Hi! I'm frustrated enough to create a user and post a thread vs. just reading at this point..
Ok, I have a tank that I've had for a couple of years. (35 Gallon) The tank was fine and stocked for over a year. My local water source experienced an algae bloom (we get our water from a lake), and after this (water changes, etc.) my tank crashed and everything died. This was about 6 or 7 months or so ago. I pretty much just let the tank run without doing any regular maintenance to it after that. I let it run for a couple of months before I decided I'd get some fish and start over.
At this point in my fish keeping I really have no idea what I'm doing. I just get a couple of fish. They eventually start acting weird. I test the water. High ammonia. I start reading forums, and learning about fish and water composition and all this good stuff. I get some prime to at least make the ammonia not toxic. Fish are still stressed. I'm way over dosing the tank with prime trying to keep my fish alive because I don't know what else to do. I figure it's cycling because of the new fish. I go on vacation for a week, I come back, everything is dead.
Start about a week ago. I empty all of the water. I break down and clean all of the parts. I buy a new carbon filter. I remove and clean all of my rock, substrate, and plants. I fill the tank. I add Prime to remove chlorine. I let it run for a day. I get fish. Now my log:
Day What's New? Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate PH
10-Jan New Water + Prime
11-Jan Nothing
12-Jan Fish
13-Jan Stability 2.5 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 PPM
14-Jan Stability 2 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 ppm 10 ppm 7
15-Jan Stability 2 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 PPM 10+ ppm 7
16-Jan Stability 2.5 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 PPM 20+ ppm 7
17-Jan
This is where I'm confused. I have a Seachem ammonia detector in my tank. It reads safe. I'm using a new API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Ammonia is not going down, Nitrites aren't doing anything, Nitrates are up. Using This Cycling Your Tank - Dr. Bogger's Fish Keeping as a guide to my cycle. I don't understand why I have Nitrates and not Nitrites
Temp is 79 F / I have 2 platties (I had 3, I moved the third into my other tank, he wasn't handling the big tank well) / Penguin Bio Wheel 200 HOB / New Carbon Filter /
WTF??
Sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place. I'm happy to move the thread if need be.
Thanks in advance!
Ok, I have a tank that I've had for a couple of years. (35 Gallon) The tank was fine and stocked for over a year. My local water source experienced an algae bloom (we get our water from a lake), and after this (water changes, etc.) my tank crashed and everything died. This was about 6 or 7 months or so ago. I pretty much just let the tank run without doing any regular maintenance to it after that. I let it run for a couple of months before I decided I'd get some fish and start over.
At this point in my fish keeping I really have no idea what I'm doing. I just get a couple of fish. They eventually start acting weird. I test the water. High ammonia. I start reading forums, and learning about fish and water composition and all this good stuff. I get some prime to at least make the ammonia not toxic. Fish are still stressed. I'm way over dosing the tank with prime trying to keep my fish alive because I don't know what else to do. I figure it's cycling because of the new fish. I go on vacation for a week, I come back, everything is dead.
Start about a week ago. I empty all of the water. I break down and clean all of the parts. I buy a new carbon filter. I remove and clean all of my rock, substrate, and plants. I fill the tank. I add Prime to remove chlorine. I let it run for a day. I get fish. Now my log:
Day What's New? Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate PH
10-Jan New Water + Prime
11-Jan Nothing
12-Jan Fish
13-Jan Stability 2.5 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 PPM
14-Jan Stability 2 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 ppm 10 ppm 7
15-Jan Stability 2 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 PPM 10+ ppm 7
16-Jan Stability 2.5 Caps Full 4+ PPM 0 PPM 20+ ppm 7
17-Jan
This is where I'm confused. I have a Seachem ammonia detector in my tank. It reads safe. I'm using a new API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Ammonia is not going down, Nitrites aren't doing anything, Nitrates are up. Using This Cycling Your Tank - Dr. Bogger's Fish Keeping as a guide to my cycle. I don't understand why I have Nitrates and not Nitrites
Temp is 79 F / I have 2 platties (I had 3, I moved the third into my other tank, he wasn't handling the big tank well) / Penguin Bio Wheel 200 HOB / New Carbon Filter /
WTF??
Sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place. I'm happy to move the thread if need be.
Thanks in advance!