Oh No, Tests Are Too High.. Dont Know Why

[minxfishy]

Morning Shelagh, my your up awfully early! Glad they all seem fine, see how the tests come out today, if they are fairly low or 0 (fingers crossed) then I would feed them once but only a small amout. Dont worry about it too much, they can survive a good while yet before they get too many rumbles in their tummies

 

[shelaghfishface]

good morning Minxfishy
no not 0 that would be asking too much apparently
ammonia 0.25-0.50 (really tricky to tell even outside)
nitrite 0.25
nitrate 5
im thinking i should do a smallish wc to shift the ammonia level again ? what do you think, i was thinking maybe 25% so i dont loose the nitrite which as you said i need a bit of to get through this

thanks shelagh xxx

 

[minxfishy]

Yeah maybe a 30% w/c, test again in a couple of hours. You might need to do another 30% later on tonight. Bet your going through a lot of dechlor

 

[shelaghfishface]

lol, yes i am, i got 2 jumbo bottles (just incase) but thankgoodness i did,
im just in the middle of a WC on Jambos tank then ill get back to this one, thanks minx, you are a star

shelagh xxxxxxxx

 

[shelaghfishface]

hia, have tested again it
nitrite0.25
ammonia0.25
nitrate.5

seems to be impossible to shift the last bit( but i do hear you when you say i need that last wee bit+the fish are all fine on apperance), i have done one water change on the tank today(early this morning) and like you say minx i will do another later on this evening
shelagh xxx

 

[kj23502]

Just let the tank sit at .25ppm or below. Remember after this is all said and done and water is normal you can still loose fish for awhile afterward. So if you have a sudden death, it could just be due to this.

Don't worry though, this happened to me a couple months ago on my 125 usg and I haven't lost any fish from it. They may be ok in the end, but thought I'd warn you so you'd know.

Don't forget to increase airation in the tank if you can. Nitrite suffocates them and ammonia burns them But you do need a little bit in there to finish off the cycle. Also raising the temp slightly is said to have an effect on bacteria growth as heat makes things speed up. Just put it towards the higher end of what your fish can tolerate...don't bake them though.

 

[minxfishy]

I know its a pain in the butt to get rid of that last 0.25, you could do more w/c's but in the end with no ammonia or nitrite the cycle will not really finish, you will end up doing water changes forever!! It probably feels like that already. I know how you feel, I have one tank 65L that I cannot shift the last 0.25 nitrite on, I come down to it every morning and pray for the blue to stay bright, but inevitably it gets to the light purple each time!!!

Have you tried putting some of your mature media in as well? Might help a bit.

 

[shelaghfishface]

who knows maybe tommorow will be my lucky day lol

dont really have media of the same type to put in there,as this 2nd one was unused,what i have got tho is a tonne of filter wool in my external filter that i could swap for the filter wool in the 2nd fluval,its been in the external for ages now, maybe it will help a bit??

shelagh xxx

 

[kj23502]

Just don't take more than 50% of the good filtration junk from your established tank. I wouldn't take that much myself. About 25% is what I'd do. In established tanks bacteria have the capacity to double every 24-48 hours.

Anything that may help speed up the process is good at this point.

Try IT

 

[shelaghfishface]

cheers ill get right onto it

 

[shelaghfishface]

must be my lucky day!!!

cant tell you how chuffed i am, thanks for the help minx, ill keep testing tho to make sure it stays this way

shelagh xxxx

ps this was without adding the floss from my external, as i just went to open the filter to get on to it and my daughter fell off the bed,so had to see to her, but worked out well

 

[minxfishy]

Great stuff, I knew you could do it Test daily for a week or so, just to be on the safe side. Hope your daughter's ok now.

 

[kj23502]

Wow, that went fast

Glad it's over for you and hopefully it's smooth sailing

 

[shelaghfishface]

Wow, that went fast

Glad it's over for you and hopefully it's smooth sailing

cant tell you how pleased i am,i thought it waould take at least 5 days,im going to test again this eve just to be sure

shelagh xxx

 

[ALW]

Well Done