morning and nitrites were back to 1ppm, so I did another 50% change, but this time added some water from my established 46g tank (with a perfect 7.2 pH) along with the fresh water so the pH wouldn't crash to below a 6.0.

What am I supposed to do? The poor thing is having her nitrites go wacky, and her pH is jumping back & forth from below 6.0 to 7.2. This cannot be a good environment for a fish about to give birth. What do you guys suggest I do? I don't want her to give birth in the large tank - I have a pearl gourami who is a bully and eats everything in sight. My 10g is currently going through a fishless cycle and is dosed high with ammonia, so she can't go in there.

UGH! HELP!

 

[marcybeth0281]

*sniff*

 

[marcybeth0281]

anything?

my readings have been

7/28(am):
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: .50ppm
pH: 7.2

(50% water change)

7/28(pm):
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: .50ppm
pH: 6.0 (because of the water change....we have very acidic water)

(70% water change)

7/29(am):
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 1ppm
pH: 6.0 or below

(70% water change)


Is there anything different I can be doing? Should I just hope for the best? What am I supposed to do about the low pH and having the good bacteria continue to cycle - I can't keep the pH up while continuing to do water changes to eliminate the nitrites. *sigh*

 

[m00se]

As far as I can see, you're doing everything you can. If your water from the tap is pH 6.0 (yikes) then aside from the crushed coral, large volume water changes as regularly as you're doing them, and regularly transferring filter media goop from your established tank into your hospital tank, you're pretty much doing everything right. I don't see anything else you could be doing at the moment, given your circumstances and your tap water stats. Does the tap water really come out at pH6.0?!

Otherwise, on balance, I think you've made the right choice. Chances are the fry would be munched in an instant in the main tank, and you sure as hell can't keep them in the fishless-cycle tank. Keep up with the regular water changes, don't worry too much about the acidity, keep a close eye on your ammonia / nitrites, and that's all I can think to suggest.

 

[marcybeth0281]

Yes, it's ridiculous - the tap water is maybe a smidge into the light green color, but quickly just settles into a pale yellow when it gets into the tank. I've always had trouble with pH since I've moved into the house I'm in now. I just used crushed coral and everything works out - unless I'm doing 2+ water changes a day!

UGH - I guess if the nitrites keep up at the 1ppm mark, I need to do a double water change in the morning and at night, too. I'm just hoping that the ridiculously low pH doesn't stunt the cycle and it just sits at this stage forever - because it's going to be MUCH harder to do 70% water changes once there are 20+ fry swimming around in the tank. I have a JOB, people!!!! My boss is going to kill me if I keep storming into work late due to water changes, lol.

Gah I hope this think speed cycles through before these babies drop.

 

[m00se]

Do you have anything in the tank that could be dropping the pH? Sounds weird if it's higher in the tap than it is in the tank...

 

[marcybeth0281]

I've always thought that, but it's the same in all 3 of my tanks and I have different substrate in all 3 tanks.

46g has filter sand substrate, plastic plants and decor - no live plants or woods
10g has gravel substrate, plastic plants and decor - no live plants or wood
5g hospital has no substrate and plastic plants - no live plants or woods

all 3 have a basic filter sponge and the 46g and 10g have activated carbon in a media bag.

I use stress coat water conditioner to my tap water. That's it. I use no other chemicals or additives. It's bizarre. I don't like to use chemical uppers, so I just use crushed coral to raise the pH. I stopped trying to figure it out and just gave in to the coral.

 

[marcybeth0281]

*New updates*

water tests have been the same yesterday and this morning. did 70% changes both times. added new crushed coral and got the pH back up to 6.5, but had to do another change this morning, so it might have crashed again.

I have planaria in the tank. Noticed them late last night. Did some reading up on them and I'm relieved they are harmless. Added some aquarium salt and hopefully that combined with the frequent water changes they will be gone. Since my platy is preggo, will the planaria do any harm to the fry?

What are the chances of the fry surviving with nitrites present at about .25ppm all the time? I can get it down to trace amounts, but within 4 or 5 hours, they are back up again. I'm worried.

 

[OldMan47]

When you are doing frequent water changes like that, you will need to use something faster acting than crushed coral to control the pH. I would use a pinch of baking soda in the new water and test the pH before adding it to the tank. It will help stabilize the pH and bring it above 7.0 quite readily. It is not a thing that I would use regularly, but in your situation it may be your only option. If you have enough storage space, you could prepare the water a few days ahead and treat it with the crushed coral so that it is ready to use as needed. That might take quite a bit of storage space to do right though.

 

[marcybeth0281]

I'll try that on the next change, OldMan. Thanks -

 

[sjolliff]

I used baking soda today went from 6.2 to 7.8 with 7 tspn in a 125l tank,

takes about 15mins to dissovle though

 

[marcybeth0281]

I used baking soda today went from 6.2 to 7.8 with 7 tspn in a 125l tank,

takes about 15mins to dissovle though

do you happen to know what 125l equates to in gallons (dumb americans, i know...haha)

nevermind - just did the conversion. about 33g. i'll need quite a bit less than that in my 5g. thanks! i'll try this tonight if the pH is still low.

 

[OldMan47]

That matches the Google converter very nicely MarcyBeth.

 

[marcybeth0281]

That matches the Google converter very nicely MarcyBeth.

google converter FTW!

 

[OldMan47]

I typed "125 litres in US gallons" into my Google toolbar and it gave me the 33.xxxxx gallons answer.