Butterflychild
Aquarium Advice Regular
thats about all you can do is try and make him comfortible as you can.
New here. Need help with my gourami.
- Thread starter Bearchumjs
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OP
OP
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
Sadly Skeeter has passed on. After seeing him this morning I was thinking he wouldn't last much longer. Poor little guy. 
And I am totally confused about my levels. I did a 50% water change a few hours ago and I just tested my water.
Ammo: .25ppm
Nitrates: 2.0ppm
Nitrates: 80ppm
Is it because he died? I am going to do a 100% water change. There are no fish in the tank now. The guppy is nowhere to be found. So fishless cycle? What do I do?
And I am totally confused about my levels. I did a 50% water change a few hours ago and I just tested my water.
Ammo: .25ppm
Nitrates: 2.0ppm
Nitrates: 80ppm
Is it because he died? I am going to do a 100% water change. There are no fish in the tank now. The guppy is nowhere to be found. So fishless cycle? What do I do?
Butterflychild
Aquarium Advice Regular
a fish less cycle you just leave your tank to cycle on its own for about 3 weeks to a month. Leave everything in your filter but clean them. But DONT throw any of your filter stuff away it will have some good bacteria still in it.
KlcoKN
Aquarium Advice Activist
Sorry for your loss Yeah the ammonia spike is from him passing...
To do a fishless cycle:
Go to an ace hardware or similar type store and get janitorial ammonia, it has no additives and is 10% ammonia so a little goes a long way.. dose to 2 or 4 ppm (lower or higher based on weather you plan on lightly or heavily stocking) and keep it dosed that high, don't worry about water changes unless your ph crashes, after its eating through 2 ppm in 24 hrs start checking nitrItes. Keep dosing with ammonia to 2 or 4 ppm, once nitrItes are down to 0, wait 24 hrs for remaining ammonia to be eaten up and do a massive water change (like 95%) and after checking to make sure your nitrAtes are in the acceptable range and you're ready for fish
But be patient, the whole process can take weeks if you start without any seeded material.
Yeah the ammonia spike is from him passing...To do a fishless cycle:
Go to an ace hardware or similar type store and get janitorial ammonia, it has no additives and is 10% ammonia so a little goes a long way.. dose to 2 or 4 ppm (lower or higher based on weather you plan on lightly or heavily stocking) and keep it dosed that high, don't worry about water changes unless your ph crashes, after its eating through 2 ppm in 24 hrs start checking nitrItes. Keep dosing with ammonia to 2 or 4 ppm, once nitrItes are down to 0, wait 24 hrs for remaining ammonia to be eaten up and do a massive water change (like 95%) and after checking to make sure your nitrAtes are in the acceptable range and you're ready for fish
But be patient, the whole process can take weeks if you start without any seeded material.
Hholly
Aquarium Advice Addict
Sorry you lost him.
Butterflychild
Aquarium Advice Regular
So sorry hes gone but hes not suffering any more.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Leave the filter alone. Don't even rinse it IMO. Do a 100% water change and you can add your Betta to the tank if you want or continue it as a fishless cycle. You will have to get ammonia in the tank one way or another.
Leave the filter alone. Don't even rinse it IMO. Do a 100% water change and you can add your Betta to the tank if you want or continue it as a fishless cycle. You will have to get ammonia in the tank one way or another.
Butterflychild
Aquarium Advice Regular
or buy a few feeder goldfish
OP
OP
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
Mumma.of.two said:I'm so sorry for your loss.
Leave the filter alone. Don't even rinse it IMO. Do a 100% water change and you can add your Betta to the tank if you want or continue it as a fishless cycle. You will have to get ammonia in the tank one way or another.
I feel really bad for Skeeter. I wish I would have known how to cycle a tank before I got him. I feel like its my fault he died.
On the other hand, I did a 100% water change and acclimated king Neptune to the water and I just added him into the tank. He is swimming around gracefully checking out all the plants. He looks really pretty in it!
So just so I know I'm doing it right, test for ammonia and nitrates every day and do pwc's as needed until I get 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites for how many days in a row? And what do I do about the nitrates? Just wait and hope my plants start "eating" them?
I want to thank you guys so much for your help and support. I truly do appreciate it!
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
Butterflychild said:
No!! The idea of using goldfish to cycle is outdated and cruel. They shouldn't be treated any different just because they are less likely to die durning a cycle.
OP
OP
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
Butterflychild said:
I had read earlier today that feeder fish shouldn't be used because they may harbor disease or parasites.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
Bearchumjs said:
Yes, keep up the water changes until the ammonia and nitrite are 0 constantly and nitrate keeps rising. 40ppm of nitrate isn't too high. You will just have to do larger more frequent water change to keep them lower.
redsea
Aquarium Advice Addict
Welcome.
Sorry about Skeeter.
I am glad you new Betta is doing well!
Sorry about Skeeter.
I am glad you new Betta is doing well!
OP
OP
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
redsea said:Welcome.
Sorry about Skeeter.
I am glad you new Betta is doing well!
Hi and thank you! My daughter was very upset about skeeter. I feel guilty because I should have know better about how to start a fish tank.
Also- the betta isn't new. Ive had him a few months (since before christmas). He was in a 1/2 gallon bowl and then I found this site and realized he needed more space. So I bought him a 1 gallon tank that was on sale 40% off with the intention of moving skeeter to a larger aquarium and then moving King Neptune into skeeters 5gal. Anyway, it didnt work out quite as planned. I still want a bigger tank but I think I may try and go saltwater, after ALOT of research!
OP
OP
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
So King Neptune is doing good in the 5gal. I checked the water this morning and it's at .25 ammo and .25 nitrites. I decided I would feed him and after he eats I will do a 50% pwc. Then I can get out any food he doesn't eat. Here's a picture of him in his new home. I'm hoping his colors will get brighter as he gets happier and healthier!
Here's a picture of him in his new home. I'm hoping his colors will get brighter as he gets happier and healthier!Butterflychild
Aquarium Advice Regular
Sorry Mimma.of.two your so right there i wasent thinking. I wouldnt purposily hurt any animal. Theres enough cruelty in this world as is. Sorry again.
OP
OP
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
Tested the water again today a few hours after the 50% pwc and the nitrites are very low. 0-.25 ppm. Ammo is the same as trites. Nitrates are holding strong at 40-80ppm even after I added the two plants.
I decided to do an experiment and test the pH of the water my driftwood is soaking in. It was lower than my tank @ 7.4 (high range test)!
Also, I thought- I wonder what the ammonia is in my driftwood soaking water and it's @ about 1.5ppm. Then I thought... What's the trites? They are a lovely shade of purple at 2.0ppm-5.0ppm. So... Could it stand to reason that when my driftwood is soaked and put in the tank it will make my ph fall and ammo and trites rise? And also, is it possible that the bb is growing on the driftwood which will actually help my tank cycle better? I'm not adding it in until it sinks because it's large and anchoring it would be a pain in the butt.
I was curious as to what you guys thought about this.
I decided to do an experiment and test the pH of the water my driftwood is soaking in. It was lower than my tank @ 7.4 (high range test)!
Also, I thought- I wonder what the ammonia is in my driftwood soaking water and it's @ about 1.5ppm. Then I thought... What's the trites? They are a lovely shade of purple at 2.0ppm-5.0ppm. So... Could it stand to reason that when my driftwood is soaked and put in the tank it will make my ph fall and ammo and trites rise? And also, is it possible that the bb is growing on the driftwood which will actually help my tank cycle better? I'm not adding it in until it sinks because it's large and anchoring it would be a pain in the butt.
I was curious as to what you guys thought about this.
OP
OP
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
A picture of the driftwood experiment and the ammo and trite readings from the water in the pan. I have a glass bowl of water on top of the wood to weigh it down do it stays submerged.
OP
OP
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
I tested my water. What do you think about this? Is ammonia 0? Nitrites are higher today, I'm thinking close to 1ppm?
OP
OP
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
Just tested nitrites again. They were at .25ppm so I did a 75% water change again. That makes sense though- if it was at 1 and I did a 75% change then it being at .25 a few hours later makes sense. It's down to 0 now. Here's a pic of before and after the most recent water change.
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