Need help and advice

[Conrad]

Hi, been having a few problems over the past few days. I have a 94 liter tank with a fluval 305 filter. I have 2 rams, 2 Kribs, 5 neon tetra, 1 Cory and 1 glass catfish. The rams lost their colour a few days ago and both catfish became very weak. So I took a water sample to my local store and they told me that my ammonia readings were higher than they should be so the shop assistant advised me to put ammonia remover and carbon pouches in to my filter. I did this yesterday. Today I bought the API freshwater test kit and have tested PH, Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. Here are my results: PH-7.6, ammonia-0, nitrite-0 and nitrate-0. Can anyone give me advise on these results as I think my PH maybe high and I should have higher nitrate levels? Is that correct? My fish have started to perk up a bit this evening so I'm hoping that it was a sudden ammonia surge yesterday and the nitrates will kick in soon? Very worried about my fish as I love having them around :-(

 

[RobbieHadley]

Al your readings look good. Nitrates we like to see below 50, below 25 is even better. Where your sitting at 0 that just means you have no nitrites for the bacteria to convert to nitrates or your filter is taking out any trace nitrates you do have and filtering them out. I wouldn't worry your readings look great

 

[RussellC]

First, I'm not the most experience fishkeeper here, by a long shot, but will try to help with what I do know.

The first question I'd ask is... how old is your tank? If it's an established tank, I think you suspicion about nitrates is correct -- it'd be pretty unusual for them to be zero in that case. Additionally, carbon won't help with ammonia levels -- I'm not saying you shouldn't have carbon in your filter (a subject debated among fishkeepers), but it won't impact your ammonia levels in any way.

For now, though, ammonia nitrite and nitrate all look fine.

And please excuse the previous answer I wrote before making this edit -- I didn't fully read your question.

Good luck!

 

[Conrad]

Thanks for both replies, my tank has been running for about 6 weeks. My rams were gasping for breath at the top of my tank earlier but when I topped my water level up to near maximum, the fish seemed to calm a bit. Both cats have been very lifeless in the last 2 days which I find unusual as my Cory is normally the most active of all. I lost a neon tetra earlier (unknown reason) but when I took him out, both eyes were missing so I don't know if a krib or ram has had him or something else?? My future plan is to get extra Cory's and glass catfish to accompany the single lonely ones I already have, whether this is a factor in the behavioral downturn of the cats is another matter but I don't want to add more fish until all parameters are perfect.

 

[RussellC]

Thanks for both replies, my tank has been running for about 6 weeks. My rams were gasping for breath at the top of my tank earlier but when I topped my water level up to near maximum, the fish seemed to calm a bit. Both cats have been very lifeless in the last 2 days which I find unusual as my Cory is normally the most active of all. I lost a neon tetra earlier (unknown reason) but when I took him out, both eyes were missing so I don't know if a krib or ram has had him or something else?? My future plan is to get extra Cory's and glass catfish to accompany the single lonely ones I already have, whether this is a factor in the behavioral downturn of the cats is another matter but I don't want to add more fish until all parameters are perfect.

I think you're on the right track. Your earlier issues could very well be ammonia related. Even if your tank is cycled, at six weeks old, it will be very newly cycled -- and the cycle might be a touch unstable initially.

Regularly testing the water, doing changes as necessary, and avoiding adding new inhabitants until you're sure the cycle has matured seem like all the right steps to me.

 

[Keao_m]

I am not a expert but I believe glass cat fish are schooling fish and would need 5-6 to be comfortable. If not they tend to stress which could lead to funny behavior.

 

[Samzter]

Yes so do tue Cories like to be in schools of 4+ if you found a dead fish that could contribute to high ammonia.

 

[Conrad]

I am aware now that these are schooling fish but didn't at the time as the guy in the store didn't make me aware of this (my fault due to inexperience I know). The fish had only been dead a matter of a few minutes as I checked on them 5 minutes previous.

 

[Samzter]

I am aware now that these are schooling fish but didn't at the time as the guy in the store didn't make me aware of this (my fault due to inexperience I know). The fish had only been dead a matter of a few minutes as I checked on them 5 minutes previous.

It's not your fault of being inexperienced it's the shops fault. They should of told you that but they didn't .

 

[jlk]

Can I ask a question in respect to the API tests? Did you follow the directions exactly as they are written? Alot of people will make initial mistakes with the tests by skipping/skimming over the directions when they first purchase them leading to inaccurate results. The ammonia & nitrate tests are 2-step/2-bottle tests with the nitrate bottles in particular need to be violently shaken/banged on hard surface prior to use.

Another issue here is using the ammonia remover bags. If you had ammonia present, then your tank is not cycled yet. By using the ammonia remover bags, your eliminating any available ammonia for your good bacteria. This is just a quick fix & it will hamper your tank from cycling properly. Stick to water changes with a good water conditioner (such as Prime) in the future to control ammonia/nitrite levels until your tank is properly cycled. Please ask if you have any questions!

 

[DanS180]

Can I ask a question in respect to the API tests? Did you follow the directions exactly as they are written? Alot of people will make initial mistakes with the tests by skipping/skimming over the directions when they first purchase them leading to inaccurate results. The ammonia & nitrate tests are 2-step/2-bottle tests with the nitrate bottles in particular need to be violently shaken/banged on hard surface prior to use.

Another issue here is using the ammonia remover bags. If you had ammonia present, then your tank is not cycled yet. By using the ammonia remover bags, your eliminating any available ammonia for your good bacteria. This is just a quick fix & it will hamper your tank from cycling properly. Stick to water changes with a good water conditioner (such as Prime) in the future to control ammonia/nitrite levels until your tank is properly cycled. Please ask if you have any questions!

+1 i totally agree with you jlk. Sounds like his cycle is just beginning, same problem I had a few weeks back, just keep to water changes and you should be okay

 

[Conrad]

Since putting the carbon and ammonia remover packs in to my filter on Sunday I have noticed a big improvement. All fish are now back to normal and full colour again. I did however, have to give my Kribs away as the male killed a neon tetra on Monday. My stock is now: 4 neon tetra, 4 trilineatus Cory's, 2 gold rams and 1 glass catfish (will be increased shortly to 4). Im currently doing a 25% water change every other day and will be doing AM/NI/NA tests on Friday again. Am I correct by not cleaning gravel every other day as my intention is to do this once a week until my tank is fully up to speed.

 

[jlk]

Gravel does not need to be cleaned more than once a week. However, as I mentioned earlier, the ammonia remover packs are a crutch so to speak because your tank can not properly cycle with them in there. Once they are used up, your ammonia will spike overnight because you will not have your biological filter established to handle this. I would suggest removing them and sticking to daily tests & water changes until your tank cycles properly.

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice