Hello! Newcommer ich problem!

[Jujubee]

Can you explain rodi water??

I'll check my ammonia readings in a few hours to see if it's lowered any. And another in 24 hrs. The last 3 days I hadn't even considered checking the ammonia in my tap and I've been doing changes everyday to lower it and nitrite. I feel like a derp.

I have a question then, I have a filter on my faucet so I can drink water from the tap do you think that water may be safer to use? I'll have to do a test on it as well but are there any other components in the filter that might after my tank?

 

[Hobgob]

When you test your tap water, are you letting it sit out for 24hours before hand or are you just testing right out of your tap? Also do you know whAt type of filtration goes on your tAp filter it might be the same as a ro unit. And also reverse osmosis (ro) is just what ran through a filter.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Rodi water is reverse osmosis/de ionised, the units usually work on water pressure, I've used one for about six years. They remove 99% of contaminants out of the water and change it on a molecular level. This water is not safe for fish alone and it needs to be tuned to the right parameters. I usually re-mineralise with de-chlorinated tap water. Special salts are available for fresh and salt systems. The filters need changing every 6months, the membrane lasts around 4years, the DI resin needs changing, this depends on amount of water produced and condition of water in the first place, for me it's about every 6 weeks. You will need a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter to monitor DI resin change. This can be used as a rough guide in all tanks too!
To properly test your tap water you will need a Gh/kh (breakdown of TDS) and a pH test kit(s).
White spot remedy should also be purchased. Most people have a version. Methylene blue is the active ingredient you should look for.
A book you should try to obtain is called The A-Z of fish Health, by burgess, bailey & excell. It's interpet publishing. I would consider this book my fish bible, you will use it time and again, plenty of second hand copies available, shop around because prices fluctuate massively.
I really hope your fish are ok! I joined up to give you this answer.

 

[Jujubee]

Awe well thank you! I appreciate the input that's deff a lot to comprehend! I'm not sure about my filter first off, I can test it and see if ammonia is any different. I did let the water sit :/ and ammonia is at least lower now it's around .25-.50. I need to do water changes due to the nitrite which everyone knows by now erg dang water.

I'll look into this filter and more about making the water suitable since it makes it unlivable for the fish. It's first I've heard of it so deff have to do some reading up I will also look for that book. I plan on working my way up the next several years, I love the hobby and plan to continue it for years to come. I'm glad you guys like to share your knowledge!

 

[J.Mcpeak]

I only joined today, it's great these people sharing info. I'll help anyone. That book is a gem, it took me ages to understand the water chemistry part of it. They talk part per million, I thought that can't make a difference. It really does! 120 ppm is about equal to 7pH the mix is roughly 1:1 tap:RO
80 ppm is about equal to 6.5 pH the mix is roughly 1:3 tap:RO.
Do your own tests though. That is from memory of years ago.
My tap water is around 280-330ppm depending on rainfall which is roughly equal to 8.2pH. In this country water companies are told max 550ppm is suitable for drinking.
Tap water comes out at 7pH neutral, I guess to stop acid wear on pipes etc. it usually balances up/down after a day.
Has your system cycled properly?
My first tank took a few weeks. Monitor it.
The nitrogen cycle should be something you look at. It does it's own thing then settles on just nitrate rises. If you change too much water this process will tank longer. I ended up doing five litre a.m. Five litre p.m. On 162 litre system. I rushed at the start getting lots of fish a bit faster than I should've.
With the RO unit you can make any water you like. It starts at TDS 0.

 

[Jujubee]

I only joined today, it's great these people sharing info. I'll help anyone. That book is a gem, it took me ages to understand the water chemistry part of it. They talk part per million, I thought that can't make a difference. It really does! 120 ppm is about equal to 7pH the mix is roughly 1:1 tap:RO 80 ppm is about equal to 6.5 pH the mix is roughly 1:3 tap:RO. Do your own tests though. That is from memory of years ago. My tap water is around 280-330ppm depending on rainfall which is roughly equal to 8.2pH. In this country water companies are told max 550ppm is suitable for drinking. Tap water comes out at 7pH neutral, I guess to stop acid wear on pipes etc. it usually balances up/down after a day. Has your system cycled properly? My first tank took a few weeks. Monitor it. The nitrogen cycle should be something you look at. It does it's own thing then settles on just nitrate rises. If you change too much water this process will tank longer. I ended up doing five litre a.m. Five litre p.m. On 162 litre system. I rushed at the start getting lots of fish a bit faster than I should've. With the RO unit you can make any water you like. It starts at TDS 0.

What all do you have as far as tanks and fish??
Your information is helpful, I'm going to wait until my next paycheck to see about getting the RO. And my tank is going through the process of still cycling, ammonia spiked and is now a steady .25 just waiting for that to clear nitrite has been at .3 the last few days and I've been doing water changes to hopefully lower it. I did not do a change last night since my tap still had a bit of ammonia if it's lower today I'm going to do a change, I feel horrible leaving my little fined friends in those conditions. Do you think my water is just the cause of the ammonia still present?
I haven't figured out why nitrites are still in my water :/ nitrate is around 40 and I have a bunch of plants and they are growing like crazy. I'm deff a bit confused as to what's going on.
I've been taking 3 gallons out the last 4-5 days and doing a change with dechlorinated water, could that be setting the cycle back?
I'm such a newbie and it's sad bc I've had fish all my life! I had a betta for 7 years, turtles for also around 7 years, african dwarf frogs for 2, I have 3 now I've had them for about 5-6 months and doing great. I've also had 3 goldfish which all lived a year but I was young and naive in fish keeping not realizing how big of a tank just one goldfish needed so when they grew I was unprepared they were some of my favorites.

 

[Fishdude3233]

I will have over 20 tanks in a month once I start my fish room, best part in 14

 

[Jujubee]

I will have over 20 tanks in a month once I start my fish room, best part in 14

Heck yeah!
I told my husband when we get our house (living in an apartment due to having to move around a lot due to his work) that I want a "fish room." I don't know about all that everyone has but I would love to have a lion fish, jellyfish, a nice saltwater tank maybe a few! With actual coral which I at this point know nothing about :O haha

You are lucky!
I'm interested In what everyone has, especially with 20 tanks up! Who all calls them home

 

[J.Mcpeak]

What all do you have as far as tanks and fish??
Your information is helpful, I'm going to wait until my next paycheck to see about getting the RO. And my tank is going through the process of still cycling, ammonia spiked and is now a steady .25 just waiting for that to clear nitrite has been at .3 the last few days and I've been doing water changes to hopefully lower it. I did not do a change last night since my tap still had a bit of ammonia if it's lower today I'm going to do a change, I feel horrible leaving my little fined friends in those conditions. Do you think my water is just the cause of the ammonia still present?
I haven't figured out why nitrites are still in my water :/ nitrate is around 40 and I have a bunch of plants and they are growing like crazy. I'm deff a bit confused as to what's going on.
I've been taking 3 gallons out the last 4-5 days and doing a change with dechlorinated water, could that be setting the cycle back?
I'm such a newbie and it's sad bc I've had fish all my life! I had a betta for 7 years, turtles for also around 7 years, african dwarf frogs for 2, I have 3 now I've had them for about 5-6 months and doing great. I've also had 3 goldfish which all lived a year but I was young and naive in fish keeping not realizing how big of a tank just one goldfish needed so when they grew I was unprepared they were some of my favorites.

You must be doing something right to have kept them fish for so long. Always wanted a turtle, I know nothing about them and my fish keep me real busy. I gad three goldfish that didn't last long when I was a kid, goldy,Silvi and pirate. That was there names.
TAP WATER CONTAINS NITRATES among other things. Test it.
I have four systems at the moment, 11 clown loach, 3 glowlight and 15 black neon tetra, figure 8 puffer, some corydoras paleatus, Bristlenose Female, glass catfish not sure how many now though. I am building a reef, I've been reading up for as long as I've kept fish, the reef was the goal, 8 years ago!!!
Don't feel bad, when I started I knew nothing at all except I want fish. Feel free to nosey on my profile for more info, follow the link to my flickr page, see you tube 4tanks2day, my fish house and fish tank stills videos, they are poor quality but you can see stuff. I have a few pics in an album here but flickr is better quality, my fishes and fish house set.

 

[Jujubee]

So after a few days I've been watching my water levels and nitrite is still high. It stays around 3-5 and doesn't go lower than that. I had it at about 3 for 2 or so days. My tap doesn't contain nitrite. I was hoping with as many plants as I have the water conditions would be better :/ my little guys are still doing good, they're always hungry (I feed them once a day) except for yesterday and today I did feed them twice while closely monitoring them and not giving them anything they couldn't eat. They swim around together and seem to play in the plants they even like to uproot them every once in a while. My nitrates are around 40 and ammonia still between 0-.25. I know the nitrogen cycle can take a few months. I don't know anyone with an established tank to help seed beneficial bacteria. I keep doing daily water changes but I'm a little flustered not seeing nitrites drop :/

 

[J.Mcpeak]

The ammonia spikes first, that settles then nitrite spikes, that settles and nitrate rises, at this point your system is mature.

 

[Jujubee]

The ammonia spikes first, that settles then nitrite spikes, that settles and nitrate rises, at this point your system is mature.

Shouldn't the ammonia be at 0 as well as nitrites though? I have nitrates and nitrites at the same time and feel like something has gone wrong unless that's just me over reacting

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Yes. 0-0-0+ the first two are important.
Tank length and depth not height please. What is filter turnover per hour, how big is filter, is it internal or external.
Edit-does the filter have biological media in it?
Got 10 gal tank 30 gal filter so far.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

If you don't have private messages switched on.

I have asked for help from somebody with way more experience than me. Hopefully Janice (river cats) will turn up on your thread.
She has an exceptional knowledge base. I am struggling to find a quick and definitive answer to your concern. I have read your post completely there are a few things I need to understand more.
Janice has a long service career as a professional fish keeper, undoubtedly she will know more than I do, she will provide you (hopefully) with a great deal of information.

All my very best of luck, Jamie

P.s. I will be keeping an eye on your thread.

(Copy of private message sent to your account)

Edit- potentially she may be very busy elsewhere.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Water companies add ammonia to water to make chloramine more stable. Good for us not good for the fish.
If ammonia is present at the supply source maybe ammo-lock or similar can be used in the final stage of filtration.
The only way to know how toxic ammonia is, you need to know salinity, pH and temperature.
Ammonia levels become more critical at higher T'
Water holds 5 times more ammonia at 25C/77F than at 5C/41F.

 

[Rivercats]

I read the entire thread and hopefully have a good idea of what's going on since the posts jumped around a bit... lol.

Starting with the ich.... heat is all you need honestly. The med's can be messing with your tank trying to cycle. So if you only use heat at the proper temp then you'll kill the ich and will help your tank cycle faster because added heat causes bacteria to grow faster. A win/win combination.

The nitrite part of the cycle always takes the longest. But also where fish are concerned nitrites are less toxic in higher ph. Not saying they are good at all for fish but less harmful. You need to keep them down to .25ppm or lower during a fish in cycle.

In instances when tap water has ammonia and or nitrites present it's actually better after the tank cycles to do smaller more frequent WC's instead of larger WC's. Reason being is by doing smaller WC's your adding a smaller amount of ammonia and or nitrite to the tank at a time which means the bacteria (Nitrosomonas for ammonia and Nitrobactor for nitrites) can break them down faster.

Right now while the tank is cycling I wouldn't use RO water or at best cut RO water with tap water to lower the ammonia readings. Over time your Nitrosomonas will build up to a level that will break down the ammonia from the tap quickly.

Another thing is right now IMO you should do a WC or 2 in order to lower your nitrates. If you let nitrates raise to very high levels during cycling it's bad for fish and a lot harder to deal with getting them down. Levels of nitrates shouldn't be allowed to rise above 20ppm.

Now that I've thrown a ton of information at you this is what I would do if it were my tank... I'd stop the ich med as it isn't needed if your temp is up and constant at 86. Do WC's as needed to keep ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates at proper levels. Don't overly worry about the ammonia in your tap water right now since your tank is cycling and if you want you can cut your tap water with RO water to lower them. Keep a daily tab on levels and do WC's as needed. Since you've used med's give your cycle a chance to right itself.

Here is the portable RO unit I've used for years.... portable countertop reverse osmosis drinking water system - remove fluoride, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs and more. I have the Pro-100 unit.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Thank you Janice, if I may. Not even my fish but it has been troubling me for days. It just said HELP!
Edit- read your post, learned something else too! Cheers.

 

[liamk1]

White spot

Hi guys,
Was wondering if any of you can offer me any advice on white spot. I've got a 64 litre tank(planted) and I noticed that one of my rummy nosed tetras had a couple of white spots on it. I purchased anti white spot treatment from Interpet, I removed all my filter media as the treatment said to.

Now I'm a bit worried about my parameters, prior to spotting the ich my readings were ph7.6, Ammonia 1ppm, Nitrite 5+ppm, Nitrates were 20ppm. I've turned the heater up to 80C. I also haven't done any water changes as this would defeat the purpose of the treatment surely? And I also added aquarium salt (3 tbs).

Is there anything else I can do to to finally rid my tank of this?

Thanks

 

[Rivercats]

Hi guys,
Was wondering if any of you can offer me any advice on white spot. I've got a 64 litre tank(planted) and I noticed that one of my rummy nosed tetras had a couple of white spots on it. I purchased anti white spot treatment from Interpet, I removed all my filter media as the treatment said to.

Now I'm a bit worried about my parameters, prior to spotting the ich my readings were ph7.6, Ammonia 1ppm, Nitrite 5+ppm, Nitrates were 20ppm. I've turned the heater up to 80C. I also haven't done any water changes as this would defeat the purpose of the treatment surely? And I also added aquarium salt (3 tbs).

Is there anything else I can do to to finally rid my tank of this?

Thanks

This should have been a thread of it's own but as you seen to be in the same shape as the OP read the entire thread here and you'll get your answers.

Short answer is posted above by me:
"Starting with the ich.... heat is all you need honestly. The med's can be messing with your tank trying to cycle. So if you only use heat at the proper temp then you'll kill the ich and will help your tank cycle faster because added heat causes bacteria to grow faster. A win/win combination."

Salt will kill your plants so I strongly suggest doing some large WC's. Also most ich med's kill plants.

Your obviously cycling so you need to read and follow this article: I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice.

You should never let ammonia or nitrites rise above .25ppm when doing a fish in cycle. You have to do WC's as needed, even daily for the health and safety of your fish.

 

[liamk1]

I was doing water changes every 2nd day prior to this ich to try and get the tank cycled. Do you suggest doing the wc now even though I've just done the 2nd dose of treatment? And should I return my filter media now too?

Thanks