Oh no! Dead fish after PWC

[Purrbox]

Looks like your water change wasn't quite large enough to bring down the Nitrate levels yet. Hopefully another water change in a few days will get it down to better levels. At this point it's better to do it slowly and avoid shocking the fish which have become used to the higher levels.

As I'm sure you're already aware, keep an eye on the Ammonia level and if it gets above 0.5ppm do another water change. The Prime will help ensure that the Ammonia is not in a toxic form, but it's still a good idea to keep the levels down.

 

[tabbycat0282]

If I need to change out more water than a gallon at a time, what is a safe amount to change and not shock the fish? The most I have changed was 2 gallons (5 gallon tank) and that was the night I lost the glofish. Should I use the gravel vac every time I do a PWC since I am doing them every couple of days?

I really do think that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got beaten up by the water when I added it back to the tank (5 seconds of not paying attention to the water flow). The fact that he was fine one minute and then floating within the hour seems strange to me. The other two fish didn't seem to have any problems that night.

I will test the ammonia tonight. I used 2 tubes to test nitrates last night (related to API thread that I started last night) and ended up with none to do the ammonia but didn't really realize that until I was really tired and ready to go to bed. Thanks for reminding me.

 

[happygirl65]

I think in the beginning you mentioned that you had not done maintenance in a while and then your stirred up the gravel...this could certainly cause everything you have explained.

Have you tested the nitrate right out of the tap...not in the tank? Some areas have high nitrates in their tap water....more plants may help but you might look into getting purified water if your nitrates are high out of the tap.

I find it hard to beleive that your nitrates could be that high with all your recent water changes unless it is coming in right from your tap.

Let us know....my mom for example gave up on keeping fish because her nitrates were so high out of the tap....too many fish died on her.

Also I wanted to give you big time kudos for wanting to learn a better way of fish keeping. You are certainly on the right track now, keep at it!

 

[tabbycat0282]

I have tested the tap water before...but that was back when I didn't realize that the nitrate test required vigorous shaking.
Here we go again:
Straight Tampa Tap (no Prime):
Nitrates-0
Tank as of right now:
Nitrates-40-80 , Nitrites- 0 , Ammonia- .25 , pH-7-7.2

Tank doesn't look smoky anymore and looks really good. Ammonia is bothering me because I can't really tell if the level is .25 or .5 as they both look very similar on the test card. I picked .25 because it didn't seem dull like the .5 seemed it should be.

I will do another PWC tomorrow night.

Would it be safe to add some Prime to the water to reduce the ammonia?

 

[Alaris]

I wouldn't think that it's necessary to add Prime to the tank right now. You can dose up to 5 times the regular amount in an emergency (like 4ppm ammonia or nitrItes), but you'll take care of that .25/.50ppm ammonia and nitrAtes with the pwc you'll be doing tomorrow.

 

[happygirl65]

OK, well if your tap doesn't have nitrates you will be fine, just keep making the small water changes so that everything improves slowly overtime.
I think all the stiring up of your substrate could be causing the ammonia spike and hopefully it will settle out soon.

To read your test better make sure you are in good light and put the tube next to the white part of the card. It is sometimes hard to read. You are probably somewere between the two numbers and if you have fish in there right now I would do at least a small change now. Try to keep the ammonia below .5 if at all possible.

 

[tabbycat0282]

"You do touch the test tube to the color card." -API

This was the result of my question on the other thread. I will keep ya'll posted. Thanks again for continueing to follow my tank problems. I hope to have less and less to report with each PWC : )

 

[tabbycat0282]

Yay! My Nitrates are going down (slowly)!!
Nitrate-40, Nitrite- 0, Ammonia-.25, pH-7.2, GH-150, KH-60

 

[happygirl65]

HEY! right on! Keep at it, you are doing great!

 

[jdsunflower]

glad to see things are improving! Good work. I am familiar with some of the confusions and frustrations (and sogginess) of the freq. pwc!

 

[tabbycat0282]

Thanks for the support ya'll. I will test my water again this afternoon and report my findings. This is a pain...but kind of fun now that I know my tank is getting better.

 

[tabbycat0282]

Tested the water today and I don't know if I need to continue with a PWC today. The last time I did the PWC was on Thursday. The Nitrate and Ammonia levels have decreased since then. I have a Jungle stip test that I use to get the KH, GH, and double check my Nitrate level (if they are really different I test with API again).

I was away for a few days and came back to find my largest apont. dying. I moved it last Wednesday and must have damaged it in the process. Gravel isn't very easy to move plants around in.

Nitrate- 20-40 (API test kit) 40 (Jungle strip), Nitrite- 0, Ammonia-0-.25, pH-7.2, KH-80, GH-150, chlorine-0

 

[happygirl65]

All your hard work is paying off. Since you do still have a trace of ammonia I would check it again tomorrow to see if it is going up or down and then proceed with another water change in a few days time if everything has returned to 0 just to get the nitrate down into the normal range...ideally 20-30 should be good and then you can start a normal water change schedule of weekly or every 2 weeks depending on your parameters and your fert schedule etc.
Nice job. It is not easy to keep up on the daily testing and water changes but it sounds like you have done a great job of it!

 

[tabbycat0282]

Thanks for the positive reinforcement. I will check the water tomorrow and go from there.

 

[meegosh]

I'd still keep up on the PWCs, maybe not daily, but every other day... or if the ammonia or nitrite get over .5ppm. It does sound like things are getting much better. Still a nitrate reading of 40 is still high. I would keep doing PWCs to bring that down to a more reasonable reading.

 

[tabbycat0282]

Water conditions 9-3-08:
Nitrate-20, Nitrite-0, Ammonia-0, pH-7.2

I am going to go ahead and do a 20% PWC because I want the tank to continue on this path of greatness. The nitrate was a little difficult to distinguish (as usual) but I really do think it was a 20. I have to keep myself from seeing what I want to see when I do water tests lately.

I have gathered that <40 for nitrate is what I am shooting for, but what should be my target? At what level can I stop worrying about change and focus on maintenance? I currently have 1 platy, 1 pleco, 4 plants, and a ball-o-java moss in my 5g hex.

Yesterday I was at my only LFS. A month ago I had 3 options for privately owned FS, but now there is only 1 I got some java moss...but really 'some' is more like too much. I haven't had the time to attach it to anything though and it is floating in a plastic mesh bag like a pair of socks. I have the supplies now, but still no time to construct my master plan. I have turned the ball a few times to make sure that more than just one side is getting the light. I will start a new thread regarding my moss idea/progress

 

[tabbycat0282]

Crazy question: When I set up my other tank to cycle can I use some water from my existing tank (with debris in it from a vac) to get things going? I know to use some of the gravel or decoration...but what about adding the debris. Would putting a few of my existing plants in the new tank help out to cycle too? The plants have to have some of the bacteria flora on them.

 

[SwimmingWithTheFishes]

I imagine putting the debris in would add ammoinia as the detris and food particals decay.

 

[happygirl65]

Actually you are right. The "mulm" which is that icky stuff under your gravel hs loads of beneficial bacteria on it....using that and some gravel will seed your new tank nicely.
Also if you don't want to mix the gravel with your new tank (if you are going for a different lok for example) you can put it in some pantyhose (never used or washed) and then drop it in the new tank.
The plants are also loaded with beneficial bacteria. You should see the new one cycle pretty quickly if you do all of that.
Another thing you can do is put an old filter cartridge from your existing tank into the new filter...all these things will help significantly.

As for your current target nitrate level. In such a small tank I would keep it around 15-20ppm you need some for your plants. But when it goes above 20 do your PWC.

Awesome job! You are doing great!!

 

[Purrbox]

I think you're where you want to be. The general guideline is under 40ppm, especially if you have higher Nitrates in your tap, and under 20ppm ideally. You don't want 0 Nitrates, especially if you have plants as they need it as a nutrient and having it bottom out will encourage algae.

The water itself won't help much to cycle your new aquarium, it will mostly just bring in waste from your established aquarium. Better to go with fresh water. It's the surfaces in your established aquarium that hold the beneficial bacteria that you want to seed in the new aquarium. Used filter media is best, but some gravel or decor and live plants will also work well.