CoreyLynn
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Recently, a lot of personal and family problems have come up and unfortunately, my tank has suffered because of it. Things have finally settled down, and I am now trying to get my tank back on track. I have a 30 gallon freshwater tank. Some of the fish had unfortunately died off, and we were left with one Zebra Danio, one Opaline Gourami, and one Butterfly Pleco [L052].
We noticed the gourami had some sores on his body, one particularly bad one underneath his left gill. We tested the water with Tetra Easy Strips and every single level was well into the danger zone.
We took a trip to our LFS where we purchased new substrate, new decorations, a new heater, a new box of filters, and an API Freshwater Master Test Kit, amongst some other small things like replacement Tap Water Conditioner.
We came home and quarantined the fish in a 10 gallon filled with tank water and two air stones while we did a massive water change. I'd say it was about a 70% water change, we kept about 13-ish gallons of tank water. We conditioned the new water that went in and also added a dose of Quick Start to help the fresh water get going, as well as replacing the filter inserts. We have an extra filter bag in, to hopefully help clear out our water a bit better.
After we replaced the fish, we added some Stress Coat and fed them.
We also moved the tank into a room that we spend more time in, so we can monitor them more closely and prevent this from happening again.
The day after the "tank overhaul", the fish showed noticeable improvement. The gourami's sores were no longer red, and they already appeared to be healing. All the fish were much more active than they were previously, and they were all eating better.
Two days later, we tested the water again, this time with the API Master Test Kit. Our water was MUCH better!
Our water tested well enough to add new fish, so we did. We got some more Danios so our little guy could school, two more gouramis, and a little Leporinus Fasciatus. All fish, new and old, seem very happy. They're eating like little piggies and they all seem to get along without any bullying, thankfully.
However, we did about a 15-ish% water change last night before bed. This morning we tested our water and found a huge Nitrite spike. Our Nitrite level was 0, and today it's 1.0. My levels currently read as follows:
Ammonia: 1.0 ppm
Nitrate: 80 ppm
Nitrite: 1.0
P.H.: 7.4 - 7.6
My tank has been established for well over two years, probably closer to three. I don't know what happened or why there is this sudden spike after we had gotten it under control?
Any help or information would be much appreciated!
We noticed the gourami had some sores on his body, one particularly bad one underneath his left gill. We tested the water with Tetra Easy Strips and every single level was well into the danger zone.
We took a trip to our LFS where we purchased new substrate, new decorations, a new heater, a new box of filters, and an API Freshwater Master Test Kit, amongst some other small things like replacement Tap Water Conditioner.
We came home and quarantined the fish in a 10 gallon filled with tank water and two air stones while we did a massive water change. I'd say it was about a 70% water change, we kept about 13-ish gallons of tank water. We conditioned the new water that went in and also added a dose of Quick Start to help the fresh water get going, as well as replacing the filter inserts. We have an extra filter bag in, to hopefully help clear out our water a bit better.
After we replaced the fish, we added some Stress Coat and fed them.
We also moved the tank into a room that we spend more time in, so we can monitor them more closely and prevent this from happening again.
The day after the "tank overhaul", the fish showed noticeable improvement. The gourami's sores were no longer red, and they already appeared to be healing. All the fish were much more active than they were previously, and they were all eating better.
Two days later, we tested the water again, this time with the API Master Test Kit. Our water was MUCH better!
Our water tested well enough to add new fish, so we did. We got some more Danios so our little guy could school, two more gouramis, and a little Leporinus Fasciatus. All fish, new and old, seem very happy. They're eating like little piggies and they all seem to get along without any bullying, thankfully.
However, we did about a 15-ish% water change last night before bed. This morning we tested our water and found a huge Nitrite spike. Our Nitrite level was 0, and today it's 1.0. My levels currently read as follows:
Ammonia: 1.0 ppm
Nitrate: 80 ppm
Nitrite: 1.0
P.H.: 7.4 - 7.6
My tank has been established for well over two years, probably closer to three. I don't know what happened or why there is this sudden spike after we had gotten it under control?
Any help or information would be much appreciated!