What should I do here?

[Mikesfishtanks]

Heres my story.....I've had my tank set up since the end of December. It's a 10 gallon freshwater tank that has 1 dalmation Molly, 3 bloodfin tetras, and a peppered Cory catfish. I originally had two mollies and all the rest the same. My tank sadly got ich and I lost one of the mollies. I had replaced the Molly and that one had also died for some reason (no disease or anything like that). So I turned to see what the levels of ammonia nitrates etc. were. I got my water tested at petsmart last week and my ammonia was 0, nitrites were 10.0, nitrates were 40, ph was 7.6-7.8, alkalinity was 180, hardness was 150 and chlorine and chloramine was 0. I was told to do a 25% water change with distilled water and then a 10% water change. i did this and I got my water tested tonight and now

ammonia is 0.5
nitrites are 5.0-10.0
nitrates are 20
ph is 7.8-8.0
alkalinity is 300
hardness is 75
chlorine and chloramine is 0

Now I got a second opinion at a local pets store and petsmart. Petsmart told me to buy a buffer product and the local guy was an older gentlemen that sounded like he knew what he was talking about and he recommended doing a 50% water change with treated tap water and going from there. At this point I don't know what I should do and I'm looking to the more experienced people here for some help. So please help me out

 

[emerald76]

Heres my story.....I've had my tank set up since the end of December. It's a 10 gallon freshwater tank that has 1 dalmation Molly, 3 bloodfin tetras, and a peppered Cory catfish. I originally had two mollies and all the rest the same. My tank sadly got ich and I lost one of the mollies. I had replaced the Molly and that one had also died for some reason (no disease or anything like that). So I turned to see what the levels of ammonia nitrates etc. were. I got my water tested at petsmart last week and my ammonia was 0, nitrites were 10.0, nitrates were 40, ph was 7.6-7.8, alkalinity was 180, hardness was 150 and chlorine and chloramine was 0. I was told to do a 25% water change with distilled water and then a 10% water change. i did this and I got my water tested tonight and now

ammonia is 0.5
nitrites are 5.0-10.0
nitrates are 20
ph is 7.8-8.0
alkalinity is 300
hardness is 75
chlorine and chloramine is 0

Now I got a second opinion at a local pets store and petsmart. Petsmart told me to buy a buffer product and the local guy was an older gentlemen that sounded like he knew what he was talking about and he recommended doing a 50% water change with treated tap water and going from there. At this point I don't know what I should do and I'm looking to the more experienced people here for some help. So please help me out

Your nitrite is at an extremely deadly level. Your ammonia and Trites should always be zero. Also, none of your fish are appropriate for the tank. You need to do daily 50% water changes until your nitrite and ammonia are zero then continue doing 30% water changes every two to three days. I think you are still cycling, it is possible. Get a gravel vacuum too to suck up all the decomposing gunk in the tank. Get some prime to do water changes with.

 

[Mikesfishtanks]

I have been told that doing a lot of big water changes will do more harm than good and doing constant ones is better. Also all of the fish I have we're recommended for my tank.

 

[emerald76]

I have been told that doing a lot of big water changes will do more harm than good and doing constant ones is better. Also all of the fish I have we're recommended for my tank.

Well, you must have gotten bad information. Mollies are too big, tetras too active, and Cories need more bottom space. Big water changes just improve water quality and those nitrites and ammonia need to go WAY down. Go big!

 

[frank98284]

i would do a 50% wc and get a API test kit also test tap water and use Prime its the best thing on the market IMO sounds like you are still in a cycle do you know anyone who can give you some BB to help your cycle also i would look in to getting a bigger tank a 20gal and i know that petsmart said the fish were ok in a 10gal but with the fish You have will be happier and a 20gal is easier to take care of.

 

[catpear]

Your levels are too high. You do have to do water changes but too many can harm your fish. I lost fish that way because that is what other people told me to do as well. I am also in the cycling phase and opted to buy bacteria. The guy at petco was helpful he check my water levels and said they were decent for fish to live. He told me during this phase you just sometimes loose fish due to the conditions. He's been tanking care of fish for 10 years so I trust his judgement plus I did a lot of research on it. I would say research the topic further and see what others say.

 

[Fishperson]

Absolutely agree. Your ph is fine, but your ammonia and nitrItes should be 0. You need to do more water changes. And your tank is too small.

 

[Mikesfishtanks]

How often? And what percentage?

 

[emerald76]

Your levels are too high. You do have to do water changes but too many can harm your fish. I lost fish that way because that is what other people told me to do as well. I am also in the cycling phase and opted to buy bacteria. The guy at petco was helpful he check my water levels and said they were decent for fish to live. He told me during this phase you just sometimes loose fish due to the conditions. He's been tanking care of fish for 10 years so I trust his judgement plus I did a lot of research on it. I would say research the topic further and see what others say.

Where did you hear that? The more water changes the better. Unless you don't dechlor 99.999999% of the time you will be fine. This 'phase' is called cycling and something can be done about the conditions. Water changes. When my levels went up horribly, I did 50% changes twice a day for a total of 700% of the water changed per week. Every fish survived and were extremely healthy. Decent isn't good enough. If I hadn't found this site I could have kept fish for twenty years and still known nothing, would you still trust my advice just because I'd been in the hobby that long?(just an example) Also, most bottled bacteria does more harm than good. I don't mean to be rude if anyone takes it that way.

 

[emerald76]

How often? And what percentage?

30-50% daily, then once the levels go down back down to 25% every three to four days, then go down to 20-25% weekly or twice weekly with a gravel vac every other week.

 

[Mikesfishtanks]

What were you're levels after all of those water changes?
Did you add bottled bateria at all?

 

[emerald76]

What were you're levels after all of those water changes?
Did you add bottled bateria at all?

My levels were 0 amm and Trites, 10ish trates. (Using an API liquid kit)
No bottled bacteria.

 

[Mikesfishtanks]

Why did you choose not to add the bottled bacteria? I thought they helped break down harmful things in the tank

 

[emerald76]

Why did you choose not to add the bottled bacteria? I thought they helped break down harmful things in the tank

Bottled bacteria cultures generally do more harm than good. Sometimes they are the wrong type of bacteria, or they are dead from lack of food. Beneficial bacteria does do 75% of the work. The other 25% is done by you through water changes and responsible stocking. Bottled bacteria is not the same thing as beneficial bacteria most of the time, no matter what the label says.

 

[Mikesfishtanks]

One more thing if I use a dechlorinator how long should I wait before its ready to be used in the aquarium?

 

[frank98284]

ITS GOOD TO GO RIGHT AFTER YOU ADD IT Use Prime its the best. I wo uhh ld get a bigger tank

 

[emerald76]

One more thing if I use a dechlorinator how long should I wait before its ready to be used in the aquarium?

As soon as it goes in the new water it's good to use.

 

[frank98284]

do you know someone that has a established tank that could you some BB ?

 

[Mikesfishtanks]

I don't know anyone with an established tank and I'm probably going to sound dumb with this but what exactly is BB?

 

[emerald76]

I don't know anyone with an established tank and I'm probably going to sound dumb with this but what exactly is BB?

Beneficial bacteria, which I briefly explained in an earlier post. You could order a cycled sponge filter from angelsplus.com. Be sure it is a cycled one.