Could you guys help me with these results......

[nikipate]

Okay, I went and got the master test kit and here are the results. Could you guys please tell me what you think?

Nitrite - 1.0 ppm
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 10 ppm
Ph - 7.6

We did about a 40% water change last night. I was afraid to do too much. We lost 2 fish (more about that later - have an appt soon) but the rest seem to be doing fine right now. I couldn't find the stuff you guys talked about that had the live bacteria that needed to be refrigerated. I bought AmQuel plus that says it removes nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, chlorine and chloramine. I haven't used it yet.

I have to run out now for a while but I would appreciate advice and will check back in as soon as I get back.

Thanks so much to all of you....:22:

[cocoa_pleco]

No ammonia- EXCELENT
nitrite-should always be 0, 10%water change
nitrate-good, never should get over 10ppm

Thats perfect that the ammonia is gone. just work on nitrite

[sergo]

looks like your tank is almost cycled. how long has it been set up?

[kufan]

I use the amquel plus in my water, and I think it works very well. You shouldn't have any problems with it.

KU

[Sasquatch]

If your tank is cycling, don't use the Amquel, it'll bind up the nitrites and the cycle won't complete itself.

If the fish are having problems do frequent small water changes, but keep them to a minimum. The more crap (ammonia and nitrites) the faster the cycle goes.

[nikipate]

Cocoa,

Should I do another water change tonight? We did one last night and going by the test strips that I was using (before I bought the big test kit today) it was hard to tell if it actually brought the nitrites down very much. I think we changed out about 40% last night but it is kind of hard to eyeball it because it is a large (150 gal) tank. I went and bought a Python today so water changes shouldn't be a hardship any more.

Sergo,

We set up the tank on Dec. 22 and "thought" we had cycled it based on bad info from pet store. Here's a lesson that is often repeated here but didn't get through my head until after the fact.... research, research, research and research some more. Basically we filled it up, ran the filter for a day or so, added live plants, added some "Cycle" and then tossed in 22 small fish about 4 days later. We then added more live plants and tossed in another group of about 9 days after that. I thought everything was going great and to a point it was. We had an ammonia meter than stays in the water and it crept up a little bit after we put the second group of fish in but then came back down a couple of days later. I was keeping decent records on when we were adding the fish and stuff but in hind-sight I didn't keep any kind of records on water levels. In fact, I realize now that since all the fish were looking good and the ammonia meter in the tank was fine that I just didn't think I needed to worry about testing it much. Then 2 gouramis started acting poorly and I used my little cheap-o test strips and almost fell out when it read somewhere between 1 and 3. Definitely a learning experience....

Kufan,

Thanks for the info about the AmQuel....

[nikipate]

If your tank is cycling, don't use the Amquel, it'll bind up the nitrites and the cycle won't complete itself.

If the fish are having problems do frequent small water changes, but keep them to a minimum. The more crap (ammonia and nitrites) the faster the cycle goes.

Is a reading of 1.0 on the nitrite going to result in losing any more fish?

[cocoa_pleco]

do maybe a 15% to bring it down. Nitrite just stresses the fish a bit.

[Sasquatch]

Is a reading of 1.0 on the nitrite going to result in losing any more fish?

I don't know how sensitive your fish are, but when I cycled my tank, they peaked at 2.8 mg/L (ppm) and the platies we had were fine. Keep an eye on the behaviour of the fish and if they start acting weird you might want to think about a water change.

I definatly wouldn't add any more fish until you ammonia and nitrites hit 0. It shouldn't be more than a few weeks, depending of wether or not it had peaked yet.

Test strips aren't very sensitive, use the kits where you add chems to water. They're better, though still a little subjective. Test every day if you can, or as often as possible of not. That way you'll be able to keep track of the changes in the levels, see if they're rising or falling and base you actions on that.

Best of luck and don't be worried about asking more questions.

[Lady Hobbs]

Originally Posted by Sasquatch
If your tank is cycling, don't use the Amquel, it'll bind up the nitrites and the cycle won't complete itself.

I agree with the above poster. Use nothing in the tank to change your readings or you won't know what you have or if the tank cycles totally.

Your nitrates are fine. Just do small water changes to keep the ammonia at 1 or below. And feed sparingly until cycle has finished. They need very little food so once every other day until cycle has finished is fine.

[DemonShark]

Sounds good

[Severus]

Your nitrites should take care of themselves in a few days

[nikipate]

Your nitrites should take care of themselves in a few days

Well, I'm very happy to report that nitrites are down to 0 and nitrates are still at 10.

Since 100gw posted that the nitrites would take care of themselves in a few days (which they did), I was wondering if spikes like these are natural and I just hadn't noticed them since I wasn't testing like I was supposed to?

Also, I read that I don't need to add more fish until ammonia and nitrites are 0. My next question is do the nitrates commonly stay around 0 also or not? I know I read that 10 ppm is fine but I wondered if they should stay lower than that or not.

My last thing for this post is to ask if someone could maybe post a list of kind of general guidelines for where each level should stay. I know that there will be some individual needs for certain fish that may change but I would be grateful for more info on this.

Thanks so much for all the help you guys have given lately.....thumbs2: :19:

[jeffs99dime]

Well, I'm very happy to report that nitrites are down to 0 and nitrates are still at 10.

Since 100gw posted that the nitrites would take care of themselves in a few days (which they did), I was wondering if spikes like these are natural and I just hadn't noticed them since I wasn't testing like I was supposed to?

Also, I read that I don't need to add more fish until ammonia and nitrites are 0. My next question is do the nitrates commonly stay around 0 also or not? I know I read that 10 ppm is fine but I wondered if they should stay lower than that or not.

My last thing for this post is to ask if someone could maybe post a list of kind of general guidelines for where each level should stay. I know that there will be some individual needs for certain fish that may change but I would be grateful for more info on this.

Thanks so much for all the help you guys have given lately.....thumbs2: :19:


once your tank is cycled the goal is to have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and nitrates 40 or less. yes. your nitrates can be lower then that. my nitrates stay at 5. having a nitrate level of 10 is fine too.

[nikipate]

once your tank is cycled the goal is to have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and nitrates 40 or less. yes. your nitrates can be lower then that. my nitrates stay at 5. having a nitrate level of 10 is fine too.


Thanks so much for the info, Jeff.

[Sasquatch]

The thing with Nitrates is that there is not way to get rid of them except water changes, and maybe plants.

They should stay low though because they are the end product of fish wastes, so as along as you're not overstoked and you do water changes regularly, there should be no problem.

[Severus]

if you kept your levels how they are now (ammonia 0, nitrite 0, ph 7.6, nitrate 10) you will be just fine. My nitrates hover around 20 and everything in my tank is fine.

[nikipate]

I just can't tell you guys enough how much I appreciate all the time you take with a new folks to help us through....

One thing I wasn't quite clear on yet is whether spikes in readings are normal or not.... I remember reading a little while back about someone having their cycle crash and go crazy but I was wondering if you get some spikes in just one area or another.

Sorry to have to ask you guys to keep repeating yourselves but I appreciate your help!!:1luvu:

[Sasquatch]

Depends what you mean by spikes.

In my tank it's normal to have occasional spikes on ammonia or nitries. But it's largely because we are constantly messing around in the aquarium. Adding new plants, adding fish, changing the decor, etc.... But even then, they're not "spikes", we just get measurable reading with the kits. They have yet to go higher than the lowest level on the chart.

If you aren't mucking around a lot in the tank, there shouldn't be a lot in the way of variations. Occasional readings of ammonia or nitrite can happen, but you shouldn't ever see spikes like you do when cycling.

Just do regular water changes and, if possible, avoid major alterations in the aquarium, especially the substrate.

As for the advice, I'm somewhat of a beginner too, so I'm just giving as good as I got (and am still getting).

[jeffs99dime]

I just can't tell you guys enough how much I appreciate all the time you take with a new folks to help us through....

One thing I wasn't quite clear on yet is whether spikes in readings are normal or not.... I remember reading a little while back about someone having their cycle crash and go crazy but I was wondering if you get some spikes in just one area or another.

Sorry to have to ask you guys to keep repeating yourselves but I appreciate your help!!:1luvu:

that's what we're all here for. that's what makes this forum so great!