wrmiller
Aquarium Advice Freak
Greetings all and thank you in advance for any help you can provide!
I have had my 37 gallon aquarium (my first) set up not for about 3.5 weeks. I have been doing frequent water changes of at least 3 or 4 times a week. I have been adding the bacteria adding stuff every time I do a water change also.
At first I just had two mollies in the tank but then added some small tiger barbs (6) recently. They are doing well together getting along wit one another. Oh, and I have an albino Cory also. I have some artificial plants but recently added a mix of live plants and also a bamboo spiral.
Here is my dilemma. The water I originally added to my tank was softened through the water softener so the water had absolutely 0 hardness. I have since done many water changes and the softness/hardness is just about middle of the road which is okay I think. My pH by default from my water is about 7.8 which I am being told is a little too high? I have used a whole bottle of pH down in the tank over the last week and a half and it hasn't moved the pH a bit. Still about 7.8. Now over the last couple of days the nitrite levels are really going up. Right now they are at about 1.0 and seem to be rising pretty steadily. I did about a 30% water change yesterday morning but again tonight when I checked they are high yet again. I will do another water change tomorrow morning. I do as much cleaning as I can while doing the water change to try and get the crap off of the bottom but the water siphons fast and doesn't provide much time to clean up much. It isn't real dirty though anyway though. But, should I go and get one of those vacuums they sell at PetsMart? They allow you to vacuum the gravel to clean things up good but return the water to the tank.
So, here are my questions:
1. Why aren't my pH numbers dropping even after using a whole bottle of pH down? Are my water changes canceling it out?
2. Why would my Nitrite levels be going up so quickly and out of control? Tonight I bought something that is supposed to bring the levels down for emergency situations but I haven't seen a difference. Is there anything else I can do? Should I add salt? I have read that that might help with the nitrite but I'm afraid that it might harm my Cory. ???
3. I bought an air pump tonight and an air stone to put in the aquarium. Will it maybe help with any of the items mentioned above?
Thanks all!!!
Bill
I have had my 37 gallon aquarium (my first) set up not for about 3.5 weeks. I have been doing frequent water changes of at least 3 or 4 times a week. I have been adding the bacteria adding stuff every time I do a water change also.
At first I just had two mollies in the tank but then added some small tiger barbs (6) recently. They are doing well together getting along wit one another. Oh, and I have an albino Cory also. I have some artificial plants but recently added a mix of live plants and also a bamboo spiral.
Here is my dilemma. The water I originally added to my tank was softened through the water softener so the water had absolutely 0 hardness. I have since done many water changes and the softness/hardness is just about middle of the road which is okay I think. My pH by default from my water is about 7.8 which I am being told is a little too high? I have used a whole bottle of pH down in the tank over the last week and a half and it hasn't moved the pH a bit. Still about 7.8. Now over the last couple of days the nitrite levels are really going up. Right now they are at about 1.0 and seem to be rising pretty steadily. I did about a 30% water change yesterday morning but again tonight when I checked they are high yet again. I will do another water change tomorrow morning. I do as much cleaning as I can while doing the water change to try and get the crap off of the bottom but the water siphons fast and doesn't provide much time to clean up much. It isn't real dirty though anyway though. But, should I go and get one of those vacuums they sell at PetsMart? They allow you to vacuum the gravel to clean things up good but return the water to the tank.
So, here are my questions:
1. Why aren't my pH numbers dropping even after using a whole bottle of pH down? Are my water changes canceling it out?
2. Why would my Nitrite levels be going up so quickly and out of control? Tonight I bought something that is supposed to bring the levels down for emergency situations but I haven't seen a difference. Is there anything else I can do? Should I add salt? I have read that that might help with the nitrite but I'm afraid that it might harm my Cory. ???
3. I bought an air pump tonight and an air stone to put in the aquarium. Will it maybe help with any of the items mentioned above?
Thanks all!!!
Bill