Doing a 100% water change??

[DragonChild]

Greetings.

I have done water changes everyday this past weekend and monday, and still the nitrAtes are high. My mom suggested bagging all the fish, completely draining the tank, and filling with completely new water.

Is this a good idea? I've done a 50%, followed by a 25%, then a 25%, then a 50%, and today, a 25% change. The levels are still burgendy.

TIA

 

[fish_doc]

Tearing the tank all the way down will only start the cycle all over again. If your signature is correct it should not be overstocked but a low stocked tank can lead to easily overfeeding.

 

[BrianNY]

fish doc is correct. You should be feeding very lightly now, and the nitrates will come down. BTW. Never do a 100% water change. It could kill your fish.

 

[Maillis]

Test your tap water for nitrates

 

[grimlock3000]

What exactly are the levels? Have you tested the tap water? is the test kit good?

Think of it this way... if you have 80ppm Nitrates and do a 50% water change, an immediate retest should show the Nitrates at 40ppm. If not, try another test.

 

[Menagerie]

Nitrates are plant fertilizers. Many fish can tolerate up to 40ppm and above. If you are not seeing an immediate reduction in the nitrates after a water change, something is wrong. Leave a cup of tap water out overnight and then test it.

 

[DragonChild]

What exactly are the levels? Have you tested the tap water? is the test kit good?

The ammonia is at about 2 ppm right now (just did a 25% change)...they were zero at the beginning of this thread.

The Nitrites are 0 ppm.

The Nitrates are between 20-40 ppm.

I can test the pH if that is necessary, but i didn't think it was needed for this post.

I replaced the carbon in the filter with ammo-carb, I am hoping to nip the ammonia in the bud.

This help any?

Menagerie, will leaving the cup in the fridge be okay? we have cats who think that glasses of liquid are ment to be knocked over....

 

[Fish Questions]

Are you vacuuming up the fish poop too? Just simple water changes won't get rid of all the waste.

 

[grimlock3000]

"I replaced the carbon in the filter with ammo-carb, I am hoping to nip the ammonia in the bud.

This help any?"

Ammo-carb can make everything WORSE! It traps the ammonia you need to feed your bacteria and get the biofilter established. Things like ammo-carb can make your cycle take longer, or never happen...

 

[DragonChild]

>O.O<

Uh-oh...is it too late to replace the carbon? The package said that it traps ammonia, which I thought was a good thing!

Fish Questions, I do vaccum the gravel. I vacuum 1/2 at the time of the 50% water change, which is currently every other day. On the 25% water change days, I just syphon off the water to let the bacteria 'switch sides' as my sister says.

 

[grimlock3000]

Having no ammonia in a tank is a good thing. Trapping ammonia in a way that prevents your bio filter from growing is a bad thing.

What are your water parameters right now? Ammo/Ites/Ates/PH...

One thing you need to keep in mind is that drastic changes all the time rarely fix anything. I would not do more than 20% water changes a day from now on. Keep feedings to a minimum (once a day, and only what the fish can eat in three minutes), and that ammonia will go down. We need to help you isolate the problem then work on changing it.