UPDATED API Test Results for 10 AND 60 Gallon...

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Yes, Artesia, you should move the other small goldie to the big tank. The moor cant chase them both at the same time! Do you have a deep pasta colander? Place this in the top of the tank in the water (so bowl part is well in the water) and place the moor in this while you add the other fish. Let the two small fish explore for an hour or two. Just make sure the moor can not jump out. You then can release him. Acknowledging the other fish is normal behavior so this shouldnt be concerning. :)
 
jlk said:
Yes, Artesia, you should move the other small goldie to the big tank. The moor cant chase them both at the same time! Do you have a deep pasta colander? Place this in the top of the tank in the water (so bowl part is well in the water) and place the moor in this while you add the other fish. Let the two small fish explore for an hour or two. Just make sure the moor can not jump out. You then can release him. Acknowledging the other fish is normal behavior so this shouldnt be concerning. :)
Click to expand...

Well, the behavior seems to be leveling out and somewhat dubdued now; they seem to be swimming and getting along better -- but only more time will tell. The new addition to the 60 gallon is swimming and enjoying all the new room he has, and eating heartily as well. So perhaps we're on the right track during this cycle period...

Okay, so J -- definitely transfer the other goldfish to the 60? This wouldn't be in any danger of "overstocking" the larger tank during this critical, delicate cycle stage? Something I just never got my head around during all this, and I commented to Steele about it in private as well -- what exactly is a fish-in cycle? Are we just waiting for these fish to release ammonia and waste so the bacteria buildup can begin kicking in? Is that literally all there is to it -- letting the fish "do their thing" and performing water changes in response to the parameter spikes as they occur? That's it?
 
Yes, transfer the other little guy. The 60g has not even started the cycling process yet so there is no 'danger' of overstocking or affecting a 'delicate cycle stage'. Nothing has started yet! Cycling basically goes like this- your fish produce ammonia>the ammonia feeds your first set of bacteria>they convert the amm to nitrite> your second set of bacteria convert the nitrite to nitrate>you remove the nitrate with water changes. You have yet to develop either set of bacteria and at the moment, your fish are just doing what they do naturally- producing ammonia. For fish-in cycling, you control the levels of ammonia and nitrite with water changes to prevent harm from occurring to your fish. Thats it! And have LOTS and LOTS of patience!!! :)
 
UPDATE:

Okay. Ran API tests on both tanks this afternoon; here were the results:

60-Gallon Test Results:

Ammonia: No higher than 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm

10-Gallon Test Results:

Ammonia: No higher than 0.25ppm
Nitrite: STILL VERY high and VERY dark purple in color; maybe even off the chart's range
Nitrate: Somewhere between 5.0 and 10ppm

I did an immediate 50-60% water change on the 10-gallon following these readings, with a deep gravel vacuuming, and the water in that tank looks absolutely pristine and crystal-clear (not that this would mean anything when it comes to ammonia and such, but it just seems like the small Aqueon HOB is doing a commendable job keeping this tank clean). One of the small goldies has been moved from the 10 to the 60-gallon, and the two now in the 10 seem to be doing fine, as are the two in the 60...

Now, with regard to the 60-gallon -- the test result numbers don't seem to have moved from the last time I tested, and ammonia seems to be hovering around that "0.25ppm" mark...does this tank need an immediate water change or not? Should I just wait until the ammonia reaches 1.0ppm? Nitrite and nitrate continue to hover at 0ppm -- is this still normal?

Is it possible that the 10-gallon's ammonia went down a bit from the last time due to that fish being removed? Could there have been such an immediate reaction? Why is the nitrite so high in that tank (reading VERY purple in color)? And is the nitrate reading of "5.0-10ppm" normal at this point or dangerous for the fish? Is this all because things are spiking due to the cycle?
 
Ok, you did the right thing doing a water change on the 10 gal. The ammonia went down because the nitrates were doing their thing in destroying the ammonia, that's what it does. The 60 gal is not doing anything because there is nothing there to produce ammonia. Now that you added one more fish will help, plus you can over feed them, let the food break down and start producing ammonia.

The water looking clear in the 10 gal shows that it's getting close to being done. Just keep a close eye on the numbers, if the nitrites and nitrates get to high again to measure, pwc about 50% and wait about 2 hours and measure again.

Cycling a tank get plenty of help by adding lots of air, lots of heat, and lots of plants. If you don't have an air pump to run an air stone, keep the water level low so that the water coming out of the filter splashes a lot and make lots of bubbles.

Good luck bud
 
Wow, just wow!
Nitrate does not "destroy" ammonia, and clear water is not an indication of a "cycle" being nearly complete.
Sorry, report me if you like but I couldn't, in good conscience, let that pass.

AW... All of the questions you posed in your last post have been answered already, a number of times. Please go back and re-read your thread. You are asking the same questions again and again, seemingly in the hopes of getting a different answer. Please read up on cycling an aquarium, there are many threads in the "Getting Started" stickies that may help you out. Please don't get me wrong, we are all here to help, but this thread has become tedious at best.
 
What do think happen to the ammonia? The nitrates break it down, it's part of the cycle. And I wasn't saying that just because the water is clear the cycle is done, I was saying its part of it. You have never seen how one day the water will look crystal clear toward the end of the cycle?
 
blert said:
AW... All of the questions you posed in your last post have been answered already, a number of times. Please go back and re-read your thread.
Click to expand...

In reality, my intention with regard to posting these "updates" is to get feedback on the new test results each and every time I report them -- perhaps some of the queries appear "tedious" but the primary motive behind the posts is to have the current results I receive analyzed by more seasoned hobbyists than I...

You are asking the same questions again and again, seemingly in the hopes of getting a different answer.
Click to expand...


Absolutely not true.
 
Can anyone else assist me with analyzing the last battery of results I posted for both tanks -- primarily the 60-gallon? Is it at least somewhat accurate that I should wait at this point to do a water change on the 60 until the ammonia climbs to 1.0ppm? Is it normal that nitrite and nitrate haven't moved beyond 0?
 
ArtesiaWells said:
Can anyone else assist me with analyzing the last battery of results I posted for both tanks -- primarily the 60-gallon? Is it at least somewhat accurate that I should wait at this point to do a water change on the 60 until the ammonia climbs to 1.0ppm?
Click to expand...

The reason for doing water changes doesn't change, to keep your levels under control & at safe parameters for your fish. In my opinion if your ammonia is above .25 & you are doing a fish in cycle you need to do a PWC (which if i remember you are doing) you want your fish NOT to be stressed if at all possible. I on average do a 50% PWC at least every couple of days while I'm doing a fish in cycle. Someone can correct me if this wrong but it seems to be working, I've had no loss of life as of yet.
 
Your results are basically the same as before- you have some ammonia in the 60g, the tank hasnt started its cycle yet (normal at 2wks) and the 10g's results are lethal considering you have fish in there. I would change 50% on the 60g and do multiple 50% changes on the 10g until you can get the nitrite level down to .25ppm or lower.
 
shellieca said:
The reason for doing water changes doesn't change, to keep your levels under control & at safe parameters for your fish. In my opinion if your ammonia is above .25 & you are doing a fish in cycle you need to do a PWC (which if i remember you are doing) you want your fish NOT to be stressed if at all possible. I on average do a 50% PWC at least every couple of days while I'm doing a fish in cycle. Someone can correct me if this wrong but it seems to be working, I've had no loss of life as of yet.
Click to expand...

See, this is where my confusion ultimately sets in...I was under the assumption that during a fish-in cycle, you want some buildup of ammonia and such so the cycle can kick-start, thus water changes are only necessary -- during this stage -- when the level climbs above 1.0...

At any rate, my ammonia in the 60-gallon has not risen above 0.25 at all. I had been doing very small water changes on that tank during this cycling period, but nothing major, afraid to "mess" with the natural process being that the ammonia never spiked above .25....
 
jlk said:
Your results are basically the same as before- you have some ammonia in the 60g, the tank hasnt started its cycle yet (normal at 2wks) and the 10g's results are lethal considering you have fish in there. I would change 50% on the 60g and do multiple 50% changes on the 10g until you can get the nitrite level down to .25ppm or lower.
Click to expand...

J,

I realize you are a wholehearted advocate for water changes, but are you certain doing a 50% change on the 60-gallon is utterly necessary right now? I understand your logic about the 10-gallon -- hence, why I did an immediate 50% change on it after taking these readings yesterday -- but being that the ammonia is no higher than 0.25 on the 60 and nitrite/nitrate are still at the proverbial 0ppm, is a 50% change, or any change at all right now, entirely necessary on the big tank?
 
Okay; fair enough. But I shouldn't wait until that level reaches 1.0 to do the change? And is 50% necessary at this point? Don't we want some ammonia build-up right now?
 
ArtesiaWells said:
See, this is where my confusion ultimately sets in...I was under the assumption that during a fish-in cycle, you want some buildup of ammonia and such so the cycle can kick-start, thus water changes are only necessary -- during this stage -- when the level climbs above 1.0...
Click to expand...

Again someone can correct me if I'm wrong, your fish are producing ammonia & you're not changing out ALL of the water so with a PWC there will be some ammonia still in there, you essentially have a constant source of ammonia. Because you are doing a fish in cycle, IMO, it is best not to let the ammonia go to 1ppm. I keep mine under .5 if at all possible.
 
Thank you for the link J; I read it and it summarized a few things for me that I had questions about...

Basically, it de-escalated the rumor about water changes "harming" a cycle, which I was always concerned about -- so that was helpful. And, it suggests not waiting until levels go beyond 0.25 on ammonia, as I have been asking, but rather once it gets to 0.25 to do a water change during the cycle...

Hmmm. I suppose I can do a change now, then; how much do you recommend at this point on the 60-gallon? Are you sure 50%? :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
api freshwater test
Replies
1
Views
278
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
P
Question on API liquid test kit
Replies
5
Views
423
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
C
New 10 gallon - betta, male guppies, female neos, potentially dwarf gourami?
Replies
14
Views
737
corneliusmom
C
N
Can't get cycle back in order
2
Replies
29
Views
820
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
J
Nitrates up, pH and total alkalinity down
Replies
13
Views
468
Airborne 82nd
A

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom