made the mistake of buying fish too early and for the first 3 weeks everything was great then my tank got this white cloud that consumed it so I used acurelF and it cleared it up so I wasnt sure where I was in my cycle but now its 5 week since tank is set up I purchased a black ghost and 3 clown pectis(I think thats what they are snake like) when I purchased them yesterday I tested the water and the ph was 7 and amonnia 0.25 I went to work in the morning and I came home and my ph is 6.6 and amonnia 4.0 to 8.0 and water is back to cloudy I need help before my black ghost dies I dont know what to do
ph is low and ammonia is high help before fish dies!!
- Thread starter dja3617
- Start date
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BBradbury
Aquarium Advice Addict
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- May 24, 2011
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Hello dja...
When you cycle a tank with fish, you just test the water daily for traces of ammonia and nitrite. If you have a positive test, you change out 25 percent of the tank water and replace that with pure, treated tap water. The water change removes the toxins, but leaves some for the beneficial bacteria that uses it for food.
You just test every day and remove a quarter of the tank water when needed. When several daily tests show no traces of ammonia or nitrite, your tank is cycled.
B
When you cycle a tank with fish, you just test the water daily for traces of ammonia and nitrite. If you have a positive test, you change out 25 percent of the tank water and replace that with pure, treated tap water. The water change removes the toxins, but leaves some for the beneficial bacteria that uses it for food.
You just test every day and remove a quarter of the tank water when needed. When several daily tests show no traces of ammonia or nitrite, your tank is cycled.
B
shellieca
Aquarium Advice Addict
What kind of test kit are you using, liquid or strips? What sized tank & what is the filtration? When you say clown pectis do you mean clown pleco? If so, my udnerstanding is that they are messy fish & therefore are probably the reason for the ammonia spike. The cloudiness is typically a bacterial bloom which is normal in a new tank & goes away within a week or two, no need to do anything special. You need to do an immediate water change of 50%+, retest the water about an hour after & if the ammonia is still >.25 (which it most likely will be) do another 50% water change.
Im using liquid test strips and the fish are actually clown loaches that I bought since the ammonia is high ive been using ammo lock becausr I dont want my BGK to die from ammonia poisoning or die period is this ok untill my tank finishes its cycle
Mebbid
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes. Immediately do a 50% water change. How big is your tank?
Mebbid
Aquarium Advice Addict
Not at all. You are doing a fish in cycle so need to keep the water safe for your fish. All else comes secondary to that.
On a second note, both the clown loaches and Knife fish need a 100g+ tank. It might be a good idea to rehome them. Especially now since your tank is cycling and they probably won't survive the process.
Take a look at this link. It will help you out with how to proceed.
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice
