newby looking for opinions and advice

[rickcpurcell]

Three = the (freaking Swype!)

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Yes i have an API liquid kit that will test ammonia, ph, nitrite, and nitrate. Learned cycling the hard way (screw it up, then consult google and forums to figure out how to fix it, lol). My nitrate levels are still high (80ppm) and I'm currently working to slowly bring them back down via water changes siphoning the substrate. About 15% once a week. I'm worried about over doing it though if i go twice a week as the nitrates were at 160ppm at the end of the cycle and don't want to change the nitrate levels too quick and risk killing three fish. Am I looking at this correctly? Or should I be more aggressive with the water changes?

Don't worry about slowly, get them down ASAP! Its perfectly safe to do multiple water changes back to back; by back to back I mean do a water change, wait an hour, test your nitrate and do another huge water change; by huge I mean about 80-90%. Keep doing them until it's down to 20.

 

[rickcpurcell]

Don't worry about slowly, get them down ASAP! Its perfectly safe to do multiple water changes back to back; by back to back I mean do a water change, wait an hour, test your nitrate and do another huge water change; by huge I mean about 80-90%. Keep doing them until it's down to 20.

Oh...everything I read previously said hard shifts in nitrates in either direction could cause nitrate poisoning. I just did a change this morning. I will do another after testing where the levels are now. Tested before water change but haven't tested since. I could be mistaken, but everything I've read up to this point says that as long as you're not breeding anything below 100ppm on nitrates is acceptable (not necessarily good) below 40ppm being ideal and below 25ppm for breeding. Also given ammonia and nitrites are zeroed out. Is this bad info I'm getting?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Oh...everything I read previously said hard shifts in nitrates in either direction could cause nitrate poisoning. I just did a change this morning. I will do another after testing where the levels are now. Tested before water change but haven't tested since. I could be mistaken, but everything I've read up to this point says that as long as you're not breeding anything below 100ppm on nitrates is acceptable (not necessarily good) below 40ppm being ideal and below 25ppm for breeding. Also given ammonia and nitrites are zeroed out. Is this bad info I'm getting?

I would say so. What Ive learned and what I maintain in my tanks is nitrates at or below 20 (some say 40 but I stick to 20). Anything above that is toxic to fish. Those nitrates need to brought down ASAP. Anything below 100 IS NOT acceptable. That would more than likely kill fish. They will be much better off as soon as the level gets down.

 

[rickcpurcell]

I would say so. What Ive learned and what I maintain in my tanks is nitrates at or below 20 (some say 40 but I stick to 20). Anything above that is toxic to fish. Those nitrates need to brought down ASAP. Anything below 100 IS NOT acceptable. That would more than likely kill fish. They will be much better off as soon as the level gets down.

Ok, i appreciate it. I'm testing closer to 40ppm now (hard to tell exactly, color chart jumps from 40 to 80) i will start back on the water changes. Obviously, i don't have any water prepped right now since I didn't plan on another change today. I have Seachem Prime that says it"immediately" removes chlorine from tap water. Would you trust it to work well enough for this aggressive of water changes?

 

[CharlieKlein]

15% weakly isn't even ok for a cycled tank. 25% is the minimum IMO. For you I'd do 50% every other day

 

[rickcpurcell]

15% weakly isn't even ok for a cycled tank. 25% is the minimum IMO. For you I'd do 50% every other day

what is IMO?

 

[CharlieKlein]

In my opinion

 

[rickcpurcell]

In my opinion

k, thank you! I appreciate the help. This is exactly why I started this thread. I obviously have a lot more to learn.

Do you trust the chemicals that say they"immediately"remove chlorine? I really don't see any other way to do this large of water changes without harming the fish. Any suggestions?

 

[CharlieKlein]

What you do.

1. Using a pitcher or bucket remove half of the volume of the tank

2. Using the same pitcher, full up 1 full of water roughly equal temp to your tank. Full that with the appropriate dose of conditioner

3. Repeat step 2 till water is full

 

[rickcpurcell]

What you do.

1. Using a pitcher or bucket remove half of the volume of the tank

2. Using the same pitcher, full up 1 full of water roughly equal temp to your tank. Full that with the appropriate dose of conditioner

3. Repeat step 2 till water is full

Awesome, that's what i was wondering. Just wasn't sure if the conditioners worked as well as they say they do. Hard to believe they can remove the chlorine that quickly!

 

[Rivercats]

55 gal tank. Which plants are you referring to as the stem plants? You can just use a pic number for simplicity. Also, do you think my lighting is ok? I was thinking about switching the colormax out with another 6700k

The red plant in pic three and the green plant in pic two on the far right. There is also some of those green stems in pic 3 to the left of the red plant. A stem plant is any plant that isn't growing from a bulb or that isn't growing from a single crown like a sword plant. Stem plants are just single stems that are usually sold as bundles with some type of anchor holding them all together in a bundle when you buy them.

 

[rickcpurcell]

The red plant in pic three and the green plant in pic two on the far right. There is also some of those green stems in pic 3 to the left of the red plant. A stem plant is any plant that isn't growing from a bulb or that isn't growing from a single crown like a sword plant. Stem plants are just single stems that are usually sold as bundles with some type of anchor holding them all together in a bundle when you buy them.

Awesome, thank you!

 

[Rivercats]

I would not suggest a WC of 80-90% unless something bad happened. A 50% WC weekly is a good standard for a planted tank. To lower nitrates do a 50% WC then wait 4 hours and do another one or do another one the next day. Continue this until your nitrates are between 10-20ppm. Then just do a weekly 50% WC.

In a planted tank you want nitrates to be 10-20ppm and phosphates .5-1.0ppm. These are good levels for your plants.

 

[Rivercats]

Forgot to add that purchasing an Aqueon water changer will make WC's so much easier. No more bucket hauling. I've used one for years and couldn't manage without it.

 

[rickcpurcell]

Forgot to add that purchasing an Aqueon water changer will make WC's so much easier. No more bucket hauling. I've used one for years and couldn't manage without it.

Thank you! Sounds like I've got quite a bit of work to do! Lol. I'll update when I get all of my corrections made.

Kind of funny, doesn't matter how much you read, there's always something more to learn. I love it that i can get real world experience from people that have been there. THANK YOU!!

 

[Rivercats]

I've been in the hobby since the 70's and very seriously since the 80's and I am still learning. With the way the hobby continues to change it's a continuous learning expierence IMO.