It's All Going Wrong ... Can Someone Advise Me Please

[Akasha72]

Hi all,

I changed some of my gravel yesterday for something softer for my cory's (it's still gravel just smooth stones instead of rough)
The tank has looked a little cloudy all day so I checked my water about an hour ago.

Ph had gone up to between 7.2 and 7.6

Ammonia was zero thankfully

Nitrite was 0.25 - 0.50

Nitrate was about 5 as normal.

Had a minor panic and set to work syphoning water. It then made sense to strip the tank, get the fish into one of the buckets of tank water and take out the rest of the old gravel and get the rest of the new stuff in (I bought a large bag this morning)
By the time I had done I'd taken out almost all the water (althought the bucket with the fish in did go in cos they were already stressed at being netted and I didn't want to go through it again)

I've just re-tested the water after changing it and it now reads as

PH 7.2
Ammonia 0
Nitite 0
Nitrate 0

How long do I leave it before checking again? I'm terrified I'm gonna wake up with dead fish in the morning now

Ps the tank still looks cloudy but the fish are very active and investigating everything

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It sounds like it is sorted now. I would suggest that you test in 12 hours or so. If nitrites are high again, just do a water change. You don't need to take the fish out of the tank. Just remove as much water as you need to, up to the point that the fish just swim upright, if necessary. Then refill with temp matched dechlorinated water.



What probably happened was that by mucking around in the substrate, you kicked up some waste that had accumulated there and your bacteria just weren't ready to deal with it. The water change eliminated the vast majority of that now, so you should be fine going forward.

 

[Akasha72]

I don't normally take the fish out for water changes, I just took them out cos I knew removing gravel would stir up horrible stuff and I didn't want any of the fish getting hurt when I was putting the new gravel in. I hate trying to catch them - they get so stressed

Thanks Eagles, I'm hoping that's the end of it. It is starting to clear slowly now. I'll do another water test in the morning and be prepared to get the buckets out again

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Good stuff... I forgot when typing that that you were finishing the substrate change.

 

[Akasha72]

I was thinking it might be best not to feed them for 24 hours aswell ... good idea or bad idea?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Good idea. Not feeding your fish for 24 hours is never a bad idea. They don't need food every day under normal circumstances. In light of this, giving it a day (or two) without food should be fine.

 

[Akasha72]

Thanks for the reassurance. I thought I was getting it right but at the same time I was worried there was something I'd missed.

 

[Akasha72]

I've just checked my water and all is fine except for the PH. That's fallen to 6.4. Another water change or leave well alone and see if it comes back up by itself??

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The pH won't come back up on its own. What is the tap pH (after standing for 24 hours)?


What was the pH before?


A water change is the best method to bring the pH back in line with your tap water. If these values are far apart though, you will want to add the water back into the tank very slowly to allow the fish to acclimate to the new conditions. One of the other factors that isn't often tested, but is generally more important than pH is hardness. Again, if the hardness is drastically different from the tap to the tank, a large fast water change can be detrimental to your fish's health. In my opinion, it is always better to do the water refill slowly rather than quickly. Sure it takes longer, but so what?! Ultimately, the goal is to do what is best for your fish, right?


There are two ways to go about this...

One: Change a large percentage (75+) of your water in one big go, but add the water back SLOWLY. Don't try to add it back as fast as you can. Do it in stages. If you are using buckets, put part of the bucket into the tank. Wait 5-10 minutes. Then add some more from the bucket. Then wait some more time. Then add some more and wait some more. If you are using a hose to refill, just use it at a slow trickle rather than full power. Take your time with this. Use the opportunity to really gravel vac up the substrate and get as much gunk and other stuff out as possible. (I know that you just did this, but it will never be as clean as it was when it was first set-up. Try not to disturb things that you don't suck up though.)


Two: Do a smaller water change (<50%) now (still adding back the water slowly, but not as slowly. Then, do another one 12 hours later. This will bring the pH, hardness, etc. closer to the tap conditions, but again it will take more time. Either way is fine. The one thing you DON'T want to do is change the water parameters quickly. Think of this as an acclimation process, the same as when you first introduced your fish to your tank. You didn't rush into that, because your water conditions could have been very different from the store that kept them. So, you change it slowly to allow them to acclimate. The same is going on here. If your tap water conditions are very different from your tank, then you need to slowly acclimate the fish to your tap conditions again. (BTW, you need to do this, no matter what, so why wait on it... the closer your tap conditions are to the tank, the better for you and your fish in the long run. )

 

[Akasha72]

Thanks for getting back to me Eagles. As it was several hours ago since I posted I've already done 2 things, I've taken 20% of water out and rinsed the filter sponges in the removed tank water.
I've also re-rested the PH. It's come up a little bit - the colour was yellow this morning and it's was a bit greener this afternoon.

My usual levels are PH7-7.2, zero ammonia and nitrite and around 5 nitrate ... it's been that since my cycle finished a few weeks ago.

At the present the water is a little cloudy. I've turned to filter up a little to try see if it will clear. The fish are behaving normally, swimming around normally and digging around in the gravel like they normally do. I put in about 4 catfish pellets and a very small pinch of flake and they all ate as usual (I know I said I wouldn't feed them but a small amount shouldn't harm too much).

What ever is happening the fish seem to be alright ... for now anyway.

My main concern is that by changing my substrate I've created either a bacterial bloom or a mini cycle (I keep reading about both on here but my experience is limited with me being fairly new)

I changed the water this morning so after reading your response I'm thinking about checking my PH again this evening and changing another 20% if it's still low. I'll then check it again in the morning and see where I stand.

That sound okay?

 

[Akasha72]

Forgot to say, the last time I tested my tap water it was about PH 7 and our water here tends to be quite soft but I don't have a hardness tester so I can't say for definate

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Sounds fine.


The not feeding thing was imperative, but just a good rule of thumb. Whenever you have an ammonia spike not feeding for a full 24-48 hours is a standard practice. More food = more waste.


If your pH isn't closer to your tap conditions, I would change more than just 20%. Maybe go up to 50%. Ultimately, you are going to need to get it back to your "normal" conditions, so why wait? Just change it slow and everything will be fine.

 

[Akasha72]

Okay thanks. I didn't want to change too much this morning for the reason you explained. I thought about it and thought 'If I change too much it might send it the other way too quickly and that's gonna affect the fish'. Now I know a bit extra shouldn't harm if I take it slow I'll test again later and change the 50 if it's still below 7.

Many thanks again

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The biggest thing you need as a fishkeeper is patience. Rushing into things just gets you into trouble. Remember, fishkeeping is supposed to be a RELAXING hobby. So, if there are two different speed options to do something, always lean to the slow side.

 

[Akasha72]

I took up fish keeping to reduce my stress levels ... think I picked the wrong hobby lol