About to push tank over...

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shecky95

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 20, 2008
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Illinois
I am new to community fish keeping and I have had my tank set up with fish for about 2 months. Its a 20 gallon tank. Here are the occupants:

4 guppies( 2 male, 2 female)
6 platy's
1 pleco

The filtering system I have is a Aquatech 30-60( I upgraded from a 10-20) with undergravel filter( installed 8-20-08, the undergravel filter).

The water readings are as follows:
Nitrites- .5(caution)
Nitrates- 20 (safe)
KH (Alkalinity)- 120( Ideal)
PH- 7.2 (Neutral)

I tested my tap water and the Ph is 7.0.

Also I do 25% water changes everyday and my Nitrites are still at .5 (caution) with my tests. Has been going on for a month now. I use water conditioner for tap water for each water change( our towns water supply does have some hardness to it).

My water is clear( not crystal clear yet). Although it could be the tank color of the glass(has a light greenish tint) for glass aquariums.

Now for my quesiton:

Will this Nitrite level ever go down? If so, how much longer will I have to do water changes everday?Should I replace the filters in my filter system NOT the Bio-media,( they are a month old)?

I am running out of opinions and about to go :screwy: & :WHOA:. Any ideas? Any advice!:nilly:
 
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FalconKeeper

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Aug 14, 2008
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Did you allow your water to cycle before you added any fish?
 
Miles

Miles

Stingray King
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Jul 2, 2005
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The biomedia in most aquatech filters are garbage. It's going to take a few weeks for the biofilter in your undergravel to establish. Just be patient, feed lightly, don't do water changes/gravel vac's/filter maintenance it will slow down the patience. Possibly use a bacterial supplement like 'Stability' by Seachem. When you do water changes you are removing the nitrites that your biofilter needs to feed on, thus slowing down the process.
 
Miles

Miles

Stingray King
MFK Member
Jul 2, 2005
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FalconKeeper;2106395; said:
Did you allow your water to cycle before you added any fish?
Click to expand...
Uh ?

Nitrifying bacteria won't grow without adding fish or something to produce ammonia.

"Cycling" your water empty, as in, letting it run for 24 hrs to allow gas exchange and temperature regulation.. well, has nothing to do with cycling an aquarium.


PS. that is a good sized group of fish for relying on that AquaTech alone.. the UGF will help a ton - it just takes more time. The more fish, the longer it will take. The more you feed, the more time you need. Patience.. Also, turning the temp up to the mid80s will speed up bacterial growth.
 
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spiff

Feeder Fish
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Dec 27, 2007
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I would also suggest turning off everything pump-wise when you do your water changes if you're not treating it with dechlor before you put it in the tank. Because if you're not, then the chlorinated water will quickly be cycled through your filter medium while its filling, effectively ruining any beneficial bacteria culture that had mananaged to get established up to that point. This is exacerbated on smaller volume tanks.
 
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FalconKeeper

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2008
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Miles;2106413; said:
Uh ?

Nitrifying bacteria won't grow without adding fish or something to produce ammonia.

"Cycling" your water empty, as in, letting it run for 24 hrs to allow gas exchange and temperature regulation.. well, has nothing to do with cycling an aquarium.


PS. that is a good sized group of fish for relying on that AquaTech alone.. the UGF will help a ton - it just takes more time. The more fish, the longer it will take. The more you feed, the more time you need. Patience.. Also, turning the temp up to the mid80s will speed up bacterial growth.
Click to expand...
I know how to cycle a tank :screwy: I was asking if he did it "properly" as in not allowing enough bacteria to grow to take away the Nitrites... But please go on I'm sure you have better ideas for him.
 
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spiff

Feeder Fish
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Dec 27, 2007
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http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2106476


dirtyblacksocksView Public ProfileSend a private message to dirtyblacksocksFind More Posts by dirtyblacksocksFind More Threads by dirtyblacksocksAdd dirtyblacksocks to Your Friend's ListShort answer is that the nitrite will eventually go away - give it a week or two...not a very hard answer guys...
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2 months is way more than what is needed to cycle a 20 gallon tank... unless something is disrupting the process...
 
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shecky95

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 20, 2008
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Illinois
Everyone ,
I appreciate all you suggestions and advice please lets not get nasty about it..I appreciate everyones help. Im am trying anything I can think of to better my fish enviroment.


One more thing...please ...please...read ones profile(like mine). Im laughing that some are refering me to "his" or "him" ( I look down my shirt to see if I didnt get a sex change operation overnight :ROFL:) PSSSTTTTTT guys.. Im a female!:D

( its okay to laugh once in awhile its good for the heart ;))
 
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