Just Checked My Friends Water.

[snowflake311]

OK so I have been helping my friend get her tank ready for some puffers. The store told her to get 3 goldfish can wait 2 weeks. I said you will need to do water changes and test your water. Well its been 2 weeks so she had be test the water. OMG the
Ammonia .05
nitrites 2.0
Nitrates almost 40

I ask have you been changing the water. She said no. I ask how are the fish she said fine none are dead. She has not been feeding them much. So I sent her home with a small siphon told her to do a 50% water change and I gave her some sponge from my established filter told her to put that in with the one she has. I am going to test her water again in a day.

What do you think caused such high readings. I am cycling my tank fishless and I have done a fish in cycle. Never did I have all show up at once like that. I think it might be due to the fact she never did a water change. What do you think would cause such crazy readings? Or do you think they are not that crazy?

 

[arobinson1984]

What size is the tank?

Did you say she has 3 goldfish in it now? they are huge waste producers and adding 3 at once will have produced a big spike.

Andy

 

[snowflake311]

What size is the tank?

Did you say she has 3 goldfish in it now? they are huge waste producers and adding 3 at once will have produced a big spike.

Andy

Oh yeah its a 10 Gal with 3 small goldfish. I know they will cause a spike but ammonia nitrites nitrate all at once? That is what I found a bit weird. But like I said she never changed the water so I feel that has something to do with it. Because the Nitrates are up so that should mean the cycle is done. But the Nitrites are still high and ammonia sill shows so I found that weird.

 

[drobbyb]

If she has an underperforming cycled filter you could see all at once since only part of the ammonia and nitrite are being converted. If the tank is only 2 weeks set up, I don't think that is the issue. It could be just as simple as nitrares in tap water though, and that's probably the issue.

 

[snowflake311]

Humm I'm pretty sure we have the same water we live in the same town and only 2 min away I have 0 nitrates in my tap. But your right that would make sence. I'm just going to have to see what her water is at in a day maybe the sponge from my filter will help.

Undeperforming cycled filter could be it. It's been almost 3 weeks.