Cloudy water after wc

[roydooms]

I did a 20% wc last night and this morning it is still a little cloudy. I tested my water using an API master test kit and the results are:

Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Ph: 7.4
Nitrite: 2.0ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm

I am still hesitant to buy the fish that I want because of the presence of ammonia and nitrite. Am I reaching the final stage of cycling? Is it safe to add more fish? Thank you in advance!

 

[tyspot1000]

Keep up the water changes everyday until it gets to no cloudyness.

I would have to a say you are in middle stages of the cycle. You are at the part were the nitritres go up, while the ammonia goes down. The nitrates will appear when there is a sign of nitrites so thats what gave you the nitrate reading.

 

[roydooms]

Keep up the water changes everyday until it gets to no cloudyness.

I would have to a say you are in middle stages of the cycle. You are at the part were the nitritres go up, while the ammonia goes down. The nitrates will appear when there is a sign of nitrites so thats what gave you the nitrate reading.

How many % a day should I change? So it is not good to add more fish at this stage? Thanks

 

[roydooms]

Keep up the water changes everyday until it gets to no cloudyness.

I would have to a say you are in middle stages of the cycle. You are at the part were the nitritres go up, while the ammonia goes down. The nitrates will appear when there is a sign of nitrites so thats what gave you the nitrate reading.

Do I need to clean the substrate as well? Or just the water?

 

[BigJim]

If you're fishless cycling, why do a water change? There's nothing in the tank to hurt. The only time I do a PWC during a cycle is if I overdosed ammonia or I'm trying to break a nitrite stall.

No fish yet. Keep dosing the ammonia. When your tank can convert 2-4ppm of ammonia all the way to nitrates in 24 hours, it's ready for fish.

 

[Coleallensmom]

How many % a day should I change? So it is not good to add more fish at this stage? Thanks

Are you fishless cycling or cycling with fish?

 

[roydooms]

Are you fishless cycling or cycling with fish?

I am cycling with fish. Nitrite is 5ppm, ammonia .25ppm, nitrate 10ppm.

 

[Coleallensmom]

As much as you want to add fish at this point..Do not! If you have both Ammonia and Nitrite present, then I agree with the above poster who said that you are only mid-cycle. If you want to keep the fish you already have alive, then you need to keep your ammonia and NtrIte at or below .25ppm. The only good way to do that is with daily partial water changes. (You may even have to do more than one a day.) What size is your tank and how many fish do you have? The smaller the tank, typically the bigger your water changes will have to be but you can tell by testing your water how much to change (i.e. if your ammonia is at .50ppm, then do a 50% to get to .25ppm). Is your nitrItes at .50ppm or 5 ppm? Either way, you need to get that number lower...but if it is infact at 5ppm, you need to do a series of water changes immediately until you get that number lower. 5ppm is way to high for your fish.

 

[roydooms]

As much as you want to add fish at this point..Do not! If you have both Ammonia and Nitrite present, then I agree with the above poster who said that you are only mid-cycle. If you want to keep the fish you already have alive, then you need to keep your ammonia and NtrIte at or below .25ppm. The only good way to do that is with daily partial water changes. (You may even have to do more than one a day.) What size is your tank and how many fish do you have? The smaller the tank, typically the bigger your water changes will have to be but you can tell by testing your water how much to change (i.e. if your ammonia is at .50ppm, then do a 50% to get to .25ppm). Is your nitrItes at .50ppm or 5 ppm? Either way, you need to get that number lower...but if it is infact at 5ppm, you need to do a series of water changes immediately until you get that number lower. 5ppm is way to high for your fish.

Nitrite is 5ppm and ammonia is .25ppm. I have 5 tetras, 2 albino bristlenose pleco and a black ghost knife fish for cycling. Do I need to clean the substrate again or just water change? How much? Thanks.

 

[tyspot1000]

I would not clean the susbrate in the cycling process, Eventhough the gravel does not collect most of the bacteria, Cleaning could result in a start-over. So just a water change.

Since you have all those fish in the tank, I would recommend doing 25-50% water changes with addtional prime (Detoxifies ammonia and nitrite for 24 hours) everyday to keep the ammonia and nitrites down until the cycle is over.

If you dont mind, What size aquarium is all these in? What tetras do you have?
Black ghost knifes can get to 2 feet in length and need 100+ gallon tank.

 

[jenatron]

Don't clean the substrate. If you think theres too much waste trapped in it you could stir up the gravel with a gravel vac and then vac it out. Just don't straight up wash it. Since you're cycling with fish and you've got those levels, I'd suggest larger PWCs, like 50%.

Edit: Tyler gave a good suggestion, about extra Prime! ^

 

[roydooms]

I would not clean the susbrate in the cycling process, Eventhough the gravel does not collect most of the bacteria, Cleaning could result in a start-over. So just a water change.

Since you have all those fish in the tank, I would recommend doing 25-50% water changes with addtional prime (Detoxifies ammonia and nitrite for 24 hours) everyday to keep the ammonia and nitrites down until the cycle is over.

If you dont mind, What size aquarium is all these in? What tetras do you have?
Black ghost knifes can get to 2 feet in length and need 100+ gallon tank.

I have a 125g tank. I'm not sure which tetra. They are flat and round(vertical) and has black stripes. They are grey. The prime that you are talking about is the water conditioner? I have that.

 

[roydooms]

Don't clean the substrate. If you think theres too much waste trapped in it you could stir up the gravel with a gravel vac and then vac it out. Just don't straight up wash it. Since you're cycling with fish and you've got those levels, I'd suggest larger PWCs, like 50%.

Edit: Tyler gave a good suggestion, about extra Prime! ^

When I said cleaning the gravel I was talking about using the gravel vac. Hehe. I did a 15% wc Monday, 25% yesterday. Should I still do a 50% today? Then again tomorrow?

 

[Coleallensmom]

Nitrite is 5ppm and ammonia is .25ppm. I have 5 tetras, 2 albino bristlenose pleco and a black ghost knife fish for cycling. Do I need to clean the substrate again or just water change? How much? Thanks.

You don't want to mess with the substrate right now unless it looks really filthy. You can disturb any good bacteria that is living there and that's something you don't really want to do while cycling. If I remember correctly (didn't you post pics?) you have a fairly decent sized tank, so it shouldn't be difficult to keep both your ammonia and nitrites at/below .25ppm....a daily moderate partial water change should do it until your cycle is over. However since your nitrites are so high at the moment, I'd definitely do a series of larger PWCs. Normally you would not want to change too much water at one time but when you are in a pinch, it's really the only way to get your water parameters back into a safe zone. 5ppm is high enough to a lot of damage to your fish. Maybe start out with a 50-60% water change and then retest to see where that leaves your NitrItes. (Idk if you are in the same time zone as I am but it's evening here. If it were me, I'd try to get nitrites to at *least* between 1-3 ppm before going to bed tonight. While 1ppm is still stressful to your fish, it's not as dangerous as leaving the levels at 5ppm. Then I'd do another PWC first thing in the morning.) Regardless, you need to do PWC's until you get closer to that .25-.50ppm caution mark. Remember to regulate water temps while you're doing this and make sure you are using the proper dosage of water conditioner. I agree with the recommendation of using Prime or Amquel to condition your water. Both will help detoxify your ammonia and nitrite levels.

 

[Coleallensmom]

When I said cleaning the gravel I was talking about using the gravel vac. Hehe. I did a 15% wc Monday, 25% yesterday. Should I still do a 50% today? Then again tomorrow?

Don't use your gravel vac. Just concentrate on getting fresh water in there. Right now you need to get that 5ppm Nitrite level MUCH, MUCH lower. Once that is under control, a daily 25-50% water change should be enough to keep your (ammonia and nitrite) levels down. Testing every day will tell you just how much water you need to change and how often.

 

[roydooms]

Don't use your gravel vac. Just concentrate on getting fresh water in there. Right now you need to get that 5ppm Nitrite level MUCH, MUCH lower. Once that is under control, a daily 25-50% water change should be enough to keep your (ammonia and nitrite) levels down. Testing every day will tell you just how much water you need to change and how often.

Ok. I'll just do pwc(50%). I wont touch the substrate and I will use the Prime by seachem? I have plants... Do I need to add ferts?

I just checked my nitrates it's 20ppm.

 

[roydooms]

You don't want to mess with the substrate right now unless it looks really filthy. You can disturb any good bacteria that is living there and that's something you don't really want to do while cycling. If I remember correctly (didn't you post pics?) you have a fairly decent sized tank, so it shouldn't be difficult to keep both your ammonia and nitrites at/below .25ppm....a daily moderate partial water change should do it until your cycle is over. However since your nitrites are so high at the moment, I'd definitely do a series of larger PWCs. Normally you would not want to change too much water at one time but when you are in a pinch, it's really the only way to get your water parameters back into a safe zone. 5ppm is high enough to a lot of damage to your fish. Maybe start out with a 50-60% water change and then retest to see where that leaves your NitrItes. (Idk if you are in the same time zone as I am but it's evening here. If it were me, I'd try to get nitrites to at *least* between 1-3 ppm before going to bed tonight. While 1ppm is still stressful to your fish, it's not as dangerous as leaving the levels at 5ppm. Then I'd do another PWC first thing in the morning.) Regardless, you need to do PWC's until you get closer to that .25-.50ppm caution mark. Remember to regulate water temps while you're doing this and make sure you are using the proper dosage of water conditioner. I agree with the recommendation of using Prime or Amquel to condition your water. Both will help detoxify your ammonia and nitrite levels.

Yes, I posted some pics. I'll do a 50% now and tomorrow morning. It almost 4pm here.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Don't worry about your nitrAtes at this point. While ideally you want nitrates 20ppm or lower, anything under 40ppm is "ok". Ammonia and nitrites are much more harmful to your fish. As far as your plants are concerned, I wouldn't be super worried about that right now...with 5ppm Nitrites, I'd be in "emergency mode" and just focused on getting that number lower. Do you 50% tonight and then again in the morning and most likely you'll want to do another tomorrow evening. Like I said, keep testing to see how your PWCs change that nitrIte number for you...that will help you know how many water changes you need to do.

I just saw that you mentioned you have a 125g tank. Once your nitrItes under control, a once daily water change really should be enough to keep your ammonia/nitrite levels low until your tank cycles. Get your nitrIte level down and then you can start putting the ferts back in.

 

[roydooms]

Don't worry about your nitrAtes at this point. While ideally you want nitrates 20ppm or lower, anything under 40ppm is "ok". Ammonia and nitrites are much more harmful to your fish. As far as your plants are concerned, I wouldn't be super worried about that right now...with 5ppm Nitrites, I'd be in "emergency mode" and just focused on getting that number lower. Do you 50% tonight and then again in the morning and most likely you'll want to do another tomorrow evening. Like I said, keep testing to see how your PWCs change that nitrIte number for you...that will help you know how many water changes you need to do.

I just saw that you mentioned you have a 125g tank. Once your nitrItes under control, a once daily water change really should be enough to keep your ammonia/nitrite levels low until your tank cycles. Get your nitrIte level down and then you can start putting the ferts back in.

Ok. Ill do that. You said that once the nitrites are under control that once a day is enough. Is that only during cycling?

 

[fort384]

Good advice from Alisha.

Yes, only during cycling... once it is cycled you can go 2-3 weeks between water changes depending on how your tank does (and how you decide to dose ferts).

She is right about nitrites... your fish won't last more than a few days at 5ppm. Nitrites are even more toxic to fish than ammonia, and 5ppm is very high... emergency mode on the PWCs is right.