Hello everyone, my name is Justin and I'm basically brand new to the aquarium hobby. I got into it several weeks ago by deciding to set up a tank for my 5 yo daughter (but of course I'm the one that take care of it). I'm having a few issues with water quality I think and ich. I have 4 live plants (smal anubis, small java fern, a cryptocoryne, and some moss; all on attached to drift wood. Fish i have currently are 6 glo tetras, 2 julii cory catfish, 3 nerite snails, and I had 4 oto catfish, but I found 1 dead and the other 3 I can't locate at all anymore. The glo tetras are the ones that have the little white spots.
I have a Fluval flex 15 gallon tank. I read about cycling and tried to do it the best of my knowledge before adding fish. I used the Fluval cycle additive to boost it. So several weeks later I ordered fish online and got some a local shop and this week I finally got a proper water testing kit. Now my fish are showing mild signs of ich, which I went to local shop and got Metroplex and have given them one treatment so far, next one is due tomorrow.
I decided to test the water today and this is what the Fluval testing kit says:
pH 6.5 - 7.0
Ammonia .01
Nitrate 110
Nitrite 3.3
(both Nitrate/Nitrate tests just went bright purple and never changed after 2-5 minutes)
The Nitrates and Nitrites seem very high, but the rest appears good. I bought Seachem Prime to help, but I don't what I'm doing wrong in the first place or if Seachem Prime is what I should use. I had to remove the carbon from the filter to treat with metroplex as well.
Any advice on how to handle those nitrate / nitrite levels now and in the future would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I have a Fluval flex 15 gallon tank. I read about cycling and tried to do it the best of my knowledge before adding fish. I used the Fluval cycle additive to boost it. So several weeks later I ordered fish online and got some a local shop and this week I finally got a proper water testing kit. Now my fish are showing mild signs of ich, which I went to local shop and got Metroplex and have given them one treatment so far, next one is due tomorrow.
I decided to test the water today and this is what the Fluval testing kit says:
pH 6.5 - 7.0
Ammonia .01
Nitrate 110
Nitrite 3.3
(both Nitrate/Nitrate tests just went bright purple and never changed after 2-5 minutes)
The Nitrates and Nitrites seem very high, but the rest appears good. I bought Seachem Prime to help, but I don't what I'm doing wrong in the first place or if Seachem Prime is what I should use. I had to remove the carbon from the filter to treat with metroplex as well.
Any advice on how to handle those nitrate / nitrite levels now and in the future would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!