Im At My Wits End - Can Anyone Shed Some Light On This Nightmare?

[ellena]

That is one of the most expensive ways to dechlorinate. I think it's 5ml to 20l if I recall rightly? Prime and pond dechlor cost about the same price, but 5ml treats 200l!
Ouch to being on a water meter with this problem
Curious about the boiling up pans comment, do you not have a hot water supply?

 

[Gilli]

That is one of the most expensive ways to dechlorinate. I think it's 5ml to 20l if I recall rightly? Prime and pond dechlor cost about the same price, but 5ml treats 200l!
Ouch to being on a water meter with this problem
Curious about the boiling up pans comment, do you not have a hot water supply?

I know its expensive Ellena - I have used pond dechlorinator but its hard to get it in the winter as its a seasonal thing for fish shops and they dont stock it. Ive managed to get some off of Ebay now so that will save me some money.

Regarding my hot water - it comes from a cylinder storage tank in the airing cupboard and is encased in an insualtion foam - so not knowing if it contains copper ive never taken a chance and used the hot water from it. I boil up large pans and add that to my cold.

Off now to do my daily water change again as my readings are the same.....

 

[blake323]

I'm going to be the odd man out and agree with the filter company. In my experience water changes should be avoided during a tank cycle. I realize this is an established tank, but as was mentioned above, something must have happened to your bio filter during the filter change. You mentioned that your old filter's water flow would sometimes be a trickle; this actually could have been the start of your troubles. It's possible that the bacteria wasn't receiving enough oxygen because of the decreased water flow, and started dying off. If you are still feeding the tank I would definitely stop, and restart after the cycle is completed. Also, consider holding off on the water changes for a week or two; it's better for your fish in the long run to be exposed to a momentary spike, instead of prolonged exposure to high levels of ammonia and nitrite. JMO.

Good luck.
Blake

 

[Gilli]

Thanks for your reply. Lost one of my beloved panda corys this morning - im gutted as ive had him for
2 years

 

[coldcazzie]

Afraid I've no ideas really, but I just wanted to say that you're not the only member here who ahs had this problem. The one that stick in my mind eventually decided to use some Zeolite to give herself a break. Not that that would solve the problem, but I just wanted to reassure you you're not the first person who has never-ending ammonia and cant figure out why!

Random after thought: did the new media in your new filter need washing before putting in? Just with you putting all your old media in the new filter it should have been instantly able to cope with the same bioload, unless something happened to it, so maybe the new media you topped it up with wasn't clean or something? It's the only thing I can think of and I may be way off base but... *shrug* just a tought!

 

[Gilli]

Thanks for your reply - to know that im not the only one this has happened to really does help. Before I primed the new filter I made sure I washed all the new media (cermaic hoops and sponges) in a bucketfull of tank water that I took out so I thought id covered everything. It really is a mystery.

 

[MisterAtlantis]

Hi Gill,
What are your readings at the moment?
If possible and if you haven't already would get an independent water test maybe from your lfs just to make sure you are not getting false ammonia reading,

 

[Gilli]

Hi Gill,
What are your readings at the moment?
If possible and if you haven't already would get an independent water test maybe from your lfs just to make sure you are not getting false ammonia reading,

Hi - readings today were ammonia 0.50 nitrite 0 nitrate 20

I dont think im getting false readings because ive tested the tap water and that is coming up as ammonia 0

 

[ellena]

Copper's only bad for shrimp though isn't it? Do you have shrimp? And whether the tank contains copper or not, the water will be sat in and travelling through copper pipes anyway.
I would definitely use it, especially with the current situation.

 

[Gilli]

Ive read that hot water cylinder storage tanks can contain traces of other metals too so you are not advised to use the hot water if it comes from a storage tank. In the 2 years ive kept fish ive always boiled pans so as the saying goes if its not broke dont fix it!

 

[MisterAtlantis]

Hi Gill,
What are your readings at the moment?
If possible and if you haven't already would get an independent water test maybe from your lfs just to make sure you are not getting false ammonia reading,

Hi - readings today were ammonia 0.50 nitrite 0 nitrate 20

I dont think im getting false readings because ive tested the tap water and that is coming up as ammonia 0

Hi Gill,
Are you getting any elevated nitrite reading as would expect this to follow increased ammonia?
The following article may help http/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm if you are doing daily 50% water changes I would consider cutting it back a little to let your water mature a bit.

 

[ellena]

Have you read this thread? Your dechlorinator will more than likely remove any harmful metals in the water

 

[Gilli]

Hi Gill,
What are your readings at the moment?
If possible and if you haven't already would get an independent water test maybe from your lfs just to make sure you are not getting false ammonia reading,

Hi - readings today were ammonia 0.50 nitrite 0 nitrate 20

I dont think im getting false readings because ive tested the tap water and that is coming up as ammonia 0

Hi Gill,
Are you getting any elevated nitrite reading as would expect this to follow increased ammonia?
The following article may help http/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm if you are doing daily 50% water changes I would consider cutting it back a little to let your water mature a bit.

Hi - no im getting 0 nitrite reading. Im not doing a 50% water change only did that on the one day out of the last 5 weeks that I got a nitrite reading of 0.25 - since then nirite has always been 0. Im doing daily water changes of 25-30% only.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

tey larger water changes 50-75% I know its a lot but if you do 25% on a .50 reading it will be .30 after the water change...if you get my meaning, try the bigger change and see if it boosts, plus check your pH. if its 6 or less the cycling will stall

 

[Gilli]

tey larger water changes 50-75% I know its a lot but if you do 25% on a .50 reading it will be .30 after the water change...if you get my meaning, try the bigger change and see if it boosts, plus check your pH. if its 6 or less the cycling will stall

I really dont know what to do for the best now - im totally confused. I didnt do a water change yesterday and the ammonia reading is now between 0.50 and 1.0. I have not fed them for 5 days now. Some people are telling me to to do water changes others not to - i just dont know what to do.....

My Ph is 8.0 and always has been.