I really need some help as soon as possible. I am leaving tommorrow and needed to be able to leave my fish sitter instructions and I don't know what is going on. First my nitrites were spiking, I did 25% water changes twice a day for 3 days. The nitrites dropped down to 0.5, I haven't done any water changes and it has been like that for 3 days. I haven't had ammonia readings in the tank for almost 2 weeks. I check it this evening and I still have 0 nitrates, my nitrites are < 0.5 and now I have 0.25 ammonia? whats going on? can anyone help please???
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jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
More info would be helpful - tank size, what is in it, temp, when set up, etc.
I presume you are doing a fishy cycling? When (& how much) was your last water change? How much are you feeding the fish? Did any routine changed?
What test kit are you using?
It is always dicey to leave things to a fish-sitter during cycling .... unless the person is experienced.
Based on the limited info, I would think:
1. You are past the first part of the cycle. (You did have an ammonia spike before it became undetectable, right?)
2. The 0.25 of ammonia may be a test error .... You might be reading the chloramines in the tap if you just did a recent water change.
3. The nitrites coming down *may* be a sign that the cycle is finishing, but you can't tell until you get a bit of a trend. You might not be seeing much nitrates just yet ... considering that most kit can't read anything below 5, and you have only 0.5 or so of nitrites. <Which will only convert to 0.5 of nitrate ... so it takes a few days to see a level.>
Unless your sitter can reliable monitor levels & do pwc as needed, the best thing for your sitter to do is:
1. Feed VERY sparingly (maybe every other day) to decrease the amount of waste.
2. Watch daily for signs of nitrite/ ammonia poisoning ... rapid breathing, etc. Do water change at any sign of trouble. <Depending how much you trust the sitter to do water change, you can either have him/her do a small water change daily just in case (say 10% - less chance of major tank problem with small pwc), or do pwc only in emergency.>
You should do a large (maybe 50%) pwc (matching water parameters & temp of course) just before you leave, giving the tank a bit of room to deteriorate just in case.
I presume you are doing a fishy cycling? When (& how much) was your last water change? How much are you feeding the fish? Did any routine changed?
What test kit are you using?
It is always dicey to leave things to a fish-sitter during cycling .... unless the person is experienced.
Based on the limited info, I would think:
1. You are past the first part of the cycle. (You did have an ammonia spike before it became undetectable, right?)
2. The 0.25 of ammonia may be a test error .... You might be reading the chloramines in the tap if you just did a recent water change.
3. The nitrites coming down *may* be a sign that the cycle is finishing, but you can't tell until you get a bit of a trend. You might not be seeing much nitrates just yet ... considering that most kit can't read anything below 5, and you have only 0.5 or so of nitrites. <Which will only convert to 0.5 of nitrate ... so it takes a few days to see a level.>
Unless your sitter can reliable monitor levels & do pwc as needed, the best thing for your sitter to do is:
1. Feed VERY sparingly (maybe every other day) to decrease the amount of waste.
2. Watch daily for signs of nitrite/ ammonia poisoning ... rapid breathing, etc. Do water change at any sign of trouble. <Depending how much you trust the sitter to do water change, you can either have him/her do a small water change daily just in case (say 10% - less chance of major tank problem with small pwc), or do pwc only in emergency.>
You should do a large (maybe 50%) pwc (matching water parameters & temp of course) just before you leave, giving the tank a bit of room to deteriorate just in case.
Give us a little more detail. How long has your tank been set up? Was it fully cycled?
My next question would be if you tank was previously cycled, then what had changed your fishy environment as of late? Have you added new fish? I have you changed out any filter media or gravel? Did you clean anything in sink water? Have you been severely over feeding? Things like that would cause a sudden "mini-cycle"
regardless of what caused it unfortunately you will have to ask your friend a big favor. This will be an even bigger favor if they don't have tanks and therefore won't have as much sympathy. But you will need to show them how to test your water and how to change it...
My next question would be if you tank was previously cycled, then what had changed your fishy environment as of late? Have you added new fish? I have you changed out any filter media or gravel? Did you clean anything in sink water? Have you been severely over feeding? Things like that would cause a sudden "mini-cycle"
regardless of what caused it unfortunately you will have to ask your friend a big favor. This will be an even bigger favor if they don't have tanks and therefore won't have as much sympathy. But you will need to show them how to test your water and how to change it...
I was talked out of doing a fishless cycle, and now am fighting because these poor fish will not die because I was convinced of something other than what my gut told me to do. I changed 20% tonight and for a few days there was doing 25% water changes twice daily for 3 days to bring a spike of well over 2 down to 0.50. I have a 20g high tank and have 3 danios, 2 cories and 3 shrimp in there. Should I just not feed over the weekend and have my friend do water changes? Luckily she has had fish for some time, that is why I asked her. Unfortunately though, she never learned about the nitrogen cycle so she will text me with levels and I can tell her how much to change. I use the API freshwater test kit and add 1/2 the amount of aquarium salt reccommended due to the cories. Here is the strangest part, I tested plain tap water tonight and just realized that my freaking tap has nitrites of 0.50, now what do I do about that? Thx again for your quick responses.
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
If you did your test just after your water change, your ammonia reading is from the chloramines in the water ... should be gone in a few hours.
You have nitrites in the tap?? That limits what you can do with pwc. You might want to double check the test .... nitrites are pretty unusual .... nitrates is much more likely. If you truly have nitrites in the tap, you need a dechlor that can bind it ... Prime is good for that. Once your tank is cycled, the small amount of nitrites won't cause problem, but during cycling it is a bother....
If you are just going for the weekend, you might consider not feeding & just monitor the levels & do pwc only in an emergency. Having salt is good as a low level of salt will protect fish against nitrites, since you will not be able to use pwc to get the level below 0.5 if that is in your tap. <And you don't need much ... 0.05% is plenty.>
You have nitrites in the tap?? That limits what you can do with pwc. You might want to double check the test .... nitrites are pretty unusual .... nitrates is much more likely. If you truly have nitrites in the tap, you need a dechlor that can bind it ... Prime is good for that. Once your tank is cycled, the small amount of nitrites won't cause problem, but during cycling it is a bother....
If you are just going for the weekend, you might consider not feeding & just monitor the levels & do pwc only in an emergency. Having salt is good as a low level of salt will protect fish against nitrites, since you will not be able to use pwc to get the level below 0.5 if that is in your tap. <And you don't need much ... 0.05% is plenty.>
could I be cleaning my tubes wrong? I rinse them out 4-5 times with low pressure water and shake em up pretty well. If there is residue I guess that might effect the results? I guess I will have to get myself to bed now so I really appreciate your quick response.
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
An easy way to test your kit is to get some bottled distilled (or R/O) water & test that ... it should read zero.
The nitrite (and nitrate) test is a bit tricky, as you must shake the reagent bottles vigorously as instructed or you get screwy results. <And the reagent is an emulsion, so if you have done some tests without shaking, the concentration of the reagent remaining in the bottle would no longer be the same & so give you inaccurate results.>
The nitrite (and nitrate) test is a bit tricky, as you must shake the reagent bottles vigorously as instructed or you get screwy results. <And the reagent is an emulsion, so if you have done some tests without shaking, the concentration of the reagent remaining in the bottle would no longer be the same & so give you inaccurate results.>
Good news! That final ammonia spike was at the tail end of the cycle. I had my husband do a water change on friday and saturday there were no nitrites. Today still none. So now I have 0's accross the board, that is a little confusing since the nitrates are 0 too. I did hear that the API fw test kit is unreliable under a reading of 10, so I guess as long as ammonia and nitrites stay 0 I won't be worried. Thank you for all your advice
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