Hello, I've had my 45 gallon aquarium with 6 black skirt tetra for about a month I was getting readings of nitrite during my cycling then one day I had no ammonia nitrites or nitrates so after a week I bought a mustard pleco and it's been another week and still nothing... Does anyone know why?
No ammonia nitrites or nitrates help?
- Thread starter Liambiggs
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
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You have a green water algae bloom! Put some of that water in a white cup and if it looks green tinted then that verifies you have an algae bloom. For starters turn off your lights and then you have 2 choices. You can do a 3 day black out which means you have to completely cover the sides, top, and bottom so no light can penetrate. No peeking or you'll break the black out cycle. At the end of 3 days do a 50% WC. Then only run lights 6 hours and hope it won't come back.
Choice 2 which will for sure eradicate it is get a UV sterilizer and it will kill off the free floating algae usually within 24-48 hours. This is what many people on the forum have used with good results.... Green Killing Machine Internal UV Sterilizer with Power Head at PETCO.
Choice 2 which will for sure eradicate it is get a UV sterilizer and it will kill off the free floating algae usually within 24-48 hours. This is what many people on the forum have used with good results.... Green Killing Machine Internal UV Sterilizer with Power Head at PETCO.
Yes it can use all the oxygen in the water and ultimately suffocate the fish. You need to add an airstore and get going asap on a treatment. In the mean time don't use your lights.
If you posted pic's there's no way someone shouldn't have recognized an algae bloom.
If you posted pic's there's no way someone shouldn't have recognized an algae bloom.
Oh I forgot to tell you that the reason you have no readings in your tank is because the algae has literally sucked all the available nutrients out of the water which includes ammonia and nitrates. And if you don't have an ammonia source you won't get nitrites.
Yeah noone had any answers... They said my tank was too lightly stocked and I needed to get another fish which is why I added the pleco. I was going to wait until my cycle was done for that but I can't thank you enough for your help gonna buy the uv thing and an airstone tomorrow. Do I leave the uv thing running at all times?
I would run the UV until the water is clear in a white cup, the let it run 24 more hours and take it off and store it. You can use them 24/7 but that model is rather cumbersome and IMO an eyesore if left in the tank all the time.
As for fish in a 45. You could do just about any tetra's, rainbowfish would work well and add a lot of color. A couple pearl gourami's would be fine and for bottom level swimmers you could do a shoal of 6 cory cats or maybe 3 yo-yo loaches. One thing tho is if you got a common pleco it will outgrow the tank and you will need to eventually rehome it. They also have high bio-loads which will cut down on the amount of other fish you can have.
As for fish in a 45. You could do just about any tetra's, rainbowfish would work well and add a lot of color. A couple pearl gourami's would be fine and for bottom level swimmers you could do a shoal of 6 cory cats or maybe 3 yo-yo loaches. One thing tho is if you got a common pleco it will outgrow the tank and you will need to eventually rehome it. They also have high bio-loads which will cut down on the amount of other fish you can have.
T1KARMANN
Aquarium Advice FINatic
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A UV should be run 24/7 all the time as green and parasites don't sleep
A green problem doesn't start over night it builds up over time even before you see it
Keeping the uv turned on 24/7 will keep it at bay
Also a uv tube is designed to be turned on 24/7 by turning on and off will shorten its life
Also the uv tube comes with a life span of 6 month turned on 24/7
Anyone who has one and isn't turning it on 24/7 may as well not have one
Running a UV 24/7 is not necessary when it's being used to kill off free floating algae and bacterial blooms. Once free floating algae is killed off it's gone and will only return if the original issues that caused the bloom are not corrected. It's also not effective against parasites unless they actually enter the UV unit and are killed. A UV sterilizer will only kill what passes in front of the bulb so is limited for anything other than what is floating in the water.
T1KARMANN
Aquarium Advice FINatic
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That's not true it needs to be turned on 24/7 to stop the bloom in the first place from building up
It's called putting stop to the problem before its visible
Anyone who buys a uv only to have it stuck in a cupboard or switched of is crazy
It does more than kill green it keeps parasites at bay
You get 2 types of uv
A uvs which is the type used in tanks uvs = ultra violet steriliser
A uv for a pond is a uvc ultra violet clarifier
They are both make to work different
A uvc would be way to big for a tank and only clears green
A uvs which is what everyone buys for a tank is designed to kill green and kill parasites in the free swimming stage
If you have the flow right a uv will kill parasites in the free swimming stage
The tank type should be run 24/7 FACT
Please don't try to tell me about uv I have been running them for over 25 years
It's called putting stop to the problem before its visible
Anyone who buys a uv only to have it stuck in a cupboard or switched of is crazy
It does more than kill green it keeps parasites at bay
You get 2 types of uv
A uvs which is the type used in tanks uvs = ultra violet steriliser
A uv for a pond is a uvc ultra violet clarifier
They are both make to work different
A uvc would be way to big for a tank and only clears green
A uvs which is what everyone buys for a tank is designed to kill green and kill parasites in the free swimming stage
If you have the flow right a uv will kill parasites in the free swimming stage
The tank type should be run 24/7 FACT
Please don't try to tell me about uv I have been running them for over 25 years
I've been in the hobby since the late 70's myself and also have run UV sterilizers on my FW and SW tanks and my ponds. I am not "telling" you anything. I am merely stating that they don't need to run 24/7, we'll agree to disagree on that. Also if a tank is run properly and balanced algae blooms don't happen. I do in fact have an inline UV on my planted 220g tank only because I already had one. None of my other tanks have them. If a tank is balanced and fish QT'd then you don't need to worry about "preventing" algae blooms or parasites.
Old Scales
Aquarium Advice Addict
I'm with Rivercats on this. I had the in tank UV model she is referring to and it does work and is fairly inexpensive. But it is an assinine eyesore. I saved up then bought the larger coralife 14w UV and hooked it into my cannister's return hose. I put it on a timer and run it from 9pm to 4am. This will triple the bulb life and has kept everything crystal clear. Also by slowing the flow rate on my cannister periodically I can get the flow so slow as to not only kill algae, but also any pathogens. I do this about once a month as an insurance then back to full flow. I have a 29g with a Fluval 206. OS.
