oddness

[urville]

i hadf this horrible hair algae problem. i talked to the lfs and they said and i did a 50% water change and had to bleach everything. i rinsed VERY well, dried and rinsed again... everything ok to this point. then i figure i'm starting not a MINI but a complete cycle since the above included the gravel. i've been using amquel+ and biozyme everyday, and the first day i used some wardleys bullseye ph lock because i have no other suitable enviroment for my fish and two of my guppies got ammonia burn.
i started with readings of
ph 8.2
nh3 4.0
no2 5.0
this was 9-3 at the fish store,so i bought mardel test strips and today 9-5 i get
nitrate 40 ppm
nitrite 4.0 ppm
ph 7.2
ammonia .15 ppm
everything has gone down some except the nitrite, and i've done evrything i can think of.
now when i got the initial test i imediatley changed 50% vaccuumed added appropriate aquarium salt, biozyme, ph balance and amquel+ i also started feeding every other day. i only feed once and sparingly then a day normally. then i added amquel+ every 24 hours and biozyme at the same time, to the filter too since the bag is new. it's been 3 days since the hair algae fix, and 2 since the test and change.
oh btw i run two powerheads in this 10 gal, and air out the bum, i make sure i can see tiny bubbles everywhere.
please help never had this happen before
ian

 

[Kornchild]

Try turning the lights off and covering the tank with a blanket for a few days. cured my hair algea problems,

 

[fish_doc]

i had this horrible hair algae

Try a new barber

Actually whatever you do avoid the algae gone chemicals being sold. They are hard on the fish.
Kornchild's advise is a good one. Do a good water change then turn the lights off and cover all the glass. Your fish will be fine for a day or two without food. Do not peek and see if it is working.

Good luck.

 

[urville]

well the hair algae is actually gone it's that nitrite level thats deep in the toxic zone... i cant get rid of

 

[fish_doc]

Water changes are the best thing to get levels down. Use a gravel vac when doing changes.

 

[urville]

Water changes are the best thing to get levels down. Use a gravel vac when doing changes.

50%? do you think? and how often?

this is exactly what i needed to know!
i thought water changes but then i thought, am i slowly reverse engineering what i want, because i'm diluting out the bad chemicaals, but probably the good stuff too. and if i do too many how much does that affect the gravel bed bacteria, i mean theres always the PF, but...

but thank you. immensly. i hate to think their life is hard and painful on my behalf any longer than it can be helped.
oh on another note....
i've always wondered. see it's been the popular opinion around here not to change your PF bag but to change only the carbon, due to the fact that it only absorbs for so long. but i've also heard it can release these things back into the water once saturated. so how do i get every tiny particle out without disturbing the bacteria colonies and also how do i clean detritus that may be rotting without harming that bateria bed?
ian

 

[fish_doc]

What kind of filtering do you use?

If you use a undergravel filter. I would do a 30 percent change and gravel vac only about 1/2 of the gravel during the change. Then give it a week and do another 30 percent change and gravel vac the other 1/2 during that change.

If you use a external filter you can gravel vac more on the water change but do not do it at the same time you clean the filter media.

 

[urville]

I use an external filter and undegravel. but my external was just changed. i have been seeding with biozyme. and the last water change was right after i got home from testing the water at the lfs. and it was 50%

so basically 3 days ago i did like a 50% change, and cleaned everything, and changed my filter media due to the algae. then the next day the levels were so high i did another 50% but didnt vac since i knew it was clean.
and today is the second day with no changes, just seeding biozyme and using amquel+

 

[krap101]

are you sure biozyme works? isnt it just like stress coat?

 

[urville]

to be honest i'm not... i dont think its like stress coat. it comes ina little yellow bottle and it's dry. the package says it's freshwater beneficial nitrifying bacteria bonded? i think it says to bran which reacts the moment it hits water, freeing the bacteria. all i know is there are 6 fishstores, a petco, and wal-mart and not one even knew what bio-spira is and i cant find it available online, let alone wait for shipping or afford overnight so....
ian

 

[krap101]

i dont think you need overnight. because any responsible fish retailer wouldnt let such a valuable product go to waste. so im sure they'll put a cold bag in there with the biospira. unless they dont aloow not overnight.

im sure its just one of those stupid things that dont work. if it did work you wouldnt have to cycle your tank right now

 

[Menagerie]

[center:d602ac19d0] Welcome to AA, urville! [/center:d602ac19d0]

Hello! I am going to start from the beginning, so please excuse me if I repeat others.

i hadf this horrible hair algae problem. i talked to the lfs and they said and i did a 50% water change and had to bleach everything. i rinsed VERY well, dried and rinsed again...

Why did you bleach everything? I'm not understanding this--did the LFS recommend this procedure?

then i figure i'm starting not a MINI but a complete cycle since the above included the gravel. i've been using amquel+ and biozyme everyday, and the first day i used some wardleys bullseye ph lock because i have no other suitable enviroment for my fish and two of my guppies got ammonia burn.

You only need to add amquel once to neutralize the heavy metals in the water. There is no need to add it everyday unless you are doing water changes. As for the biozyme, that is not doing anything for the bacteria in the filter and it's not helping the fish. If nitrites were present, the burning could have been due to nitrite poisoning. If fact, after looking at the water parameters, I am willing to bet it was the nitrite, not the ammonia that harmed the fish. Since the nitrite is still high, add more salt!! This will help your fish greatly!
On the first day of a cycle, there shouldn't be enough ammonia in the tank to cause that kind of harm to the fish. I don't understand where the ammonia came from.

i started with readings of
ph 8.2
nh3 4.0
no2 5.0
this was 9-3 at the fish store,so i bought mardel test strips and today 9-5 i get
nitrate 40 ppm
nitrite 4.0 ppm
ph 7.2
ammonia .15 ppm

When did you bleach the tank, how long after did you get the fish store to test your water parameters? Also, I highly recommend getting liquid tests, as they are more reliable.

now when i got the initial test i imediatley changed 50% vaccuumed added appropriate aquarium salt, biozyme, ph balance and amquel+ i also started feeding every other day. i only feed once and sparingly then a day normally. then i added amquel+ every 24 hours and biozyme at the same time, to the filter too since the bag is new. it's been 3 days since the hair algae fix, and 2 since the test and change.

Stop using the pH balance!! This could be causing more problems. If the tank is not properly buffered, the pH will swing wildly and the fish will be affected! It's okay to feed fish every other day all the time (except fry). When fish evolved, they did not always had a steady source of food (just like any other animal) and they do tend to over eat, if given the chance.

oh btw i run two powerheads in this 10 gal, and air out the bum, i make sure i can see tiny bubbles everywhere.

This is unnecessary. It's onley a 10 gal tank. The bubbles do not bring much dissolved oxygen to the tank. The only thing you are getting is more surface agitation, which should also be provided by the filter. What kind of filter are you using??

i dont think its like stress coat. it comes ina little yellow bottle and it's dry. the package says it's freshwater beneficial nitrifying bacteria bonded?

From what I understand, biozyme is not that effective. There are several bacteria that are present in the filter. Biospira is the only one that has all the bacteria needed. However, it is currently unavailable. You will cycle the tank the old fashion way with fish and it will be slow. I highly recommend a liquid test kit and that you stop using all chemicals in the tank except a dechlorinator.

 

[fish_doc]

Off of petsmarts website

Freshwater Biozyme is a living system of beneficial bacteria in concentrated form, which is activated upon introduction to water. It converts lethal ammonia and nitrite to less harmful nitrate. It quickly reduces fish waste to inert substances and breaks down organic buildup in gravel beds. Freshwater Biozyme has unlimited shelf life, as opposed to liquid enzymes. These bacteria contribute to the production of the nitrogen cycle which is critical to all aquatic systems. This material gives you the option of increasing the activity of an already established filter, or reactivating a filter damaged by medications. Helps prevent "new tank syndrome" when used for establishing new aquariums.

Now on to what I think: I dont think many of these products live up to their claims. I think they are more to make us feel better as fishkeepers than what they actually do to help the fish. As urville said Bio-spira is the only one that I have heard that actually works but it has a shelf life and needs to be refrigrated. And is kind of hard to find. What I try to keep in mind is anything I add to a tank stays in there until I do a water change and pull it out. That is why I avoid putting as little as possible into a tank.

 

[urville]

Why did you bleach everything? I'm not understanding this--did the LFS recommend this procedure?

they did. they said it was the most effective way to destroy the hair algae.

You only need to add amquel once to neutralize the heavy metals in the water. There is no need to add it everyday unless you are doing water changes. As for the biozyme, that is not doing anything for the bacteria in the filter and it's not helping the fish. If nitrites were present, the burning could have been due to nitrite poisoning. If fact, after looking at the water parameters, I am willing to bet it was the nitrite, not the ammonia that harmed the fish. Since the nitrite is still high, add more salt!! This will help your fish greatly!
On the first day of a cycle, there shouldn't be enough ammonia in the tank to cause that kind of harm to the fish. I don't understand where the ammonia came from.

the lfs said that the ammonia was from the cleaning, i cleaned everything. i mean the gravel all of it, cause it was covered in the hair algae. i use amquel everday cause it says to use it every 24 hours to remove ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, chloramines and chlorine. is this not true?

When did you bleach the tank, how long after did you get the fish store to test your water parameters? Also, I highly recommend getting liquid tests, as they are more reliable.

i bleached like wed or so. tested at the store using a liquid test on fri. i would but the liquid is so expencsive but i will get it next time. i think i'll just buy the little lab kit they have.

Stop using the pH balance!! This could be causing more problems. If the tank is not properly buffered, the pH will swing wildly and the fish will be affected! It's okay to feed fish every other day all the time (except fry). When fish evolved, they did not always had a steady source of food (just like any other animal) and they do tend to over eat, if given the chance.

poo! it works for like 2 months should i do a water change to dilute it out?
hopefully that hasnt happened i've checked every day and it's steadily between 7 and 7.5, the ph i mean. yeah, i've always been over cautious about feeding.

This is unnecessary. It's onley a 10 gal tank. The bubbles do not bring much dissolved oxygen to the tank. The only thing you are getting is more surface agitation, which should also be provided by the filter. What kind of filter are you using??

uh a standard whisper for a 10 gal. i wish i had the box and whatnot. it uses the carbon in the floss bags. the powerhead situation wont harm them will it? i have no other air besides the powerheads. they seem to like the current and readily swim directly in it.

From what I understand, biozyme is not that effective. There are several bacteria that are present in the filter. Biospira is the only one that has all the bacteria needed. However, it is currently unavailable. You will cycle the tank the old fashion way with fish and it will be slow. I highly recommend a liquid test kit and that you stop using all chemicals in the tank except a dechlorinator.

well i do use a dechlorinator when adding or changing water. so i will start not using the chemicals today my readings were
ph 7.2
ammonia .1
nitrates 40ppm
nitrites 4.0 ppm
hardness 120 ppm
alk/buffer 80 ppm

ian
wow all these years this is the first time ever with these kinds of problems. curses on live plants for their hair algae inducing poo, and the lfs for not suggesting the blanket method.

 

[urville]

ok heres what i did
i did a 30% change today. no vaccuuming as to not disrupt bio beds. i cleaned out my filters carbon because i figure it's already taken on so much i'm sure, and replaced it with aquaclear bags of charcoal so as to make the changes easier.
i tested my tap which rated at
ph 6.8
nitrates 5 ppm
nitrites .25 ppm
ammonia 0

then i dechlorinated said water and added it to the tank replacing the 30%
i added salt, and bacteria.
tested at
7.5 ph
nitrates 40ppm STILL!
nitrites .5 ppm
ammonia .1

ian

 

[Menagerie]

If you only added dechlor, salt and bacteria, there is no reason for the pH, nitrites, nitrates and ammonia to go up. There is something wrong here. The best way to measure tap water is to let it sit out over night to allow the gasses to equilibrate with the ambient air, which occurs in a fish tank. After you get your real tap water readings, you may be able to get to the bottom of this.
Most fish can tolerate 40ppm nitrates, so that number is fine, except that it went up for no reason. I also suggest getting a liquid test ASAP. The strips could be giving you false readings.