New Aquarium - Levels Way Out

[jonwhite2k]

Hi, bought a 90L aquarium about two weeks ago. Set it up correctly using the cycle bottle etc. provided but the levels seem to still be way out...

PH 7.6+
High range PH 8.2
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrate NO2 5.0ppm+(though it says this is normal for the first few weeks in a new aquarium)
Nitrate NO3 approx 160ppm

I'm using PH DOWN but this isn't really helping.

Several days ago I bought two apple snails and five neon tetras... snails are healthy and three of the tetras are but the other two died. One seemed to have breathing problems constantly opening and closing its mouth and its fins were constantly twitching. The other died over night and seemed to have it's fins attacked.

Doing a partial water change today but any advice on getting the levels to a more appropriate level would be great.

Many Thanks

 

[Harlequins]

Welcome

Unfortunately you are in a 'fish in cycle' your filter has not built up enough bacteria to support your fish.

Without going into in depth about the cycling process,have a read in the beginners section,theres a link under my signature pic.

At this moment to save you tetras do a good 75% waterchange with dechlorinated water,leave it for a while then test the water again,you ammonia & nitrite needs to be has close to zero has possible. if they are still reading above 0.25ppm then do another waterchange.

Good luck

 

[mattlee]

the bottled cycle stuff is a waste of time and just a money making scam so dont think this will cycle your tank. with readings of ammonia or nitrite instant water changes are needed until it reads 0 im affraid. this process will need to be repeated every day until the filter is able to cope with the fish bioload so make sure you have plenty of dechlorinator to hand. the fish you bought (neons) are prone to not lasting long in an un cycled tank as they are quite a sensitive fish and my guess is that the 2 that have died were poisoned by the very high nitrite levels. anything above 0 is toxic for fish when it comes to ammonia and nitrite. nitrate levels are acceptable within reason and should be ideally kept below 40-60 ppm, this is done by doing weekly water changes on your tank. this will also replace any lost minerals and nutrients etc that have been used up by the fish for growth etc. the amount of water that needs to be changed depends on the bioload of the fish so with 3 neons and 2 snails it wont be massive but it needs to read 0 still for ammonia and nitrite.
you are currently in a fish in cycle and there is an article refering to this in the beginers section of the forum so it might be worth a good read so you understand the nitrogen cycle and what is required on your tank i would be very suprised if the remaining neons make it though. if yiu still want to do a fish in cycle then platys or less sensitive fish may be of use but i would reccomend a fishless cycle to prevent further deaths.

the bottled cycle stuff is a waste of time and just a money making scam so dont think this will cycle your tank. with readings of ammonia or nitrite instant water changes are needed until it reads 0 im affraid. this process will need to be repeated every day until the filter is able to cope with the fish bioload so make sure you have plenty of dechlorinator to hand. the fish you bought (neons) are prone to not lasting long in an un cycled tank as they are quite a sensitive fish and my guess is that the 2 that have died were poisoned by the very high nitrite levels. anything above 0 is toxic for fish when it comes to ammonia and nitrite. nitrate levels are acceptable within reason and should be ideally kept below 40-60 ppm, this is done by doing weekly water changes on your tank. this will also replace any lost minerals and nutrients etc that have been used up by the fish for growth etc. the amount of water that needs to be changed depends on the bioload of the fish so with 3 neons and 2 snails it wont be massive but it needs to read 0 still for ammonia and nitrite.
you are currently in a fish in cycle and there is an article refering to this in the beginers section of the forum so it might be worth a good read so you understand the nitrogen cycle and what is required on your tank i would be very suprised if the remaining neons make it though. if yiu still want to do a fish in cycle then platys or less sensitive fish may be of use but i would reccomend a fishless cycle to prevent further deaths.

also dont mess with the pH. a stable pH is by far better than a fluctuating one. using pH up or down is hard to keep it at a steady level due to the chemicals not lasting and being removed when you do a water change etc. most fish will tolerate pH's that are not like their wild water as most fish are not caught from the wild and are tank pr farm bred

 

[jonwhite2k]

Thanks for the advice. I've filled a clean bucket up, added the necessary fluids and after a couple of hours the PH and Nitrate levels are a lot lower. Still too high but it's the first time I've seen them come down.
At my local aquarium shop they said it is common to have high PH levels in the local water around here.

 

[mattlee]

Thanks for the advice. I've filled a clean bucket up, added the necessary fluids and after a couple of hours the PH and Nitrate levels are a lot lower. Still too high but it's the first time I've seen them come down.
At my local aquarium shop they said it is common to have high PH levels in the local water around here.

i wouldnt worry too much about pH levels. as i said earlier a stable pH is far better than a pH thats up and down all the time as it will stress the fish.

 

[jonwhite2k]

Hi, I did a 25% water change today (only down to lack of equipment). AMMONIA is just below 0.25ppm BUT NITRITE is sky high 5.0+.
NITRATE is 160+

I'm going to do a 50% water change tomorrow morning now I've got the relevant equipment to do it correctly.

Using Aqua Safe during all water changes.

 

[mattlee]

i would go even bigger and do a 75% water change. the big level change may stress the fish a bit but its better for them in the long run

 

[moochy13]

bear in mind nitrates (i think) are acceptable at 40ppm, and your tap water will have some in anyway. mine has about 40ppm, you wont be able to - and shouldnt be able to - get this reading down to 0. are you testing with a liquid based kit? some strips are well off the mark, though ive had decent readings from API strips. still not as accurate as liquid kits though. get a liquid kit of ebay if you dont have one, they're stupid expensive in shops.

 

[jonwhite2k]

I have a liquid kit, £30 Will look on ebay in the future!

Completed a 75% water change today, Ammonia is now reading 0. However, Nitrite is still reading 5+ and Nitrate is still too high. I'll carry on with 25% water changes each day until it sorts itself out I guess.

Thanks again for the advice, much appreciated (how come the staff at aquatics shops don't give this sort of advice??!!)

 

[fluttermoth]

If your nitrite is 5+, you really need to be doing another large water change today; maybe even two; any nitrite reading above 0 needs immediate large WCs to bring in down IMO.

 

[Skins]

If your nitrite is 5+, you really need to be doing another large water change today; maybe even two; any nitrite reading above 0 needs immediate large WCs to bring in down IMO.

+1

 

[ArnieStinger]

ditch the PH down and concentrate on water quality

after 2 days or so the PH will naturally lower due to aeration.

 

[golfzzin]

Hi, i still dont have a lot of experiance as most on here, but i have been through things similer to yourself recently.

I started by doing 25% - 50% water changes daily but this really didn't help, the only way i got these levels down was with BIG water changes, i was doing 90% changes daily sometimes twice a day (if it was twice i'd do a 90% in the morning then a 50% later on)

It took a while but im glad to say the tank is now cycled.

Unfortunatly i lost two fish during this, but i do think without the action i took i would have lost the whole lot

Matt.

 

[jonwhite2k]

Big water changes it is then!
Looking through my API test kit instructions it states you can use API NITRA-ZORB which removes nitrite... would this be worth doing as a temporary measure as I have a few fish in there already?