Huuuge Mess!

[KittyKat]

My plans are to do water changes once a day (probably vacuuming gravel each time) until things clear up nicely. Should i use a water clarifier, or isnt it necessary?

No, these will harm the fish because they are usually flocculants.

Any other suggestions???

Do larger water changes and twice per day. What is the ammonia reading now?

 

[Hermithall]

Well done

 

[thisguyek]

alright...

so i just did a water test before i change about 75% of the water and vacuuming the gravel. the water itself seems to be clearing up quite a bit and there was mostly poo in the gravel. the fish were out and about swimming energetically, so that made me happy.

I was expecting a jump in something... so these results werent a surprise: Ammonia was between .25-.50, Nitrite was around .1 maybe (was a little darker blue than normal), Nitrates were about 20-30.

Still adding stability and stress coat+. I'm also keeping the lights off.

 

[KittyKat]

I was expecting a jump in something... so these results werent a surprise: Ammonia was between .25-.50, Nitrite was around .1 maybe (was a little darker blue than normal), Nitrates were about 20-30.

Both of those are still high enough to harm the fish in the long term. Your aim should be trying to get them as low as possible (even down to 0 ppm) with water changes. Those levels are more harmful to fish than larger and more frequent water changes. The 75% water change should have gotten the ammonia down to the 0.1 ppm level.. but you should still keep an eye on it.

Do check your tap water ammonia and nitrite after dechlorinating, just to be sure they're lower than the tank ammonia and nitrite.

 

[thisguyek]

I've done this before... the tap water contains trace to no ammonia or nitrites. it does contain about 5-10 for nitrates


I guess ill test/change water twice a day until i see improvement. any idea how long that could take?

would keeping activated carbon help with this?

 

[KittyKat]

I guess ill test/change water twice a day until i see improvement. any idea how long that could take?

Until you have removed all the food, so it's more based on the number of water changes and gravel vacs than on time.

would keeping activated carbon help with this?

Yes, it will help, but is not a substitute for water changes. Depending on your filtration, you may need to change the carbon on a daily basis.

 

[thisguyek]

I've been keeping a close eye on the tank. Tested water yester day which was high in ammonia and nitrite. did a water change.

Tested water this morning and there was nothing there. MAYBE a slight trace amount of ammonia. Tested again tonight and there was some ammonia that showed up, maybe somewhere around .25. i did another water change. Im almost positive I got the excess food out.

Water is clear again and the fish are simming around energeticly again!

 

[thisguyek]

ugh... just hit the wrong button loosing everything i just typed out! hate that...

so anyway... tested water last night and wasnt sure if there was an ammonia reading or not, so i decided to leave it be. Woke up and tested again this morning and this time i picked up a reading. not quite .25, but something. So i did a water change. As i was doing this, I came across a poor girl that didn't make it... This is the first loss of the stock that i moved into this 10 gal about 5 weeks or so, so im pretty beat up about it... I really hope that the rest of them dont follow suit.


I'm planning on throwing a chunk of filter from the 55gal into the 10gal to try and jump start it. I'm hoping that there is even a little bit of bacteria buildup in the 55gal to aid the 10gal a little as well. win-win hopeuflly

I'll keep ya posted!