chadthedad
Aquarium Advice Regular
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2008
- Messages
- 72
Well I was sooo proud. My cycle was complete and I added fish. Things looked great. I did a large water change prior to adding fish. I checked my ammonia and nitrite which were both at zero. I then acclimated and added fish....
The error. I assumed that since I had just done a large water change that my nitrate must be low so didn't bother testing it. 36hrs after adding the fish I lost three. Tested ammonia and nitrite (which I had been doing twice a day to ensure everything was going well) both were at zero. Nitrate was around 80+. Did a 50% water change which brought it down to 40. I waited a few hours and did a second 50% water change which brought it down to 20. I lost one other fish in the process. Still have a couple that don't look great but hopefully they will come around.
So... Just because you did a large water change after a fishless cycle the nitrates may have risen so high that they are still in the danger zone. Make sure to test that before adding fish.
The error. I assumed that since I had just done a large water change that my nitrate must be low so didn't bother testing it. 36hrs after adding the fish I lost three. Tested ammonia and nitrite (which I had been doing twice a day to ensure everything was going well) both were at zero. Nitrate was around 80+. Did a 50% water change which brought it down to 40. I waited a few hours and did a second 50% water change which brought it down to 20. I lost one other fish in the process. Still have a couple that don't look great but hopefully they will come around.
So... Just because you did a large water change after a fishless cycle the nitrates may have risen so high that they are still in the danger zone. Make sure to test that before adding fish.