catfish laying on its side..

[rocstar629]

That would explain it. Now the waste is causing the ammonia and not enough bacteria to convert it. Looks like you may be cycling with fish. Only option is to keep up with the daily water changes, if you dont have somewhere else to keep the fish while it cycles.

Also should i do a gravel suck to get any loose stuff out or will that hurt the bacteria that has grown there?

 

[spoonman]

I would test for all three. If the ammo is going down, then more likely your NitrItes are going up. That would mean the cycle is under way. Then watch for the ammo to go down overnight and NitrIte to 0 and NitrAtes to start coming up. If you have a test kit, do all the tests and post them and we can see where you are in the cycle (if thats whats happening).

 

[spoonman]

I would do one good gravel vac just to make sure there isnt gunk in the gravel.

 

[rocstar629]

I would do one good gravel vac just to make sure there isnt gunk in the gravel.

Alright will do I will post the results here tonight and hopefully get this all fixed. Thanks for the help Spoon!

 

[Shadowraven]

That would explain it. Now the waste is causing the ammonia and not enough bacteria to convert it. Looks like you may be cycling with fish. Only option is to keep up with the daily water changes, if you dont have somewhere else to keep the fish while it cycles.

I agree. You should not change your filter material until it is literally falling apart. When you finally do change it, you need to save about 1/4-1/5 of the old material to "seed" the new material. This helps you avoid going through all the cycling stages again. It may go through a very short cycle after the change until the bacteria build up again.

Some of your beneficial bacteria will remain in the substrate so your cycle may be shorter this time than it was at first. It will still be necessary to keep on top of your vacuuming and PWC while this is happening.

BTW, unless that corydoras in the picture was cery small, your substrate gravel looks pretty big. Larger than I would normally suggest in an aquarium. Substrate of that size can easily get particles stuck down in it that can cause problems. If you've had no problems before this filter change, just make sure that you always do a very good vacuum job on your substrate.

 

[rocstar629]

I agree. You should not change your filter material until it is literally falling apart. When you finally do change it, you need to save about 1/4-1/5 of the old material to "seed" the new material. This helps you avoid going through all the cycling stages again. It may go through a very short cycle after the change until the bacteria build up again.

Some of your beneficial bacteria will remain in the substrate so your cycle may be shorter this time than it was at first. It will still be necessary to keep on top of your vacuuming and PWC while this is happening.

BTW, unless that corydoras in the picture was cery small, your substrate gravel looks pretty big. Larger than I would normally suggest in an aquarium. Substrate of that size can easily get particles stuck down in it that can cause problems. If you've had no problems before this filter change, just make sure that you always do a very good vacuum job on your substrate.

The Cory was only about an inch maybe 1 1/2". I would say the gravel is pea sized or slightly larger. The guy at the LFS recommended it.. lol but you know how that goes... I honestly had no idea what i was doing when i started.. Should i do something smaller or what? How would I change the substrate without starting the cycling again?

 

[rocstar629]

**** lfs didn't have nitrate or nitrite test today.. I did a gravel vac and a 75% water change today and I will test the ammo when I get home.

 

[rocstar629]

Ok ammo is at 0.5 and the fish seem much happier! We will see what tomorrow brings!

 

[Shadowraven]

The Cory was only about an inch maybe 1 1/2". I would say the gravel is pea sized or slightly larger. The guy at the LFS recommended it.. lol but you know how that goes... I honestly had no idea what i was doing when i started.. Should i do something smaller or what? How would I change the substrate without starting the cycling again?

You don't. It wouldn't be worth the effort if you are already keeping it clean. I just told you that so you would be aware of the potential problems that could arise. You would also know for any future tanks to use something smaller if it was large. Pea-size is about as large as I would say you should use.

I'm glad to hear that your ammonia readings are finally dropping. 0 ppm is our goal.

 

[Pvtdgrif]

Ok ammo is at 0.5 and the fish seem much happier! We will see what tomorrow brings!

Sorry for being the bearer of bad news...

I know you worked hard yesterday to get the ammo down, but it is still too high. Readings over .25 can be doing long term damage to your fish, so you need to get it BELOW .25 so the next day before you do the next PWC it's not over .25. I know what a pain it is, but it's due to the large amount of fish in the tank while cycling (again).

 

[rocstar629]

Sorry for being the bearer of bad news...

I know you worked hard yesterday to get the ammo down, but it is still too high. Readings over .25 can be doing long term damage to your fish, so you need to get it BELOW .25 so the next day before you do the next PWC it's not over .25. I know what a pain it is, but it's due to the large amount of fish in the tank while cycling (again).

Yeah I figured that out. I will be doing another pwc today and we will see what happens.

 

[spoonman]

You are headed in the right direction. Definately better than it was a couple days ago. Just keep up with the water changes and you will be fine! If the fish are acting better you are obviously doing some good! Keep at it, you are doing great!

 

[rocstar629]

Tested the water today and it is still about 0.5 - 1.0 so I guess another water change in a few minutes is on order...

 

[rocstar629]

With the fish that i have in the aquarium what Ph level should I maintain?

 

[Shadowraven]

A neutral pH 6.5-7.0 is fine. You have both alkaline water and acid water fish in the tank together. That pH should work for both since they have a range the can live in.

 

[rocstar629]

Ok so I tested the water for ammo and it dropped since this morning.. it is now at 0.25. I didn't do the water change. I did add some Ph up because it was low.. hopefully my troubles are over! I will get some nitrate and nitrite test kits tomorrow.

 

[Bettababe1011]

About ph:

A stable ph is by far better than the perfect ph. Almost any fish can adapt to any reasonable ph range.

The constant change when trying to perfect it is what can kill a fish.

 

[rocstar629]

About ph:

A stable ph is by far better than the perfect ph. Almost any fish can adapt to any reasonable ph range.

The constant change when trying to perfect it is what can kill a fish.

Ok so I tested the tap water and it is high in Ph. Once it has been in the tank for a day or two it drops. So wouldn't it be better to maintain a normal Ph rather than let it drop and then have it go way up when I do a water change? Or am I way off? Lol

 

[Bettababe1011]

Is there something in there that is dropping the ph? Such as tannins from driftwood?

I would let your PWC water sit out if it drops once it's out of the tap. Let it sit for like twenty four hours. See what others think too.

 

[rocstar629]

Is there something in there that is dropping the ph? Such as tannins from driftwood?

I would let your PWC water sit out if it drops once it's out of the tap. Let it sit for like twenty four hours. See what others think too.

No the only things in there are the fish (obviously) and two live plants and a couple of fake rocks. I dunno what could be causing it...