Frantic Fish

[dinotrex]

They're swimming around frantically, should I be concerned?>

 

[mitche8359]

A little more information would help. What type of fish? How long has the tank been set up? How long have the fish been in the tank? Was it an existing tank with fish in it? etc

 

[dinotrex]

sorry, didn't know what info you needed... I have 3 Red Wag Platy's and 2 Lampeye tetras, tanks been set up for about 5 weeks now and I put these fish in 2 days ago..... are they marked for death? I put them in because the tests seem fine. All the readings are ok, Ammonia=0, Ph=7.2, Nitrite=.5 and Nitrate=10......... what do you think?

 

[BrianNY]

Hi dinotrex. The 1st thing is your tank isn't fully cycled until the nitrites are zero. However, fish that are suffering from nitrite poisoning will become lethargic and usually will spend their time gasping for breath.

How large is the tank? What's the temp? What kind of filtration?

 

[mitche8359]

I've not had either of the fish. However, I do have a lot of tetras in the tank. Made the mistake of taking the wife and son to the lfs when they had a 40% off sale. Told them to get whatever they wanted. 10 tetras later....

My tank used to be relaxing to watch. Calm and serene. The largest movement coming from the large SAEs. The black phantom tetras and the white high fin tetrasmake the tank BUSY. In a way I ruined my tank experience. I liked sitting and watching it in the evening. Now I've thought to myself, what did I do?

Tetras are lively fish. Sounds like your fish are getting accustomed to the tank. I wouldn't expect the tank to settle down any time soon.

 

[dud]

Hi Tom, what other fish did you have before you got the bargain tetras? Anything suggestable for a 10g tank?

 

[mitche8359]

I had the siamese algae eaters, the pleco, and the two angels. Seems like I'm missing something, but I can't think of anything else. A pretty empty tank come to think of it. An angel will work in a 10gal but won't grow large.

 

[dinotrex]

I have them in a 55 gallon tank with the temp at about 82. The thing I don't get is that if and when my nitrites go down to 0, then the water in the tank evaporates, I'll add more water to the tank. The new water I'm adding won't be cycled so doesn't that seem like my tank will NEVER be cycled????

 

[BrianNY]

That's a good question dinotrex. The nitrifying bacteria lives in and on the solid objects in your tank. The prime location is your filter media since there's always a water flow. A tank is fully cycled when this bacteria have converted all of the ammonia to nitrites, and then the nitrites to nitrates. Nitrates must be watched so that they don't build up.

Although these Nitrogen compounds exist in your water now, it's the bacteria in your tank that feed off them. Adding clean water won't cause a tank to be recycled. Increasing the bioload (with more fish), will if you add too many too quickly.

 

[Menagerie]

The new water I'm adding won't be cycled so doesn't that seem like my tank will NEVER be cycled????

The water is not bringing in ammonia or nitrites. Ammonia is excreted from the fish in their waste. The bacteria in the filter convert it to nitrite and then other bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate. Adding new water will bring chlorine, which is why you should always dechlor the water.
Your fish are probably just getting used to the tank. However, I highly recommend a 30% water change to get those nitrites DOWN!! If the fish are suffering from nitrite poisoning, aquarium salt will help the fish.