Worried!

[jhf18]

Hi

I thought my tank had fully cycled but it appears that it hasnt!!

I have got a 45L bowl type tank (Aqua EL) with Filter and Heater. I have got three real plants in the tank and it is stocked with the following:

1 x Block Molly
3 x Silver Molly
1 x Pleco (moving to my 200L tank when cycled)
4 x Guppies
2 x Molly Fry (only 3 days old)

My Water stats are:

PH - 8.0
Ammoina NH3/NH4 - 0.50ppm
Nitrites NO2 - 0.25ppm
Nitrates NO3 - 40ppm

I have carried out a 20% water change tonight and I will do another tomorrow but i dont want to stress the fry out too much.

I havent got anywhere else to put my fish at the moment and to top it all off I overfed them tonight by mistake, I did a gravel vac to get most of the leftover food.

Is there anything else i can do?

 

[Leitch]

More water changes, until the whole thing calms down =]

 

[fry_lover]

hi

sorry to hear about your troubles, just to add my input................

if the water going IN, is close to temp of water coming OUT and its been appropriately conditioned (Chlorine and Chloramine if applicable) then i think the Ammonia and Nitrite in the water will stress any fish MORE than large water changes.

I would be looking at doing a series of 25-33% water changes every few hours until your ammonia is virtually ZERO and your nitrite closer to the 0.1 mark

Also, dont feed, even the fry will be okay for a day or so and perhaps will nibble on the plants

You "could" add some salt to reduce the nitrite toxicity as your fish are salt-tolerant, the Plec less so, but i find it hard to believe a small amount of salt will bother him (you only need a tiny amount to reduce nitrite toxicity), but you might not need this

Also, if you had a good water conditioner like "Prime" it will detoxify the ammonia for the time being

EDIT: water changes until ammonia IS zero perhaps

 

[GRJ]

hi

sorry to hear about your troubles, just to add my input................

if the water going IN, is close to temp of water coming OUT and its been appropriately conditioned (Chlorine and Chloramine if applicable) then i think the Ammonia and Nitrite in the water will stress any fish MORE than large water changes.

I would be looking at doing a series of 25-33% water changes every few hours until your ammonia is virtually ZERO and your nitrite closer to the 0.1 mark

Also, dont feed, even the fry will be okay for a day or so and perhaps will nibble on the plants

You "could" add some salt to reduce the nitrite toxicity as your fish are salt-tolerant, the Plec less so, but i find it hard to believe a small amount of salt will bother him (you only need a tiny amount to reduce nitrite toxicity), but you might not need this

Also, if you had a good water conditioner like "Prime" it will detoxify the ammonia for the time being

EDIT: water changes until ammonia IS zero perhaps

Exactly what i was going to say!LOL!

 

[fry_lover]

well you know what they say about great minds my old mate GRJ

sorry i beat you to it

 

[jhf18]

Thanks

Can I use normal table salt?

 

[fry_lover]

Thanks

Can I use normal table salt?

Well thats a touchy subject, i seen lot of peeps disagree, i personally would use table salt if i needed to in a (nitrite) crisis and my fish were salt tolerant , as it only takes a very small dose to help reduce the adverse effects nitrite has on fish and your tank is small, so it doesnt mean that salt will have to stay in the water for a massive length of time (weeks etc)

Dont add salt, until other members have chipped in, so you can get a balanced view, you dont need to add salt right away, as your tank is small, and water changes are your best friend at this moment in time

 

[jhf18]

thanks again I am really worried about my fry, they are my first babies

I will wait for the others to reply first and then add salt. How much is a little amount?

I am planning to do another water change tonight, should i add it before or afterwards?

 

[fry_lover]

thanks again I am really worried about my fry, they are my first babies

I will wait for the others to reply first and then add salt. How much is a little amount?

I am planning to do another water change tonight, should i add it before or afterwards?

if you do add salt, then after the water change is best

Some peeps might shoot me down for bringing salt into the matter, but fact is fact, it reduces nitrite toxicity and your fish are salt tolerant, so it IS an option, obviously its treating the SYMPTOM though and not the cause of your problem

have a look


http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...hp?article_id=5

 

[GRJ]

well you know what they say about great minds my old mate GRJ

sorry i beat you to it

Right back atcha Fry Lover!

 

[jhf18]

All seems ok this morning, I got up extra early to do a water change before work. The ammonia level is now at 0 thankfully but i still have nitrites. I didnt add salt yet because I wanted some more input from other users.

My fry still seem to be happily swimming round in my fry tank, so thats good