View Full Version : High nitrites and ammonia...need help
Fish guy128
03-14-2012, 04:27 PM
I have a 20g long aquarium brackish water (salinity about 1.010) and the nitrates and ammonia are off the charts. I just have a african cichild and had a violet goby but he recently died. I have plenty of aeration and am stocking up on live plants. ph around neutral. weekly water changes even if done twice were doing absolutely nothing!? Absolutely no algae is growing and the tank has been established for over a year now. I've recently been adding a bacterial supplement and not much has changed...i feed frozen cubes once a day and have a marineland 50g filter on there. I also just started using ammonia crystals in the filter.nothing so far. I'm completely lost here any input?
Lady Hobbs
03-14-2012, 04:29 PM
If you have high ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, you haven't got a cycled tank.
Fish guy128
03-14-2012, 05:09 PM
If you have high ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, you haven't got a cycled tank.
Even after a year? How do I get it cycling then?
Cliff
03-14-2012, 05:12 PM
Are you using FW or SW test kits ?
At any rate, I would suggest handling this just as you would when cycling with fish. There is a link in my sig to the cycling with fish thread here that explains the process better than I can
Edit: when you added the ammonia crystals in your filter did you remove some of the filter media to make room ?
Lady Hobbs
03-14-2012, 05:30 PM
Easy to uncycle a tank. All you need to do is clean all the beneficial bacteria from the filter or clean it in tap water.
Sligg
03-15-2012, 12:37 AM
Bit of a shot in the dark, but you haven't made any huge changes to your salinity recently have you?
As I understand it, the beneficial bacteria that lives in fresh water is different to that which lives in full salt water... if you've maybe passed over the threshold, you could be experiencing a die-off of the bacteria and the tank may be having to cycle again. Would explain the sudden spike that you can't get down.
I'm not an expert by far, but just wanted to put it out there. To see what the other more experienced members think.
Sligg~
Fish guy128
03-15-2012, 04:18 AM
Easy to uncycle a tank. All you need to do is clean all the beneficial bacteria from the filter or clean it in tap water.
If you have high ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, you haven't got a cycled tank.
I'm misunderstanding you I think. Are you saying to uncycle a tank I need to rinse the filter in tap water? Or to fix my problem rinse my filter with tap?
Fish guy128
03-15-2012, 04:35 AM
Bit of a shot in the dark, but you haven't made any huge changes to your salinity recently have you?
As I understand it, the beneficial bacteria that lives in fresh water is different to that which lives in full salt water... if you've maybe passed over the threshold, you could be experiencing a die-off of the bacteria and the tank may be having to cycle again. Would explain the sudden spike that you can't get down.
I'm not an expert by far, but just wanted to put it out there. To see what the other more experienced members think.
Sligg~
That makes alot of sence and out probably has alot to do with it....I've been trying to free hand the salinity but I'm now seeing thats not a good idea
Fish guy128
03-15-2012, 04:45 AM
Are you using FW or SW test kits ?
At any rate, I would suggest handling this just as you would when cycling with fish. There is a link in my sig to the cycling with fish thread here that explains the process better than I can
Edit: when you added the ammonia crystals in your filter did you remove some of the filter media to make room ?
I'm using test strips that are universal, theres a chart to compare the strip to for both fresh and salt (2 different charts).
And I can honestly say I feel like a noob when I say how do I cycle my tank?? The page says don't do anything but then later says do water changes?? Ok no problem but how much and how often?
And as far as the filter media I just kinda shoved everything in there..water is still flowing smoothly
Tiari
03-15-2012, 02:03 PM
If you are using test strips, the ammonia media is going to give you a positive reading no matter what you do. Get your hands on a liquid test kit, such as the API master test to give you a more accurate reading.
DeadSulphurhead
03-18-2012, 11:50 PM
Definitely a minicycle, if not a full cycle.
What the others were asking was, have you recently cleaned your filter at all? Like replace/add any sponges/pads/bioballs or rinse anything off with tap water?
If you have, this would be the 1st thing to point the finger at in a case of high ammonia AND nitrites. Ammonia can easily build from many factors in a tank, but having nitrites is what leads us all to believe it's a minicycle.
Sligg also had a good point. I don't have any brackish tanks so I can't speculate on that. As for just eye balling, never a good a idea, you want consistency with pretty much everything in an aquarium
Like Tiara said, liquid tests from brands like API really are worth a few extra bucks, much more accurate. I've done my own tests to confirm this..
Lady Hobbs
03-19-2012, 02:18 AM
I'm misunderstanding you I think. Are you saying to uncycle a tank I need to rinse the filter in tap water? Or to fix my problem rinse my filter with tap?
Neither.
Tap water has chlorine in it. Chlorine kills the benefical bacteria. That would cause you to loose the cycle in your tank.
matsungit
03-29-2012, 11:14 PM
I guess you were trying to go brackish for your Violet Goby? Too bad he died. The trick is to slowly acclimate. An SG of 1.010 is a bit high for the goby. Violet gobies should be 1.006 to 1.008 sg. Tap water is 1.001. Raise that SG .001 per week minimum until you reach your target. All the while adding beneficial bacteria but you need to stop if you get bacterial bloom. While cichlids are not brackish fish they at least need a little acclimation to survive the strange water. Having a salinity refractometer is a must for all brackish tanks. A hygrometer simply will not do. Use marine salt or real seawater. Never use aquarium salt.
matsungit
03-31-2012, 01:16 AM
Please don't let this scare you. I actually bought my brand new refractometer online for only $30. They're getting cheaper nowadays. A brackish system is actually an exciting new territory and not too difficult to maintain like marine systems. Please read up on it. http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/brackishfaq.html
As opposed to the writeup on the link, I actually have 7 neon tetras, 6 tetra glows, 4 barbs, and counless platys in my slightly brackish tank. Plus a pleco which supposedly cannot tolerate any salinity. All are happy and getting along with the other fresh and brackish fish. My specific gravity is 1.0025. Brackish fish are very tolerant of salinity swings since it rains on and off in tropical weather. Some even breed with sudden salinity drops.
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