Nitrites...

[Kungpaoshizi]

So long story short...

Using tap, Aqueon water conditioner, amquel+, purigen, 2/3CC leftside, 1/3 aragonite.
2 weeks in I had the tank cycled, combo of biozyme and nite out ii.
stringy white poo, figured the quarantine and previous medication (jungle parasite tabs since they snuffed pellets) was transferred with my secondary filter... added another dose of jungle to the main tank, caused mini cycle.
tried cycle, stuck on nitrites, then decided last Friday to give the spira a shot.. put it in Fri night, Sunday I realize the stupid hornwort is definately NOT brackish despite what websites say, pulled it out, cleaned excess debris from both filters, TONS of hornwort needles ends up...
Later sunday retest, .5, .5, ~5-10trates. also finally got some alk test kits, low buffer, added some baking soda, ph finally holding around upper 7-8. (since evidently amquel+ works great, but without sufficient buffer takes ph down .5 or so with little larger than standard dose)
3 gsp's(bout 1.5-2" atm), 55g, 1.009.

Anyways, come to find out after more reading using "ammonia/nitrite control" products messes with spira?

But at the same time, Amquel+ states 'does not interfere with biological cycle'....

Anyways, still only getting trace amounts of ammonia, nitrite holding 2-5, trates no more than 10-15. Since sunday trates increased from 5-15..
Got some of the Fluval Clearmax nitrite/nitrate resin mix filter packs and stuffed that in a filter to help, but it seems minimal probably because water flow isn't enough across it?

:/

I really think I need to clean the substrate and do a WC, but everywhere I've seen "DON'T DO A WC WITH SPIRA!"....
But at the same time, Spira says on the back "sg between like 1.02+" so maybe it doesn't work well with brackish?
So ya, I'm at my ropes end, and the spira was freakin 30$ a pop...

But yes, nice to meet everyone
I wish it was under better circumstances.. I'm one of those "bought them at walmart folks", come to find out it's a completely different story than my buddies little goldfish setup...

I've also seen mixed requirements for tank size per green spotted puffer, some sites say 30, some say 15-20... But like my buddy said 'it's not like you can ask the fish if they have enough room.." I would like to get a bigger tank, but I can't see for how small they are right now being an issue. They're like freakin minnows in a bathtub atm..

Thanks very much for any advice/suggestions!

After re-reading, ok maybe long story long heh.

 

[Mitchell0605]

So is this Brackish or Saltwater?

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

Brackish, 1.009 atm... still goin up +.002 every week I think that's what someone said to do so it doesn't shock em..

 

[Mitchell0605]

Ahh ok. Just wondering cause you posted it in the SW Reef Aquaria Forum. Try reposting in the Brackish and Freshwater General Forum.

 

[austinsdad]

Moved thread to Brackish/Getting Started

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

/bump

 

[BigJim]

Not quite sure what you're asking.

I'm against using any chemicals to try to control ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates and I don't really put a lot of faith in the products that are supposed to help cycle the tank. Some people like them, but not me. It sounds like you're still cycling the tank. You should be doing 50% PWCs every day to keep your parameters hospitable for your fish.

Puffers in general are ill-tempered, messy fish. That's why 30g per fish is recommended. You might be ok with 3 GSPs in a 55g if you have cover for them to hide in.

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

Ya, I was expecting a little more from this "miracle" product bio spira, but it seems to be turning out to be abunch of phooey...
Shoulda stuck with biozyme, that cycled my other tank is under a week...

But ya, next tank I get, totally going the non chemical route, finally got a ro/di unit too, so I don't have to worry bout the god aweful amount of trates bein in the tap....

 

[Ilikefishes]

I'm the kind of guy who believes in a completely biologically filtered environment. My advice would be to dump the water and ditch the media inside of your filters, and give the gravel a good rinse. Re cycle this tank asap, Chemicals such as Ammo Lock (example) are said to stall your tanks cycle for weeks to months, and just never seemed like a good idea to me in the first place. Rinse your filter out and change the media and pick up a bottle of Nutrafin Cycle (basically it's a bottle of beneficial bacteria boosting your tank's cycle). My new tank is almost cycled after a week and 1/4 with that stuff. It's amazing.

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

Lol, I dunno, I did a big wc today, said screw biocrappa...
I agree though in the future I'm goin all natural..

It's funny you say Cycle though, I guess it's basically a hit and miss kinda game with the bacteria in a bottle, I've seen a TON of people say Cycle is crap lol

But I do wonder if certain bacterias in a bottle are sensitive to even Amquel.. It works great, but if used in conjuction with Cycle/Spira/NiteOutII, I could understand the ammonia/ammonium thing, but I guess I didn't even think about the fact that it is a new chemical when nitrites are bonded to the control chemical, so in reality, the ACTUAL NATURAL nitrifying bacteria may indeed be just fine and dandy with the bonded product, but how many of the bac's in a bottle are correct in handling?

I suppose that BioSpira disproves itself by saying any 'ammo control products' makes it not work right..proving that it is IN FACT NOT the same end result bacteria..........in a bottle.

I dunno, this is crazy! lol
Never did I think there was this much chemistry etc in fishkeeping, but I suppose, when trying to COMPLETELY recreate a portion of the ocean...

But I do have to give props to Amquel+, it saved my fish given I entered the entire aquarium keeping hobby with 0 knowledge and given the advice by the ones at the stores, the fish would now all be dead.

 

[mfdrookie516]

think about this... nitrifying bacteria requires two things to live. oxygen and ammonia. In an air tight bottle, how can it get oxygen? If it consumes ammonia, without an ammonia source, how can it live? Those bottles of instant cycle are, imo, worthless. But, to each their own

 

[Ilikefishes]

My first bottle of Cycle did jack. But they just released a new generation of bacteria (or some mumbo jumbo) and the new bottles have a white dosing cap, I think it worked great with the AC power filters with Biomax.

 

[Ilikefishes]

If that's the case, then guess I did something right Now I just need to figure out what it was lol. And dang it, that Cycle is expensive stuff too!

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

BioSpira is 30$ a pop...

Although b4 my tank crashed NiteOutII was pretty decent, and actually says on the bottle for ingredients 'nitrobacter sp. nitrospira sp. somonas sp...'

I checked it out and it seems that the sp actually is a strain of what is wanted..

Spira just says 'nitrobacter, coccus, spira, somonas'...

Though like a lot of products I see everyday in ever aspect of life, I just wish the companies would get together, pull together their resources, and figure out an uber idea that is the best quality cause it would be the combined efforts..

Of course then they would prolly all bicker about profits.. heh

 

[Ilikefishes]

Yeah, screw that. I will never pay that kind of money on one chemical!! lol. I'll stick with the gratuitous amounts of pwcs! It's my landlords problem if the well dries up

 

[mfdrookie516]

i could bottle up tank water and throw in a ceramic bio-ring and say it has nitrifying bacteria in it... doesnt mean it's gonna be alive when you use it, especially after sitting on a store shelf for weeks