Water chemistry not changing, no water changes and over feeding.

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Attloyden

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I have a weird issue. For the first month of cycling my 10 gallon tank i did get higher ammonia levels, but i did end up with nitrites and nitrates both as well. However i over cleaned my Bio sponge by squeezing it too many times and too hard in the aquarium water which i then threw out, because i wanted better flow through my filter. My ammonia spiked so i ended up buying Tertra safe start and adding in a new DIY Airated Biofilter

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I also added in some sponge inside my HOB filter, so that way if I need to clean out my sponge again because it is clogged and i accidentally over clean, i will have at least 2 backups and i won't go through a mini cycle.

However my chemistry has not changed in a week and a half. It's staying at .25 ppm ammonia 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates. I have 10 fish and 2 shrimp and the tank is moderately planted, with Java moss, Water sprite anubis and a large marimo moss ball. I also over feed, i give flakes two or three times a day and sometimes add in other food as well such as blood worms, algae wafers and Betta min.

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Is it normal to not have to do water changes because the chemistry does not change?
 
With live plants you do not experience a normal "cycle," so zero nitrite and nitrate I would expect here. The bacteria are still there, but behind the scenes so to speak. I confess I do not understand the ammonia not being zero. Do you have ammonia in the source water? Ammonia at 0.25 is very low, it may be slightly inaccurate tests. Or if chloramine is added to your municipal water that can do this.

Never overfeed fish. Regardless of other issues, this is bad for the fish and they will not be in good health.

Is it normal to not have to do water changes because the chemistry does not change?

You do water changes regularly to maintain a stable biology. Doing water changes as a reaction to test results or problems is not the way to go. Every week, do a 50-70% water change. This will work to establish a stable biological system.
 
With live plants you do not experience a normal "cycle," so zero nitrite and nitrate I would expect here. The bacteria are still there, but behind the scenes so to speak. I confess I do not understand the ammonia not being zero. Do you have ammonia in the source water? Ammonia at 0.25 is very low, it may be slightly inaccurate tests. Or if chloramine is added to your municipal water that can do this.

Never overfeed fish. Regardless of other issues, this is bad for the fish and they will not be in good health.



You do water changes regularly to maintain a stable biology. Doing water changes as a reaction to test results or problems is not the way to go. Every week, do a 50-70% water change. This will work to establish a stable biological system.
Wow! Byron took the words right out of my month this time. Weekly cleaning and water changes are a must or you will have issues down the road. My ammonia always tests out at .25ppm but it’s because of chloramine in our city water. I believe the reading is actually ammonium which was s not as dangerous as ammonia. I keep an ammonia alert in my tank and it never goes out if the Safe zone. I also test for total ammonia. Good luck.
 
I have well water, I test it before adding to the tank because it can fluctuate due to rainfall and it comes out as zero. The only reason i have not done any water changes is due to the fact Tetra safe start said to not do so for two weeks after adding it.and also to be sure i did not get a bad test kit i took it to the local pet supplies plus to have it tested and got the same result.

Also i did a little research on plants in the aquarium and found out that plants like to use ammonia first, nitrites second and lastly nitrates.

Since i have well water i am concerned about the brown diatoms growing all over the other plants due to higher silica and phosphorus, regularly changing the water with well water will just add more of these minerals so I might do a rainwater change next two times, 25%. Should also help with the PH being at 8.3

I'm wondering if the tank is even cycled, because i tested it after i started this thread and it went up closer to .50, and only gave a small pinch of flakes today, and they will get the same tomorrow though it will be betta min.
 
Diatoms due to high silicates are normal in newly established tanks and happens often. My newest tank did it and I use city tap water. Fought brown algae the first 3 months. Good luck. It will all settle down.
 
Given the mention of well water, I would have a professional test of a water sample carried out (by a water testing outfit) just to ascertain what exactly is in the water (you may already know this?). Fish can react to substances such as heavy metals at much lower levels than are "safe" for humans to drink (copper comes to mind). Diluting with rainwater or some form of "pure" water (distilled, reverse osmosis) is always an option depending.

I do not fully understand the Tetra SafeStart thing; bacteria live on surfaces, not in the water, and they colonize surfaces rapidly. So why they would recommend no water changes for two weeks, not sure. But I would do a weekly 50-70% WC from now on regardless. This will stabilize the chemistry and biology and that is always better for fish, and plants too. Provided the parameters (meaning here the GH and pH) are reasonably the same between source water (well/tap) and tank water, nothing bad can result from water changes.
 
I'm not sure about dissolved metals like copper or anything, but our well goes down 300 feet, and it is quite hard. I use water conditioner that is supposed to treat water which might have metal in it just in case. I'm more concerned that the PH of the water settles out around 8.3.even though it can come out of the tap sometimes at 6.5 or lower especially with lots of rain. the total dissolved solids of the tap water is about 330ppm while that of the rainwater I collect outside, (i now have 55 gallons of rainwater) is around 20ppm. I have been using tap water straight when the ph was around 6.5 and then i test the tank water with a pool tester and it comes around about 7.8 but then it goes right back up to 8.3

Oh I have been feeding the fish a lot less and the ammonia fell to 0ppm, nitrite 0pmm and nitrate 0ppm. Still have not done a water change. Saturday will be two weeks exactly so i will vacuum part of the gravel, gently clean the intake sponge on my HOB filter, and change 25% of the water with rainwater, I just happen to have a 2.5 gallon bucket.

The next day will probably test the PH and do another 25% just to make sure it does not go down too quickly.
 
I'm not sure about dissolved metals like copper or anything, but our well goes down 300 feet, and it is quite hard. I use water conditioner that is supposed to treat water which might have metal in it just in case. I'm more concerned that the PH of the water settles out around 8.3.even though it can come out of the tap sometimes at 6.5 or lower especially with lots of rain. the total dissolved solids of the tap water is about 330ppm while that of the rainwater I collect outside, (i now have 55 gallons of rainwater) is around 20ppm. I have been using tap water straight when the ph was around 6.5 and then i test the tank water with a pool tester and it comes around about 7.8 but then it goes right back up to 8.3

A brief explanation. The natural GH, KH and pH of the well water are interconnected. The KH (carbonate hardness) acts to "buffer" pH, preventing changes. This can be fairly permanent depending upon the initial GH and KH. Temporary changes to the pH caused by the introduction of acids (such as in rain water, or in the aquarium the organic decomposition that produces carbonic acid thus lowering pH) may be temporary if the initial GH/KH is substantive. The buffering capability acts to restore the pH, thus it rises.

This is why it is essential to know exactly what you are dealing with when it comes to the parameters of the source water. You want this to be stable. Fish (depending upon species) have some ability to adjust, sometimes, but fluctuating parameters are very stressful because they make the fish's physiology work "overtime" just to maintain the necessary permanent balances internally. If the pH really is fluctuating from 6.5 up to 7.8 it is a very dangerous and serious issue for the fish.

You have two options, once you have the parameters firmed up. Stay with the well water and select fish suited to those parameters, or mix the well water with rainwater but stay with that permanently, and select suitable fish.
 
Where to begin?

1. it is impossible to have a constant .25 ppm of ammonia in a tank. This means the readings must be faulty. But, if they were accurate, that amount of total ammonia in a pH of either 6.5 or 7.8 would not be harmful.

2. Carbonic acid is created by CO2 in water. The acid causes the pH to drop in water with little or no KH. Pure water has 0 KH ands hould be pH neutral (7.0). However, the CO2 which is naturally dissolved in water creates carbonic acid. This acts to lower the pH of pure water. I run an RO/DI unit for my Altum angels. My pure water freaks out my digital monitor because it has 0 TDS. But is also gives me a pH reading in the mid 5s.

3. Plants do not use ammonia, the gas, as NH3. It can be as toxic to them as it is to other life. What they do use is ammonium, NH4, which is what most of the total ammonia in water is. Bacteria mostly use NH3. This is why any planted tank always has some amount of nitrifying bacteria.

4. Safe Start is one of the very few products available that contains the actual living bacteria which ultimately establish in aquariums. I prefer Dr. Tim's One and Only. This is what I use when U have to start up my filter bio-farm. Its running now with 11 Poret foam cubes and is up to handling 4.8 ppm total ammonia measured as nitrogen (5.8 ppm on an API kit) in 25 gals. in about 12 hours.

5,Your well water likely had a lot of dissolved co2 in it. This will outgas given a bit of time. other wise fill a glass with tap and put in an air line and bubble it of 30 minutes or so, then test the pH.

I am happy to provide scientific references for the above except for #4 where I my report my numbers. The Safe Start part I can document.
 

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