Water parameters

[Bayo]

Hello aquarist!

I'm a newbie in all this. I recently (2 weeks ago) bought a Fluval Edge 6gal tank. At my LFS they recommended to star the cycle with 3 Neon Tetras and with a solution they sell for accelerating the bacteria during cycling. Long story short, I just measured my water and this is what I got:

PH : 7.6
Amonia: 0
Nitrite: 5 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm

Are these parameters out of whack? What do you recommend to do?

Any words of wisdom will be more than welcome!

Have a nice Sunday.

 

[Monkey Magic]

welcome to the hobby!!
By the looks of it you may still be at the start of your cycle ideally you want 0 for all your tests especially nitrites and ammonia as these are more so toxic to fish than nitrates. Do you have a good understanding of how a cycle works as neon tetras arent really a great fish for cycling so the more you know the better the chance of all of your neons making it through the cycle especially in a smaller tank which makes water quality harder to control during a cycle. Your levels arent too bad at the moment but may reach levels which are toxic to your fish in which case you should do a water change usually between 25-40% of your tanks volume to keep your levels safe remember to use dechlorinator when you do!!.you should test often to monitor how your cycle is going. Its quite rare to have zero nitrates unless you have a planted tank, between 5and 10ppm is fine however the lower the better. Keep dosing the beneficial bacteria. And when in doubt do a water change. The more reading you do now the less likely you will have problems in the future!!
Good luck!!!!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Hi!
Your nitrite is WAY too high. It's in the deadly zone. Please do lots of large water changes to get it down to 0.25ppm or less.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html
Please read this article.

 

[Monkey Magic]

Sorry iread that as .5 mummas exactly rite
What test kit are you using??

 

[LyndaB]

At my LFS they recommended to star the cycle with 3 Neon Tetras

I'm really surprised that they recommended neons. Neons are a very sensitive fish, not a hardy one, due to overbreeding. Watch them carefully for stress.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[boadams87]

You need a large water change, anytime you have nitrites. What kind of test are you using?

 

[Bayo]

Thank you very much all for your input. I'm using the API Master Kit. I'm just about to to a gravel cleaning and a big water change. Any recommendation, any suggestion on the percentage of what're change? Can I skip the gravel cleaning? I have 3 live plants in the tank and I put root tabs, so if I vacuum the gravel, I'm going to suck up the root tabs as well.

Good day to all.

 

[librarygirl]

Thank you very much all for your input. I'm using the API Master Kit. I'm just about to to a gravel cleaning and a big water change. Any recommendation, any suggestion on the percentage of what're change? Can I skip the gravel cleaning? I have 3 live plants in the tank and I put root tabs, so if I vacuum the gravel, I'm going to suck up the root tabs as well.

Good day to all.

Hi and welcome! You'll need to do a few water changes to get that nitrite down. I'd suggest a 50-70% water change and then wait 30-60 minutes, test the water again for nitrite. If it's over .25 (which it will be), do another 50-70% water change, wait, test etc. Keep doing this until nitrite are <.25. Nitrite will rise again though until the cycle completes so test daily and do water changes as needed to keep the nitrite <.25. A good dechlorinator is a must, whatever you have on hand is fine but if you can get Prime it will help temporarily detoxify the nitrite to help your fish. As for vacuuming, just swirl it over the gravel to kick up any debris and then suck it up.

Just FYI, neons are very active fish and ideally belong in a 20 gal +, a 6 gal is really too small for them long-term.

 

[Bayo]

I will follow your advise. So I need to do several 50-70% water changes the same day to get the nitrites down to .25? I'm anxious about these parameters that I currently have and need to take control if I do not want to start loosing fish. My goal is not to have any loose during the cycle. I'm starting 3rd week of the cycle today. I will keep you guys posted on my progress...

 

[librarygirl]

I will follow your advise. So I need to do several 50-70% water changes the same day to get the nitrites down to .25? I'm anxious about these parameters that I currently have and need to take control if I do not want to start loosing fish. My goal is not to have any loose during the cycle. I'm starting 3rd week of the cycle today. I will keep you guys posted on my progress...

Yep, do as many pwc today as needed to get that nitrite down. Then keep testing and stay on top of it. You're in the nitrite phase which can take on average about 3 weeks and nitrites tend to rise quickly so just be diligent in testing and water changes (with dechlorinated water and try to match the temp of the new water with the tank water; feeling both with your hand is sufficient) until the nitrites drop to 0 on their own. Good luck!

 

[boadams87]

And just wait until that vial turns light blue, you'll get this feeling of excitement come over you, that you've finally accomplished something! !

 

[Bayo]

Hi guys,
I really appreciate your insightful advise. I did around 60% water change since the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate went up a bit since yesterday. I will measure these parameter in a couple of minutes and let you know. I do not know what is going on with my tanks but the parameters were out of whack. I will be very diligent with these parameters and my constant water changes until my tank settles down after completing the cycle.

 

[Bayo]

Ok here it is the results after the first water change... Not good news. Still pretty bad I guess:

Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 5
Nitrate: 5

Do I need to do another water change right away? I guess so, right?

Thanks!

 

[Bayo]

oops, I meant 10 for Nitrate, not 5.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yes right away. The nitrite test only goes up to 5ppm so it could very well be higher than that. Could take one or more water changes to bring it down to even a readable level.

 

[Bayo]

Another water change done. I hope this gets my levels down a little bit, to something normal. Is this something that can be expected when cycling the tank?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Without enough water changes it is normal for toxins to reach high levels. What isn't normal is you haven't lost your fish.

 

[Bayo]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know that after 3 water changes yesterday, the parameters went down finally:
Amonia: 0
Nitrate: 0.4
Nitrite: 2.5
PH: 6.8

I will be checking the parameters again tonight and I will do a water change again.

i still have all my fish, no loss, so that's good.

Talk to you soon.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Looking MUCH better! Good job

 

[Bayo]

Hello there!

Just wanted to give you a quick update and see what do you think. I've been doing water changes daily since Sunday (50-60%) and the parameters are looking better.

Today, after more than 24 hrs that I did the pwc, these are the parameters I got:

Amonia: 0
Nitrite: 2
Nitrate: 5
PH: 6.8

From what I read and what I understand, it seems my cycle is moving now to the Nitrites. As the cycle goes through, am I suppose to see a spike in nitrates?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Cheers