ok so i tested the water and my nitrate is coming up at 80, nitrite is 0-0.5, my alkalinity is 0, ph is like 6.4... wat do i need to do??? help!!
has anyone ever got cloudy eye on p-bass?
- Thread starter pinky n stinky
- Start date
Okay, you don't give ammonia levels. I'm afraid they're bad. Get the ammonia tested also, so we've got a better picture of what's going on. However, the presence of nitrite indicates the tank either isn't fully cycled, or the cycled has been interrupted somehow. Take some time and read about the nitrogen cycle, and then try to figure out which of these it is. If you're interrupting the cycle by overfeeding, underfiltering, washing your filter media in tap water, etc., then you want to fix that so that this isn't constantly happening. The nitrate is WAY high, which means one of three things: Your tank is over stocked, you're not doing enough water changes and gravel vacuuming, or the nitrates are really high coming out of your tap. Try testing your tap water and see what you get. The only way to remove nitrate is through water changes; there's no bacteria present that eats it and converts it like ammonia and nitrite, so this usually points to needing more waterchanges. This is only going to increase as the fish get larger. Be sure you're not overfeeding, as well. So, basically, you've got to get the cycle back on track to where your ammonia and nitrite are zero, and nitrates ideally below 20, but some people say below 40.
EDIT: If nitrates are high out of the tap, you may need to switch to RO/DI or something like that, but this is rare.
EDIT: If nitrates are high out of the tap, you may need to switch to RO/DI or something like that, but this is rare.
cool.. thanks alot for the help. im gonna try and do water changes more often. hopefully i can save some of my fish cus they look really great but ill keep you posted i really appreciate the help.. thank you
I'm glad I could help. I'm sure you'll be able to save them. Keep on top of water changes, and get an ammonia test so you can monitor those levels as well. The nitrates will be reduced by your water changes, but the nitrite and ammonia will need to "cycle" out, and so you want to keep an eye on them. When they get to zero, you're in the clear, but don't stop water changes.... Once you find a method that keeps your nitrates below 20 or 30, stick with it. You're going to find that as they grow, you're going to need to do more waterchanges to keep up with them. Increasing tank size would help with this... they're still producing the same amount of nitrate, but it's being dissolved into a larger volume, therefore, the nitrate ppm is lower. So that would help them, but other than that, frequent water changes in larger amounts is going to be your best bet. Good luck -- keep us updated!
