Good Grief...

[fishywish]

Hi guys! I am a newbie and need some advice. I should probably tell you the background of this....

I started a 10 gal. about 2 months ago. It is currently stocked with 3 cherry barbs, 2 zebra danios and 1 peppered cory.

My other tank is a 44 gallon pentagon that I started a month ago. It is currently stocked with 2 killifish, 7 serpae tetras, 4 corys (skunk, puntatus, panda & aneus), 1 odessa barb, and 2 long finned barbs.

As it turned out, the filters that came with my tanks (I used these to cycle the tanks) were awful, so ...about 2 weeks ago I purchased an AquaClear 30 for the 10 gal. and an AquaClear 70 for the 44 gal. When I did the "filter swap" I placed a good portion of the old bio fiber into the new filters to prevent completely breaking the cycle.

I am currently having high ammonia levels in both tanks . I have been doing water changes (25%), adding Ammo Lock to neutralize the ammonia and adding API Stress Zyme as well. The fish are acting normal, have full color and are eating. I am thinking that I screwed up the bio filter with the filter change. Looking for any thoughts anyone may have on this and if there is anything else I can be doing to help the situation. If water changes are the answer, how often should I be doing them?

Also, my odessa barb is harassing my 2 long finned barbs... when I added the 2 long fins, I rearranged the tank hoping to eliminate any territorial issues...will this behavior settle? does the odessa need another odessa?

Wow, if you've made it to the end of this....you are a trooper! Thanks for any comments you may have!!!

[Orion5]

Continue small regular water changes until the ammonia is properly corrected by the filter. Personally I've never used any chemicals for this type of problem, only water changes. I fixed the problem by doing two 40% water changes, every 2 days, and then two more 25% water changes in the week following.

**HOWEVER I don't know for sure if this is enough in all situations. Someone else will likely give you more details on it. **

Water changes, of course, are key.

[ijankrom]

I wouldn't say small WC, but test your water frequently and that will tell you how much you need to change and frequency. You're now just waiting for the BB to grow enough to handle what you had. What are your ammonia levels at by the way? Keep at it.

[Goes to 11!]

../ test your water frequently and that will tell you how much you need to change and frequency.

+1 This is exactly what I would do.

[fishywish]

Um...You guys rock! I have never done this forum type of thing before and didn't know what to expect by way of replies...

So, frequent water changes would be once a day? about 25%...or larger?

Testing will help me know b/c I will see the level of ammonia go down?


....sorry for so many questions...I feel like an idiot and I don't want my fish to suffer for it...

I test with the API drops and today the levels were at about 1.0.

[ijankrom]

Water testing is not just to see if your water is in good levels. Testing provides you with information to help you keep your fish healthy and happy. As far as frequency and %, depends on the test results (often multiple tests too over a period of time). 1ppm of ammonia is not good, you would like to get that below .5ppm and should (you will understand later in post) be able to accomplish this with a 50% water change.

A lot goes into figuring out how much and how often. Take for example someone with live plants. Live plants eat up some of the levels of nitrate as food. So you're ok if your nitrate levels are at 10ppm, no pwc (partial water change) is necessary to get nitrate levels below 5ppm.

Trying to complete a water change to drop you 1ppm of ammonia down when the tap water has .5ppm of ammonia is not going to work really well for you.

[Lady Hobbs]

Why don't you throw the fish that's in the 10 gallon into the bigger tank and then move that filter to the bigger tank as well? AFTER the small filter is seeded again, then you can set the small tank up again. You don't have a full school of corys in the 10 gallon anyway and the tank is too small for danio's, too.

Have to tested your tap water?

[ijankrom]

Take a look at the following thread by another user regarding testing methods and the pros/cons of each.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aqua...ad.php?t=36656

I'm sure there's a thread someone in this forum that gives some really good detail on why you should test. I hope someone else here knows where that is.

Right now though you need to get your ammonia down. Right now since you are still "cycling" trying to build your BB (beneficial bacteria), don't get your ammonia level to 0.

[ijankrom]

Sorry if it feels like I'm ramming this information down your throat. I found a good article online regarding water testing. http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/wa...tertesting.htm

Another good topic to research which helped me is the nitrogen cycle. Understanding this will help you make the necessary decisions when it comes to water testing and water changes.

[fishywish]

not ramming at all! The more info I get, the better! I did months of research on the nitrogen cycle before I jumped into this....and apparently I still managed to screw it up..lol.
When I got home from work I checked my tap water for ammonia...there was none, so I'm going to do a water change on the small tank tonight. (I did one on the big one last night)....am I taking water from the surface, or should I clean up the gravel too?