Just got a new filter...tested my water and saw anmonia and nitrites...

[pstuder33]

I had/have a tetra whisper ex30 and just upgraded to fluval c3 on my 20gallon tank. There was a small sponger filter in there as well. My nitrates have been high, even with 50% water changes twice a week(50+ppm) that's why I got the fluval. I am currently running them side by side and did a complete gravel vacuum today (removed everything minus the fish) and that ended up changing about 70% of the water. 3 hours later I tested and found about .5 ppm ammonia and 5ppm nitrites. Nitrates were at 15-20ppm. My tap is about that for nitrates. This is my 20 gallon tank stocked with 8 neon tetras, 1 pearl gourami, 1 opliane gourami, 1 Molly (there were a few more before why I figured my ph drops, soft water) two shrimp, and a african dwarf frog.

Is the tank too stocked? Before today, every I tested all was good.

Also, in the fluval c3 I just put purigen instead of carbon. The carbon was in there for 24 hours (should I save it, or is it bad after it dries?)

I did remove the sponge... I was thinking the better filter would compensate for BB.

Any advice would appreciated!

The two filers have been side by side now for about 36 hours.

Is this normal? I don't wanna lose any fish, learning this Hobby has already costed a few fish ?

 

[PNWaquarist]

The vast majority of the ammonia/nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in your tank is in your filter media. Which filters are you running side-by-side? Did you throw out the sponges/charcoal/porous media in your old filters? If not, put them back in. (Or, in the case of your Fluval, tear off a piece of the media in your old filter and stick in in the new one.) You could even stick one of your old filter media pieces into the tank, weighing it down with a rock or piece of bog wood.

Add some Prime (or other detoxifying agent) to your tank in the meantime.

BTW, the EPA limit for nitrates in tap water is 10 ppm. I would look into that.

 

[pstuder33]

I've added prime, double the normal dose. The fluval is my new filter, running side by side with the tetra ex30. I removed the sponge filter because I thought it'd be good to go, I've haven't had a spike in water parameters like that since I started the tank and was complete newbie. That fluval is rate for 50gl and the tetra is rated for 30gl. I bought the fluval to over filtrate and am running them side by side so BB can colanate the fluval before I remove the whisper. I guessmy question was, really the sponge filter supporting the tank. It's a small sponge, I think rated for a 10 gallon tank. Although, when I took It out I squeezed it and the water was dirty as hell. I did one squeeze in the tank and multiple in tank water and it was dirty as sh*t. Should I just put the tetra media, basically a bunch of plastic in with my fluval nodes????????

 

[PNWaquarist]

That's strange. Running the old Tetra filter alongside the new Fluval is exactly what I would've done to help establish the bacteria in the Fluval. I have a tough time believing that your small sponge filter contained the vast majority of your biofilter. Doing a gravel vacuum may have killed off a portion of the bacteria in the gravel but, again, most of the bacteria should be in your old Tetra filter media. I've never used Purigen, but I doubt that it would be disadvantageous in comparison to charcoal.

I don't know what's going on, but what I would do at this point is seed your tank with nitrifying bacteria to rebuild your biofilter. There are two ways to do this: (1) Borrow a piece of established filter media from a friend or a LFS, and add it to one of your filters. (2) Dump a bottle of Dr. Tim's One & Only bacteria into your tank. One of your LFS may carry it. If not, you can order directly from the company (I'd get two-day shipping). While your nitrifying bacteria colony is re-establishing, dose with Prime every 48 hours to detoxify the ammonia and nitrite.

Also, the new filter won't help with your high nitrates. If you have 50 ppm even with 2 x 50% weekly water changes, you need to use RO water when doing your water changes. In your case, I'd probably use 70-80% RO water and 20-30% tap water. Your tap water shouldn't contain 15-20 ppm nitrates. The EPA limit is 10 ppm. If you're on city water, call your municipality's water department. If you have a well, have somebody come look at it.

 

[pstuder33]

The vast majority of the ammonia/nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in your tank is in your filter media. Which filters are you running side-by-side? Did you throw out the sponges/charcoal/porous media in your old filters? If not, put them back in. (Or, in the case of your Fluval, tear off a piece of the media in your old filter and stick in in the new one.) You could even stick one of your old filter media pieces into the tank, weighing it down with a rock or piece of bog wood.

Add some Prime (or other detoxifying agent) to your tank in the meantime.

BTW, the EPA limit for nitrates in tap water is 10 ppm. I would look into that.

Yeah, living in Minneapolis. I bet the 10ppm is the EPA standard, and throughout the year it probably averages to that. But all the water is from the river, so it fluctuates. Earlier this year, it was 5-0. Makes sense considering in Minnesota we had record rainfalls/flooding during the month of June. Kinda like doing large water changes, only in this case the source (the Mississippi) was being diluted down due to flooding.

 

[pstuder33]

Honestly, what would taking a piece of filter media do? The tetra filter is established and is running right next to the filter!!!! I don't get it ?. I will continue adding double the amount of prime until everything stableizes again.

Oh, yeah the kicker to it all is I'm moving this upcoming weekend, it's not far, just in with my gf. I started the new filter thinking it'd be established by then. It's 10 blocks away from where I currently live. My fish will need to be in a bucket for tops 1-1.5 hours. And I plan on dosing prime, at probably the highest rate considering what happend tonight. ???

 

[PNWaquarist]

Honestly, what would taking a piece of filter media do? The tetra filter is established and is running right next to the filter!!!! I don't get it ��. I will continue adding double the amount of prime until everything stableizes again.

I suggested adding a piece of established media because the bacteria in the Tetra filter are obviously not removing the ammonia. I don't know why that is (did you let the filter dry out?). Whatever the reason, it's clear that your biofilter isn't working.

Try testing your ammonia and nitrites again to see if it was just a temporary spike.

 

[pstuder33]

Has something like that happenend to anyone on here? I do t wanna lose any (more) fish. I've learned a lot from this forum and appreciate all advice. 5 months ago I was a complete newbie and I thought it all figured now this is happening ??

 

[pstuder33]

The tetra filter never dried out, I never removed it from the tank, nor poured the water out. I'll test again now. I'll let you know the results shortly....

 

[pstuder33]

Ammonia is now between .25 and .5, nitrite is between 0 and .25 ppm and nitrates at 15ppm.


I'm sorry, I just reread my opening post and saw I typed 5 instead .5ppm on the nitrite reading. I just wasn't sure because this is my first time changing filters and .5 is a lot different 5, even I know that. The response I got made me worry even more, I'm glad I reread my original post. It seems like everything should be alright, that's what my original question was, and the response made me freak even more. Thanks for telling me to test my water again, I probably wouldn't of caught that typo and I know people on this forum tend not to mess around. Which is why I got so worried! Thank you for the advice and help. I'll update you again tomorrow afternoon after work, I have a feeling it'll all be good. I'll be sure to proofread a post a lot closer in the future...haha. But honestly thanks for all the input, now I know what to do in that situation, test the water again and I'll totally pass that knowledge on! Sorry for wasting your time.

 

[gilpi]

Do as PNWaquarist says. A new filter, no matter what filter, will not lower your water parameters, it will be more efficient once it's seeded with beneficial bacteria. What you are basically doing now is just moving water around. By placing a piece from an established or cycled filter into your new one, it will help it grow that BB that you need to lower ammonia and nitrites. Make sure you do frequent partial water changes also to bring those levels down.