Water maturation - I started too soon :(

[CyprusSteve]

I am a UK citizen living in Cyprus, and, I have probably made the cardinal beginners mistake !!
I started stocking fish after only 5 days - now I need to remedy as best as possible !!
I recognise that I am probably into a damage limitation exercise here - I am afraid that patience has never been one of my virtues
Right - next step is to buy all the testing kits tomorrow - ( shops closed here today ) - I will post the results here so you can share your views with me please.
As I understand it, the Ammonia should be as low as possible, and certainly below 2ppm , Nitrite should be below 0.25 ppm , and, Nitrate below 20 ppm - Is this correct ? -
Is there a link anyone has which will give me simple and clear guidelines on this ?
I did one water change of 10% with Sera Aquatan conditioned water this morning - and I have more water in buckets standing ready - do you think I should do another 10% tonight ?
I am already hooked on this subject despite my initial errors - it is now my challenge to make the water as safe as possible, given that it has not had time to undertake the maturation process - and, therefore to minimise the stress to fish, and possible loss.
I am learning greatly from this, which, I hope, will stand me in good stead for the future, and, to be more patient !!
I welcome ALL advice, and, I promise no offence is taken by me if you are critical - it is how I learn.
Regards
Steve

 

[Tolak]

Hey Steve, welcome to TFF! I think everyone, myself included, has done what you have at first, don't beat yourself up over it.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099 Will tell you about cycling. Water changes, at least 25% daily, will help the fish cope with the ammo & nitrites, which should be 0 in a cycled tank.

Check out the rest of the pinned articles http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=58
You can never have too much knowledge when it comes to aquatics.

If they start hanging at the surface, increase aeration by adding an airstone, or dropping the water level a little if you have a hang on back filter.

What size tank, how many & what type of fish?

Tolak

 

[sarah-j]

Hi, i did this too about a month ago. dont panic. what you need to do is plenty of water changes and try to rehome some of your fish if you have a lot? as this will be less of a load on the new filter. anyway... do you know that ammonia changes to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates? this is what is called "the cycle". once all your levels are at zero except for nitrates can you add fish however as we did not do this we need to save fishies. I lost a lot of fish at the beginning but im cycled now. Here's what I did. I bought ammo chips (or ammo lock) one is chips one is a liquid. I added these to my filter to help break down the toxic levels of ammonia, i have removed these now as i dont need them but at the time they were amazing. I did daily water changes of 20% however adding the friendly baceteria the day after as the dechlorinator kills the bacteria from the bottle. less fish obviously helped too to reduce waste produced. I tested my water daily to keep an eye on the cycle. Using safe water will help to reduce the fishies stress levels and coats them with aloe vera. I still have all my neons and catfish from the very beginning of my cycle so it does help. I know it sounds like a lot of stuff but it worked for me. sorry for the long post. just thought id share my experience.

 

[CyprusSteve]

One thought occurs to me - I can easily use the water from my Air Conditioning for the water changes - I can collect this in a clean bucket, and I guess it will not have chlorine or other tapwater chemicals in - is this a good idea ? - if so, would I still need to add the water conditioner to it ?
I am going to buy some water test kits and start a morning regime of a 20% water change daily as from tomorrow, and, I will take the readings of Ammionia and Nitrite immediately before the first water change, then again in the evening.
I will post the readings here for your comments if that is ok.
Is there anything else I should be doing to alleviate the problem, or, to speed the Nitrogen Cycle process ?
Thanks for all your help.
Steve

 

[Tolak]

I would be worried about bacteria or fungus in the condensate from air conditioning units. Unless you are sure the condenser in your unit is spotless, I wouldn't do it.

I've been using tap water with dechlor for a long time, never have any problems. Unless your tap water is really that horrible, I would use that.

Post any reading, test results or observations, that's why people like me check in here a few times a day!

Tolak

 

[Slyspy]

Your best bet to speed up the formation of a nitrogen cycle is to seed your tank from a mature tank. Use some gravel from a mature tank, just add it to yours. Even better would be to get some matured filter media and pop it into your filter. This will instantly provide a small seed of bacteria and help things on their way. It will probably still take a couple of weeks until the bacteria can support a full load of fish, but it would be very helpful anyway.

PS
Please use a decent water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramines, or all else is in vain. I wouldn't touch waste water from your air-con under any circumstances.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Would be really useful to know how many fish you have actually got and what kind, also the size of your tank. Don't be embarrassed, we've all been there.

 

[CyprusSteve]

Tank size (100 x 50 x 50 cm = 250 litres )

5 x Red Rainbow
2 x Clown Loach
4 x Golden Gourami
6 x Dwarf Gourami
3 x Sucking catfish ( pleco )
10 x Neon Tetra
10 x Red Tetra

The Gourami are all young - about one inch in length.

 

[CyprusSteve]

Two products I have found on the Internet which may help are as follows - any views on whether these may help the cause ?


"Amquel Plus - fantasic product, fairly new to the market but excellent to get rid of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and also chorine from tap water - 2nd - Stress Zyme - adds the neccesary live bacteria to the aquarium to help quickly improve the filtration and help continually lower the ammonia and nirite levels until the aquarium is more established "

Water tests to be posted in about 5 hours when the shop opens - yup - I have been awake most of the night worrying about this - I feel so guilty for the poor fish !!

 

[CyprusSteve]

The water conditioner I am using for the water changes is Sera Aquatan VBC Stress conditioner - as I mentionned, product range here is small - total island population only 600,000 - so, I hope this product is ok.

 

[CyprusSteve]

During my research into my problem, I have read on one of the websites that small doses of salt, even in a freshwater tropical tank, can assist in limiting nitrites.
I have looked up the nitrite / salt issue, but, I do not feel confident that I have found an answer that I fully understand.
Perhaps someone could advise me of the quantity I would require for 250 litres - is it straight table salt? - do I just add it to the water ?
In a strange kind of way I am trying to turn this big negative into a positive, and, I am hoping that if I can overcome the problem with sheer diligence and water changes, it will not only save the fish, but, will give me a sense of satisfaction and a better understanding of the tank and its inhabitants.
Regards
Steve

 

[Briarmoor]

I am not one to be giving advice since I am doing the nightly water changes myself and checking levels like a fanatic from...adding fish too fast too.

Make sure the water you add back in is the same temp as the water you took out. My tank is at 78-80 and my room temp in my house is only 68-70, so if you add cold water back, it could shock the fish.

You sound like you will work hard to get this under control. Good luck and if you find anythings that have been particularly beneficial, let the rest of us newbies know!

I see you have gouramis. I just love my gold one and plan to get more when I get my 55 gallon cycled. This one is not shy, but can be startled. She will eat flakes out of my fingers and uses her "feeler" fins to touch my arms when I am doing stuff in the tank. Neat fish. The neons are getting braver too and one even took some of "Salami Gourami's" flake from my fingers. I could waste hours watching the fish, but it is so relaxing. Once this cycling thing is over, I will feel much better. I love watching the corys clean, wish I liked cleaning so well. And the otto is everywhere scouring. I will get him/her a pal once the tank is leveled out.

BTW, this may sound hilarious. If I see the gourami poop, I scoop it out with the fish net. May not help much, but every less poop during the middle of a cycle to me the better and the gourami makes the most poop of anyone. I show dogs, so to me it is perfectly normal behavior to scoop poop.

Pam in TN

 

[Tolak]

Salt & catfish are a no go, it burns them, being scaleless fish. If you do need to use salt, it has to be non-iodized. Table salt is iodized, you can get aquarium salt from the lfs, or non-iodized pickling salt from the grocery store.

Tolak

 

[CyprusSteve]

Here are this mornings readings taken at 10 am.
Ph 7.0
Ammonia Only very palest shade of green – did not register on colour chart
Nitrite Under 5 – probably a 2 or 3
Nitrate No colour change – just some fizzing

I am not sure how to interpret these - it seems my water is relatively "safe" compared to what I had feared,but, it may be that the Nitrogen cycle has not even kicked in yet ??
As a result ot the above, I have not done a water change yet until I hear from you guys.
I also bought some "Waterlife Bacterlife" from the shop and added it in the ecommended quantity.
The guy in the shop also gave me some "dirty" water which had been in a filter of his due for cleaning, and I have added that also.
I would welcme your views on these readings, and, as to my next step.
Should I do another test later tonight ?
Do you think these results are god news or not ?
Regards

 

[Tolak]

Sounds like you are getting past the ammo part of the cycle & into the nitrite part. This is normal. I would continue with the daily water changes to keep the nitrites from affecting the fish. The dirty filter water will help the most, I've done that before.

Here's a cycling chart I found that may help. The times sometimes vary, things like adding the filter water speed it up.

Tolak