Saltwater & Reef

tornadonick · 03-16-2011, 09:30 PM

Ah F%$#, hers is showing .5 ammonia, and hers was fully cycled and was showing good readings. The plus side, I told her she was going to have to do a lot for it and she angrily shouted, why don't you just keep it then! I doubt she meant it but...

Mr. Limpet · 03-16-2011, 10:05 PM

Keep up on daily water changes and monitoring with your test kit to keep everything in check.

As for oxygenating your water, take some out so the water fall from your filter hits the water surface harder and agitates it more. It helps break the seal and releases more co2, etc from the tank.

Sent from my Epic 4G

tornadonick · 03-17-2011, 10:02 PM

I have decided that my water is probably oxygenated just fine, only ammonia problems. I have done a couple 50% water changes and my tests are a little bit better. I did notice that the chart i was reading off of is for saltwater... OOPS!. I do still believe that i am having issues with that though. How much different are saltwater charts from fresh. I do not own a FW chart apparently.

Mr. Limpet · 03-17-2011, 10:30 PM

Don't know the difference btw SW & FW kits. Maybe go to their website and see if there's info.

Sent from my Epic 4G

tornadonick · 03-17-2011, 10:34 PM

Extremely frustrating, parents are POd because my sister refuses to take care of her fish and i am getting yelled at for trying to save them. She didnt feed them last 3 days and i have taken care of that, PWCd her tank last night and we got into a huge argument because I was going to again tonight. According to my sister and my parents(who know very little about this stuff), I am putting to much time into this and need to just let my sister do what she wants with it.

Homedog98 · 03-17-2011, 10:53 PM

That stinks. I've got a sister too. After we both realized that she sucks at keeping pets... I keep them and she names a few. My parents occasionally try and tell me something they were raised to believe (like fish only grow to the size of the tank, and it's fine, and PWC's daily are bad) so in reply I just start rambling on about cycling, and they lose interest and move on. They also listen to the false info the pet store employees try and give me. Then I just tell my parents the employees don't know $&@"& and are letting money put words in there mouths. Being a kid that owns fish is frustrating, but It's worth it for the reward.

Mr. Limpet · 03-17-2011, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tornadonick

Extremely frustrating, parents are POd because my sister refuses to take care of her fish and i am getting yelled at for trying to save them. She didnt feed them last 3 days and i have taken care of that, PWCd her tank last night and we got into a huge argument because I was going to again tonight. According to my sister and my parents(who know very little about this stuff), I am putting to much time into this and need to just let my sister do what she wants with it.

Yeah, that's a tough one. If your family has other pets, just remind them that the same care any other pet(s) deserves, so do "pet" fish. You're being responsible and I (I'm sure others here too) comend you for the care you're showing yours and your sisters fish.

Keep up the good work is all I can say!

Sent from my Epic 4G

tornadonick · 03-19-2011, 02:00 AM

found the freshwater card and my ammonia levels are pretty much exactly .25, sadly my sisters shows around 1 on this card... secret PWC while nobody was home on hers, SHHH!

Mr. Limpet · 03-19-2011, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tornadonick

found the freshwater card and my ammonia levels are pretty much exactly .25, sadly my sisters shows around 1 on this card... secret PWC while nobody was home on hers, SHHH!

+1 for your dedication!

Don't worry, your secret is safe with us

.

tornadonick · 03-19-2011, 01:40 PM

Okay now i am confused and a little bit worried. today for the first time my danios are up gasping, all my fish are moving very slow. One platty and my balloon molly keep just sitting on the bottom doing nothing(unless i scare them) then they get up and move but eventually go back to the same thing. Last night i replaced my heater as the coolest i could get the tank was 80 with it and today it is a little bit cooler at 78 with the new heater. I tested the ammonia and it is sitting around .20. I also dont think i have mentioned, i have been using aquasafe. I dont have chlorine in my water since we have a well but the same reason has prompted me to be worried about high levels of metals wich this is supposed to help.

Could this just be the ammonia finally catching up with them? it seems odd that everything happened at once.

Mr. Limpet · 03-19-2011, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tornadonick

Okay now i am confused and a little bit worried. today for the first time my danios are up gasping, all my fish are moving very slow. One platty and my balloon molly keep just sitting on the bottom doing nothing(unless i scare them) then they get up and move but eventually go back to the same thing. Last night i replaced my heater as the coolest i could get the tank was 80 with it and today it is a little bit cooler at 78 with the new heater. I tested the ammonia and it is sitting around .20. I also dont think i have mentioned, i have been using aquasafe. I dont have chlorine in my water since we have a well but the same reason has prompted me to be worried about high levels of metals wich this is supposed to help.

Could this just be the ammonia finally catching up with them? it seems odd that everything happened at once.

High temps and gasping are signs of low 02 in the water. Surface agitation via filter water fall & a bubbler will help this.

tornadonick · 03-19-2011, 02:06 PM

I was thinking it may be 02 levels, but will this cause all of the problems i listed, and i think i sould have plenty of surface agitation.

Mr. Limpet · 03-19-2011, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tornadonick

I was thinking it may be 02 levels, but will this cause all of the problems i listed, and i think i sould have plenty of surface agitation.

Your ammo isn't that high, but 0ppm is better. What's your nitrIte readings? Don't know aquasafe, I use Prime exclusively. It's the best IMHO and also helps to reduce ammo.

PWC (daily if need be) is the best thing to do.

tornadonick · 03-19-2011, 02:42 PM

I only have strips for the nitrite and nitrate readings, and those are turning brown on a scale of pinks and reds so i have no idea.k I have been doing a 50% water change daily which is why it is that low i believe.

Durvish · 03-19-2011, 03:09 PM

Those strips are going to be your downfall.
I know you posted this is a 29 gal tank -- what are you using for a filter? What your describing sounds like to much ammonia -- I know you said the strips showed it at .20 but i wouldn't trust those strips. Do another 50% water change asap. Make sure you are treating the full amount for your tank (29 gal) when you use the Aquasafe, not just the amount of water your changing. i.e. treat for 29 gallons even though your only changing 14.5 gallons. Also in my opinion Prime is much better than Aquasafe -- but you gotta work with what you got.

tornadonick · 03-19-2011, 03:25 PM

I am testing the ammonia with a liguid kit. currently have a penguin 150 i know i should have something bigger, going to swap it out and put that on a smaller tank when i get one. I want a better test kit and filter and prime and food but i rarely get into town. It just seams odd that they are all just suddenly hit when they have for the most part been fine. And frustrating since my sisters tank is doing wonderful and i keep arguing with my parents who where telling me that i was probably doing to much and was killing them.

Mr. Limpet · 03-19-2011, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tornadonick

I only have strips for the nitrite and nitrate readings, and those are turning brown on a scale of pinks and reds so i have no idea.k I have been doing a 50% water change daily which is why it is that low i believe.

+1 for PWC

+1 for 100% on aquasafe w/PWC

If you don't know your n02 readings, that could be an issue too and yes those strips can give you faulse readings. I don't know about aquasafe, but prime can be dosed up to 5X the norm.

Your tank is fully cycled, correct? If not search "cycling with fish" for info.

tornadonick · 03-19-2011, 03:38 PM

do you think it would be a safe gamble to move at least 1 to my sisters tank and see how they do. her ammonia is a little over 1 now.

My guess is that i am starting to get some higher nitrite levels and that is hitting them now?

tornadonick · 03-19-2011, 04:18 PM

just did a 25% water change and the fish have perked up a little bit, but not enough. I am going to be doing a 50 later.

Mr. Limpet · 03-19-2011, 04:35 PM

I. Wouldn't get intoo moving fish from between tanks. Observation and PWC'S IMHO

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