Having trouble with NO2 and NO3

[RichGuzinski]

Ive just finished a 7 week cycle on my tank. Waited a week to put a small Fan Tail. He/She has been in the tank now 4 days. Im having trouble keeping the bacteria levels down. No ammonia. Is that why the bacteria is going crazy. Ive done 2 50% water changes and no luck. Goes down for maybe half a day. What shold i do? Really need help before the fish is stressed.

 

[ZxC]

Ive just finished a 7 week cycle on my tank. Waited a week to put a small Fan Tail. He/She has been in the tank now 4 days. Im having trouble keeping the bacteria levels down. No ammonia. Is that why the bacteria is going crazy. Ive done 2 50% water changes and no luck. Goes down for maybe half a day. What shold i do? Really need help before the fish is stressed.

I'm confused?

You don't want bacteria levels down, you want them high.
You don't want ammonia, you want 0.

What bacteria is going crazy? why are you doing the big water changes? What goes down for half a day?

 

[RichGuzinski]

Sorry. I was under the impression might be mistaken but i thought you needed low levels of NO3 and no NO2. I did the water changes cause the test off the chart. Both bacteria is back with in half a day after the water change

 

[ZxC]

Sorry. I was under the impression might be mistaken but i thought you needed low levels of NO3 and no NO2. I did the water changes cause the test off the chart. Both bacteria is back with in half a day after the water change

Ammonia, NH3
Nitrite, NO2-
Nitrate, NO3-

These are not bacteria, but rather compounds that bacteria produce.

In a cycled tank you would want:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0-60 is fine, but the lower the better, no need to freak out if levels are 5-20ppm, that is just fine.

 

[RichGuzinski]

My NO2 and 3 are off the chart. Dont know whay this is happening. How do i control?

 

[ZxC]

What sized tank? Only thing to do is large water changes to keep NO2 down. Tank isn't fully cycled if there is NO2 present

 

[RichGuzinski]

NO2 was gone for 4 days before i put the fish in. Ive been testing 2x a day just to see how long it will take the fish to create ammonia. I didnt have any NO2 for the first 2 days if the fish being in the tank. I have a 10 gallon. I know its small for fancy goldfish. I found one the was tinny about 1/2 inch. I plan on upgrading to a 30 gallon in a few months.

 

[agrasyuk]

Sounds like the amount of BB that developed in your tank during fishless cycle was insufficient to deal with the extra load,

 

[RichGuzinski]

Any suggestions on what to do? Water changes? This is my first tank. I already made the mistake of putting fish in an uncycled tank. Am i doing something wrong? Really dont want to start over

 

[ZxC]

Any suggestions on what to do? Water changes? This is my first tank. I already made the mistake of putting fish in an uncycled tank. Am i doing something wrong? Really dont want to start over

Water changes. Keep the nitrites low and your fish should be fine. Eventually the tank will cycle and you can get by with normal water changes.

 

[King Fisher]

Now you are gonna have to do a fish in cycle. If possible with the time you have everyday I would do 50% water change twice a day. Giving at least 4 hours between water changes. Test your water daily and don't test right after a water change or a feeding. Go light on the feeding of your fish during this and definitely don't over feed. Use seachem prime for your water conditioner.

 

[RichGuzinski]

I have API water conditioner. Ive cycled my tank fishless for almost 8 weeks. Your telling me it wasnt done? I followed a link from this sight call "The almost complete gide to a fishless cycle". It said once the ammonia and NO2 levels disappear within 24 hours the cycle is done. Did i miss something? How much longer should this take?

 

[ZxC]

Without knowing how you did the cycle, it’s impossible to tell how complete it was. Even if the cycle was complete, it could have only created a small population of bacteria not capable of dealing with even 1 fishes waste.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Any suggestions on what to do? Water changes? This is my first tank. I already made the mistake of putting fish in an uncycled tank. Am i doing something wrong? Really dont want to start over

I'm late here, but it sounds like you've experienced what is referred to as a "mini cycle"

Since you had no ammonia, your bacteria colony that "eats" ammonia was sufficient. However, the colony that handles nitrites (NO2) was not big enough for this fish. This happens pretty often with new tanks as the filter adjusts and the bacteria increase to meet demand. Not sure how much ammonia you were dosing, but apparently it wasn't quite the same as the fish is producing. Right now it's a matter of water changes to keep the fish alive while your filter adjusts. Shouldn't take long.

 

[Autumnsky]

Did you dose ammonia one time or over and over again? If you did it over and over again, then yes it is likely a mini cycle. Again an ammonia factory - cute little Goldfish, and food producing more than your base level of BB can handle, so slow down on food and drop in smaller amounts so the fish get it eaten and maybe feed a little more often but much smaller amounts. This can space out the ammonia production, and also reduce it by limiting waste of the food turning into ammonia and a little less waste from the fish, still could help.

Did you rinse the filter pad in untreated tap water or replace it with a new one???


Check out the articles

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

Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side - Aquarium Advice

 

[RichGuzinski]

All is well now. Things are going so well the only thing that rises is the No3. Never any ammonia or No2. Fish seem to be very happy. Always swimming all over the place and chasing each other. I need to upgrade to a bigger tank soon