What's going on here

[William]

Congrats the cycle almost seems over!! How long has it been since you put the first fish in? When Nitrite and Amonia hit 0 the tank is said to be cycled.

The Nitrates are perhaps a touch high but if you do water changes of about 20% weekly or fornightly and the fish seem happy then it is probably your water supply having high nitrates. Just to check do a nitrAte test on your tap water which you use for the fish.

William

 

[Duncan]

this is the result from a test tonight at 6.44pm.

Water temp. 26'
pH 7.2
KH 4.5
GH >7
Nitrite NO2   0.5
Nitrate NO3   50

I bought an ammonia test kit this afternoon, and tested the water tonight and the reading was zero    My wife's been doing some reading and is suggesting some more plants for the tank  :grumpy:  

the 1st fish went in on the 23rd of May, the tank was set up on the 19th of May. I'll be setting up a quaranteen tank in a few weeks, I'll know better this time

Duncan

 

[adeyc]

How many plants have you got in the tank?
Oh and watch out for the dreaded "Neon Disease" (Plistophora) it usualy starts with a spreading pale area under the dorsal fin.

 

[Duncan]

12 plants at the moment, I've looked at the neon disease in my A-Z book, I'll keep an eye out for the pale patch, cheers ta

Duncan

 

[Macquatic]

The worst is over Duncan. When the nitrite reaches 0 your tank is mature. Your regular water changes should pull the nitrate down unless the tap water is high in the stuff.( test the tap water and see) I'd also keep an eye on the ph as it's been dropping over the last couple of days. Mac.

 

[adeyc]

I'd say go for some more plants as it should help settle things. your ph may take another couple of days to settle down but unless it drops bellow 6.5 I wouldn't get to worried, just keep an eye on it as Mac said. Seeing as you've got the kits it would be an idea to test the source water(from the tap. but leave it running for a few minutes first) then you know if your water could give you any prob's.

 

[Duncan]

thanks Mac & adeyc

I'm off to town tomorrow, so might sneak in by lfs and get some more plants. I've planned a water change for tomorrow as well when I get back from town. Wife says that the water actually looks clearer than it did when we lost the fish.

Duncan

 

[Duncan]

Here's some test results I've done today.

Aquarium
Time   10.40am
Water temp. 25'
pH 7.2
KH 3
GH <6
Nitrite NO2   3
Nitrate NO3   37  (it was roughly 1/2 way between colours)

Overnight Barrel of water (water change)
Time    10.43am
Water temp. 21'
pH 7.2
KH 3
GH <6
Nitrite NO2   0
Nitrate NO3   25

Straight from the tap
Time    7.50pm
Water temp. 11'
pH 7.2
KH 3
GH <6
Nitrite NO2   0
Nitrate NO3   50

I did a water change tonight, and I'll probably do another change on Saturday.  I'm keeping records of my tests, I've even tested the ammonia from the three sources all are 0

Duncan

 

[William]

EEK!! IF the nitrIte is reading 3 I reccomend you do an immediate 50% water change!! as otherwise the fish will die.

The nitrate reading of the tap is very high make sure you let it run for a few minutes before you collect the water.

At the moment it is not very necessary for us to know the KH and GH of the water.

If you have an ammonia test it would be good to see the results.

The Nitrate in the barrel of water are acceptable (maybe you let the tap run for a while with this?? ) And is ok for a water change although many will recomend having nitrates of less than 20 in a tank anything up to 40 is ok for the fish (or so I have been told)

Especially if they are starting at that because they are probably already adapted.

So as I said test the nitrite tommorow and tell us the reading because at the moment it is very high, you are at the worst point in the cycle where the bacteria are converting nitrite to nitrate and they take a while for their population to grow. Make sure you don't disturb your filter as this will delay the cycle. The changing of 50% of the water will delay the cycle however it is neccessary as level 3 nitrite is too high for the fish.

William

 

[Duncan]

the 1st 2 test results were done in the morning and the 3rd was done at night just before my water change (hence the water in the barrel), no fish have been lost since the last time that I had reported fatalities.

I'm doing another water change tomorrow, with my barrel of water standing overnight, I'll do all three tests again before I'll change the water.

One thing we have noticed is that the neons are more brightly coloured since the first change of water, especially the blue colour.

Duncan

 

[William]

Well neons are pretty weak fish so if they are surviving then the nitrite must not be as bad as the test indicates because 3 is a critical level.

 

[Duncan]

here are the test results from this morning,

Aquarium
Time 8.40am
Water temp. 25'
pH 7.2
KH 3
GH >7
Nitrite NO2 5
Nitrate NO3 100

Overnight Barrel of water (water change)
Time 8.49am
Water temp. 10'
pH 7.2
KH 3
GH <6
Nitrite NO2 0
Nitrate NO3 50

I've forgot to fill my barrel last night, so did it this morning. I went out to get some medicines and bought a kettle for boiling water to heat up my barrel of water

I'm off now to do my water change

Duncan

 

[Duncan]

I tested the water roughly an hour after my water change and this is what I found:

Aquarium
Time 4.53pm
Water temp. 26'
pH 7.2
KH 3
GH >7
Nitrite NO2 5
Nitrate NO3 100

An hour later

GH <6
Nitrite NO2 5
Nitrate NO3 100

this morning

Aquarium
Time 9.37am
Water temp. 25'
pH 7.2
KH 3
GH <6
Nitrite NO2 5
Nitrate NO3 100

From the Tap
Time 9.59am
Water temp. 10'
pH 7.2
KH 3
GH <6
Nitrite NO2 0
Nitrate NO3 75

and this afternoon
Time 12.59pm
Water temp. 25'
pH 7.2
KH 3
GH <6
Nitrite NO2 3
Nitrate NO3 50

the tap water I let run for about 3-4 mins, before filling up my water bucket. I'll test tomorrow and probably do another water change.

All the fish look fine, they're swimming about happily (as far as I know)

Duncan