No water changes??

[gone fishin]

I have not changed my water since sept. Here are my recent tests- PH 6.5 NO2 .3GH 11 KH 0-2 NH3 0 CO2 21 -just adding distilled to top off. What should I be concerned with?

 

[Allivymar]

Nitrates. What are your nitrate levels?

 

[gone fishin]

.3

 

[TankGirl]

There are going to be DOC's in the tank that will create bacterial and fungal outbreaks, and compromise the health of your fish. If you have plants that are using up the nitrates that is great, but water changes are beneficial for more reasons than just nitrate. Frequent partial water changes will keep your fish healthy, as simple as that.

 

[shawmutt]

Not to be a stickler for facts, and I'm sure you meant nitrates, but in your original post you said NO2 was .3. NO2 is nitrIte and that reading sounds right (not good, but right). In your second post you said your nitrate was .3 (in response to Alli's question).NO3 is nitrAte, and I don't think that the kits read .3 ppm-the standard kit reads a range of 0-160 ppm and the first color is 5.0. I am, of course, assuming you are using the standard test tube kits.

KH looks very low, did you use distilled water to fill the tank? What kind of fish are you keeping in what size tank? Do you have any plants?

 

[gone fishin]

I guess I was confused , nitrate-ite. I thought they were a result of each other. If one was low so was the other.

I completely redid my tank after a serios bout with hard water, thus the KH and GH. I top it off with distilled water. Should I raise my hardness? To what?

I have a 55 gal, FULLY planted, CO2 inj. till Dec. Added about 20 neons, Catfish, puffer, and a couple of other small fish.

 

[TankGirl]

I completely redid my tank after a serios bout with hard water

Can you elaborate on that, I mean what difficulty you had that led to the decision to redo the tank?

Did you discontinue CO2? If you want to have a nice planted tank the CO2 and good lighting will help a lot, as will a KH of at least 4-5 to keep your pH stable. The pH will level off and stay stable if you continue to do regular weekly water changes, even if your tap is relatively hard, in the presence of CO2 that is. The neons will appreciate the more acidic, soft water. What kind of puffer do you have? (Many are brackish) Those are predators so the neons may not do well with it, though you did not ask about that!

 

[gone fishin]

Everything in (on) my tank was crusty white. GH and KH were off the chart, changing water made it worse. Plants would not live, except java fern. I have added lights 160W now , added CO2 since, and PMDD. How did anyone keep fish before the internet?

 

[shawmutt]

I guess I was confused , nitrate-ite. I thought they were a result of each other. If one was low so was the other.

Hereis an article about the nitrogen cycle. LOL, you're lucky--you get to read it. My father-in-law, who works for a biotech firm, gave me a three hour lecture on it when he gave me his tank!

Basically, your NO2 should be zero, anything above that is harmful to the fish. You really should check your NO3. I agree with tankgirl on the water changes. I also agree with TG on the puffer--I've been researching the dwarf puffers for my wife(making the assumption that is the species you have, because that is the only fresh water species), and think that you will definitely run into problems. They are highly aggressive predators that will make lunch out of your neons.

I had my KH that low in my South American blackwater tank, but I also did frequent water changes to get rid of the DOC--which may, over time, cause a pH crash.

 

[malkore]

water changes are a must...no matter how many 'old timers' you talk to that say they never change water.

I thought my tank was fine after 2-3 weeks of no water changes...as I let it 'stabilize'. One 30% water change, and my plants pearled like mad for 2 days (yes, pearled...not just trapped bubbles from re-filling).

 

[Menagerie]

LOL, you're lucky--you get to read it. My father-in-law, who works for a biotech firm, gave me a three hour lecture on it when he gave me his tank!

[center:d57b9ebaac]8O 8O 8O 8O 8O [/center:d57b9ebaac]

How did anyone keep fish before the internet?

[center:d57b9ebaac]It was very difficult .[/center:d57b9ebaac]

 

[TankGirl]

My tanks all look somehow more clear and "sparkly" after water changes. I think it helps in more ways than we know. In the early 80's when I started I did not know anything about the nitrogen cycle and I just topped off my tanks, and disturbing the "balance" was frowned upon. I can't believe I kept fish so successfully back then, though I did kill some, too. It is only in hindsight that I see what I was doing wrong. We had no internet then (I think it was late 80s early 90s when Prodigy came up ) so I had no resource such as this.