What the heck???

[Homedog98]

Ok, so, I broke my collar bone a few weeks ago, and haven't really been able to do any water changes, or test my water. Well today, I tested the water, and my ammonia was 0 nitrites were through the roof, along with my nitrates! I have no clue as to whether or not i'm cycled, but my last readings before the break were 2 ammonia, 0nitrites, and in between 0 and 5 nitrates. Well, after freaking out today, I got my mom to help me change the water, I did a 50% pwc. I have the API master kit, and a ten gallon tank that was set up 3 months ago. Now for my questions...

1. Am I cycled, or is this the nitrite spike?
2. If i'm not cycled, is it normal for fish in cycles to take this long?
3. I recently had guppies that all died during this fiasco. Are they good indicator fish?
4. This ones kind of off topic, but could I do 6 black skirt tetras in there? With the promise of them getting moved to a 29 gallon this summer?

 

[ejaramillo01]

I hope that you are in the second step of the cycle, if you don't have fish in the tank, don't do more PWC until you see the nitrites to drop to 0, also don't forget to keep adding ammonia. Don't worry about the Nitrates right now.
If you have fish, keep doing PWC as frequent as needed to reduce the nitrites as close as possible to 0ppm.

I think that when the tank is fully cycled you can add the tetras with no problems.

 

[1Vampiregirl]

You are definitely not cycled yet. Once you are, there'll be no nitrites. But there's good news too: the cycle is moving along. I did a fish in cycle, too, and when nitrites appeared, it took about a week for the cycle to complete.

I fully agree that you should wait on adding fish until your tank is cycled, especially if due to your injury you can't do the water changes as needed right now.

If you do have fish now and can't do PWC to keep the nitrites low, you can dose Prime to detoxify them temporarily. As far as I understand it only works for 24 hours, so you'd have to dose daily (please, correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[eco23]

You're definitely not cycled yet, but there is a debate on nitrIte levels. The vast majority of people I've gotten advice from believe that if the nitrItes get TOO high it can stall your cycle. If the numbers are astronomically high I'd do a pwc (it took me about 80% to get it to readable levels) to get the nitrItes down a bit. It's the same principal as seriously overdosing the ammonia levels during a fishless cycle where the bacteria are overwhelmed by the super high levels of their food source. I think of it as if you put a 15lb steak in front of me, I'd say "I can't eat that thing!" and It'd take me a long time to get started. Hope I helped.

 

[eco23]

As a follow up, definitely don't add any fish until it's through, you're probably 75% there, and once the nitrItes drop it happens virtually overnight. Don't give up, you're almost at the finish line and your fish will thank you!

 

[Homedog98]

Thank you guys, I do have fish, (3 black skirt tetras) if that helps any. Well here are more questions...
1. So I basically just need to do tests and water changes as often as possible?
2. How frequently do I need to do them?
3. So the tetras will work?

 

[eco23]

Thank you guys, I do have fish, (3 black skirt tetras) if that helps any. Well here are more questions...
1. So I basically just need to do tests and water changes as often as possible?
2. How frequently do I need to do them?
3. So the tetras will work?

Oh sorry, I didn't see in your first post that it was with fish (I must have been half asleep, it was like 2am here). I've never done a fish-in cycle, but i would do as many water changes and tests as possible. Probably once a day is okay, but I'd check again later in the day to make sure the ammo and nitrItes aren't getting above safe levels and do another as needed.

I don't know about all tetras, but I know certain ones aren't very hardy at all. Do you have a friend or family member you could loan your fish to and do a fishless cycle with ammonia?

And I just got my Python in 2 days ago for water changes and it's amazing! If you hurt your collar bone a Python would let you do the changes no problem. I don't know if they want you to advertise certain websites on this forum, but I found one for $27, so pm me and I'll give you the link. Good luck!

 

[Rokuzachi]

Doing a fish-in cycle is a lot easier if your tank is heavily planted. You may be too far along for that, but in the past I have done fish-in cycles for unplanted and planted aquariums and have never lost a fish doing so. Unfortunately some fish are sensitive, but a lot of fish are tougher than people give them credit for.

Like eco said, keep a very close eye on your water and keep things fresh.

A word of caution on using a Python or similar water changer (from personal experience): test your water straight out of the tap, then test it in your aquarium. Some areas (mine for instance) have their water buffered to extremely high levels. In my case, 10-10.5. My PH drops after the water 'de-gasses' by sitting out over night or being aerated for 2-4 hours, but if I were to pump it straight into the aquarium, which is a PH of 7.6, that would probably spell disaster.

I know not everyone's tap is like this, just a friendly warning that I'm passing along. This came to light for me because of a local area water report from the city, combined with knowledge of more experienced hobbyists.

 

[jenatron]

Homedog how did you initially cycle your tank? I've seen your previous posts and it seemed like your tank was cycle.

Edit: Went back to your old posts. You said about a week ago that you had 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and low Nitrates.
-How are you testing? (Which kit?)
-Has anything been done differently since then? (I heard once about spraying Windex onto the outside of the glass messing things up. Don't know how.)
-Any maintenance done? (Cleaning the filter?)
-How has your mom been helping? (Maybe she did something?)
-Did you ever find the guppies that went missing?

 

[Homedog98]

Homedog how did you initially cycle your tank? I've seen your previous posts and it seemed like your tank was cycle.

Edit: Went back to your old posts. You said about a week ago that you had 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and low Nitrates.
-How are you testing? (Which kit?)
-Has anything been done differently since then? (I heard once about spraying Windex onto the outside of the glass messing things up. Don't know how.)
-Any maintenance done? (Cleaning the filter?)
-How has your mom been helping? (Maybe she did something?)
-Did you ever find the guppies that went missing?

Umm... I've never really had 0 ammonia... I don't really know where that came from... Lol. I have the API freshwater master kit. My mom helps me with the water changes by filling up a bucket of tank water, dumping it in the sink, matching the temp as close as she can from the tap, and dumps it back in. I test by following the directions in the booklet, and I don't clean my tank (even the outside) with any household cleaners. I never did find those guppies, except for the last one that got sucked into the filter after it died. I'm assuming my cat got the other ones. Haven't touched the filter or anything of that sort, but I did look in once or twice to see if the guppies were in there. And I initially didn't know about cycling, so I just did what the LFS told me to do, and dropped in some bottle bacteria, water conditioner, and fish. Then I learned about cycling, and started doing water changes.

 

[eco23]

I'd be willing to bet that those guppys are still in there somewhere. What's probably happening is that you're basically doing a fishless cycle with fish in there. The dead fish are acting as your additional ammonia source the same way that people use cooked shrimp or pure ammonia. I'd start by getting your mom to really dig through the tank and search for the fish under plants and everything else you have in the aquarium.

 

[Homedog98]

I've taken out everything in that tank, thoroughly searched and washed it with old tank water (moms help) taken out and checked the filter, and sifted through the gravel multiple times. Those guppies aren't in there.

 

[Homedog98]

Just tested my water.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: between 1 and 2
Nitrate: 160
HELP!!! How much for the water change? Will my little guys be ok?

 

[Kat1103]

I would 1-2 water changes a day (50%) to get those numbers down, and maybe even vacuum the gravel once too. That's what I had to do on my 5 gallon. Luckily it was a small tank and didn't take much time....oh and test that water daily

 

[Homedog98]

Just did the 50% water change, will test again in... Uh... A little help here?

 

[jenatron]

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: about 2.5
PH: 6.4

^That was from your missing guppies thread. That was what I was referring to btw.
And I was betting that the guppies had decomposed in your tank as well. They could be long gone by now; You might never find them. Keep doing water changes until your levels are acceptable. That's really all you can do for now.

 

[Homedog98]

Whoops... I guess I mis-posted...

 

[eco23]

I'd be leery of vacuuming your gravel too much. The reason that you have nitrItes is because the bio-filter isn't fully established. Most of the bacteria is in the filter, but I'd keep every little guy you've got in the tank. Just doing pwc's should be efficient to get you through. Keep us updated on how it's going

 

[Homedog98]

Will do. Did yet another test about an hour after the pwc,
Ammonia 0
Nitrites: 1
Nitrates: in-between 80 and 160
The tank is on prime though, so my little guys should be safe until I can get my mom to help me again tomorrow.

 

[eco23]

Will do. Did yet another test about an hour after the pwc,
Ammonia 0
Nitrites: 1
Nitrates: in-between 80 and 160
The tank is on prime though, so my little guys should be safe until I can get my mom to help me again tomorrow.

Good job staying on top of it. Just keep knocking out those pwc's to keep the levels down. Looks a lot better though. Off the top of my head, I think it's 80 you want to keep nitrates below?

Actually I think 40 is what you're shooting for.