What to do now

[razmataz1971]

OK, first off, I was an idiot and not let my tank "fishless" cycle.

I found this board after the fact and, haven't lost a fish until just today. The tank is now roughly 5 weeks old. I've been testing my water and got a hugh Ammonia spike 9 days ago. (4.0) All fish survived the spike except I lost 1 today shortly after the water change. 8O

I've been doing 60% PWC every day now for the last 9 days. I did another 60% PWC about 5 hours ago, and tested again just now. My readings are just as they were before today's PWC:

Ammonia: .50
NO2: 5.0 or more
NO3: 10

When is everything suppose to level off? :?

I think after reading some of the posts, I may be just about there, but still not 100% sure yet.

 

[Toirtis]

You are...probably in 2-4 days at this rate.

 

[millipede]

bump
Don't know what else to say but thought this post needed a tiny bit more attention... I could be wrong but wouldn't 60% every day be too much?

 

[razmataz1971]

Thanks for the input. I'm doing 60% because the Ammonia was up over 4.0 for over a week with NO2 at only 0. Now the NO2 is 5.0 (or more) and the Ammonia is .50.

Now here's the kicker and another problem that I noticed just an hour ago. Some of the fish, 4 to be exact, came down with some fin rot. It's my fault because I was the dummy and only fishless cycled for a week. My parents had fish when I was growing up and never heard of fishless cycling nor ever had a problem. So before I found this site, I was basically getting help from them.

So now I'm set back again and can't do any water changes for 4 days. I had to treat the tank with Jungus Fungus.

My QT tank has been set up and running fishless cycling for about 2 weeks and just isn't ready to go yet. I tried to save one of the Gouramis I lost today in the QT tank and it died as fast as I put him in there.

I'm not getting frustrated as this is a learning experience for me. Now, with the tank still not completely cycled and me experiencing another set-back, will the lack of water changes for the next 4 days have an impact?

 

[mattrox]

I would say keep up the water changes until the cycle is finished.

 

[TankGirl]

That nitrite is worrisome, and is going to be hard on the fish for sure. You need to lower the water level to create splashing and even crank up a bubble wand or something because the bubbles popping at the surface will help oxygenate the water, which is the problem during high nitrite levels.

I don't blame you for doing heavy water changes - those levels need to be kept out of the deadly range, but it does sortof slow the process somewhat.

Fin rot can be treated with Melafix and Pimafix, which will not affect your cycle now or after the fact. It is not a surprise that fin rot has set in, and it is one problem that can be relatively easy to treat if you catch it early. After doing your water changes dose your Melafix and/or Pimafix.

Good luck and hang in there!

 

[poppab02]

Ok, I see two tanks in your sig---which one is cycling? Or are they both cycling? If one of your tanks is already cycled, float a filter from that tank in the other tank---it will help immensely.
Large water changes in small tanks can alot of times do more harm than good. Small tanks can be unstable for long periods of time so without knowing exactly which tank is cycling, I can't say much more.

 

[razmataz1971]

Thanks TG. The Jungle Fungus box said to do PWC (25%) after 4 days of treatment. If that doesn't help cure, then I'll try the Melafix that way I can continue with my PWC's. I have a 26in bubble wand in the back of the tank and added an add'l airstone before adding the meds.

poppab02 - My 75 is the one I only fishless cycled for a week before adding fish which is the one I'm having the problem with. I'm regreting it now. The 10 gal is cycled because I had it before the 75 gal. I did a week cycle with no fish on that one also and don't even have a problem. I didn't add my 10gal QT tank in my sig and that's not completely cycled yet.

 

[poppab02]

Float the filter from your cycled 10 gallon in your 75 gallon, immediately. That will help more than anything else you can do to speed up that cycle.

As for the finrot, use melafix, now. I swear by it, as does most of the site--besidesl dechlorinator it's all I will ever put in my tank. It does wonders for finrot and injured fish and is by far and away the best product I've used. IMO you should do your partial water change and discontinue treatment with the other product and start treating with Melafix. If you float the filter and use melafix I think you should see improvement very quickly.

That's my two cents and keep us updated.

 

[razmataz1971]

OK, I will try Melafix. If the Jungle Fungus doesn't show some signs after the 4 day treatment, I will get the Melafix and use that. Are white spots part of the fin rot also? Just a few spots, like 2. Not on the body, just the fins.

I wish I could place the filter from my son's tank but I can't. From what my LFS stated, Mollies carry a lethel silent disease of some sort to Angelfish. I trust them and they know their stuff. They actually use a seperate net not shared with the other tanks they have there. I bought the Angelfish and the Molly from the same store on the same day. The guy wasn't going to sell me the Angel at first, but, luckily my son was there with me and said the Molly was for his tank.

 

[Maillis]

Mollies carry a silent lethal disease that kills Angelfish? I've never heard such a thing and I very much doubt it. Bad water will kill your angelfish quicker than some mystery disease. Take the filter from your 10 gallon, remove the padding and put that into your canister filter if you can. Make sure the 10 gallon media stays wet during the transfer. Also, adding aquarium salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons) will help your fish deal with nitrite posioning.

 

[mattrox]

Mollies and Angels are said to prefer different water types. But with tank bred varieites of both, they probably can tolerate a wide variety of water conditions.... No mystery disease thtat I have heard of... hmmmm

 

[poppab02]

how is everybody doing now? Hopefully everything is going well, let us know. I'm anxious to hear

 

[razmataz1971]

Update -

Ammonia: .25
NO2: 2.0
No3: 10

Is there anything I can do to speed up the No2 into No3?

Also see my post under unhealty fish: Multi-Fish illness, my fault.

 

[TankGirl]

Seeding the filter with media from another tank is a great way to speed things up.

 

[Menagerie]

Since the tank has nitrates, I would start doing frequent water changes and clean the gravel--it's almost done!

 

[razmataz1971]

Update -

Ammonia 0
NO2 0
NO3 0

Did I kill my bacteria in conjunction to using the meds? I hope not. I haven't vacummed the gravel at all since the last full 50-60% PWC I beleive over a week ago. With the meds, I was just taking out water and replacing water without vacumming the gravel. I did a 50% PWC on Saturday and lightly vacummed the surface of one side of the tank. I didn't dig the python into the gravel because I didn't want to disturb the bacteria. Is it normal for all the readings to come to ZERO? I thought Nitrate test is suppose to read something? I am assuming my tank is cycled now that the readings are down to ZERO, but I'm a bit confused as to why I'm not registering the Nitrate.

 

[TankGirl]

You may have indeed killed off your bacterial colonies with meds - not hard to do. Keep testing for ammonia and nitrite, the absence of nitrate in a non-planted tank is very suspicious, and you may see a rise in toxic levels over the next day or so. If this does happen, you can consider getting some Bio-Spira to protect the fish from going through a cycle on the heels of being treated for illness.

Keep us posted!

 

[razmataz1971]

OK I just tested an hour ago. The test results posted earlier today were from last night. Maybe I didn't kill anything...Here are my levels:

Ammonia: .25
NO2: .50
NO3: 0

Should I wait to do another 50% PWC as I'm doing 50% once a week on Saturdays? I have to do another 25% each day for another 2 days for the ICH.

As for the Bio-Spira, no one around here has any. Where should I look online to get some?

 

[TankGirl]

You are cycling now, I'm afraid. Try taking some cruddy filter media from the other tank and put it in the filter of this tank - that will help a lot, as will a decoration or some gravel.

Bernie in TN should have some available for shipping by now - http://www.fishstoretn.com/