Thanks for the replies. The water use to stink bad before I added the marineland, now there's a small amount of odor. SO, if u were me you wouldnt try another water source. The problem is just with my fish? BUt with any tank that is established, ammonia shouldnt be an issue unless the tank is way overstocked. And i dont think my mine is, I asked my manager who has dealt with fish for the past 20 years and he said these fish would be fine in the 46g for now. Im just not sure if my ammonia is high considering the tank has only been up and running for a month and a half or becasue I kept cleaning the gravel each week, which sucks up the good bacteria, this is what I have read.
I need help making a decision
- Thread starter jeep07
- Start date
jeep07;4584575; said:
You're generally not supposed to use carbon unless you want to remove chemicals from the water, like meds and stuff. I don't know what effects it would have on conditioner, but my guess is it removes it faster than it conditions the water.
jeep07;4583726; said:
jeep07;4584421; said:
The water from your kitchen and your basement come from the same place. Makes no difference. Your ammonia problem is caused by overstocking your tank. It doesn't matter what someone told you, you can see the proof with your own eyes in your test results. Also your cycle was never propery established. You need to be doing pretty big water changes daily.
Well...sounds like everyone has way better input than me.. I would've said to try some startup bacteria supplement. I forgot the brand I use. But every time I do a WC i always add it back in. It treats for new tank syndrome and all that. Very helpful in keeping the ammonia levels down. Good luck dude.
NixMix;4584674; said:
I was going to suggest that to actually, but with all the crap they've added to the water, it would probably kill the bacteria.
jeep07;4584421; said:
It basically sounds like the cycle was never completed successfully. The tank has been trying to cycle since you set it up, and all of the chemicals in the water are actually preventing it. The ammonia is spiked because the cycle never actually happened. A cycled tank has 0 Ammonia, 0 NitrIte, and above 0 NitrAte. If the fish are still juveniles, then they probably are fine in the 46 for now. Didn't see their size mentioned. If all four are only around 6", it would not cause a significant bio load in that tank.
If you have an actual filter for the bacteria to colonoze, vac'ing the gravel shouldn't have any negative effect on the bio filtering capability of the tank. Chlorine will kill beneficial bacteria though, which is why I mentioned only using Water Conditioner. Take out the carbon and zero carb and stuff. It's just preventing you from being able to smell the ammonia in the tank. No chemicals other than water conditioner are needed. Change out 10-20% at least once per day, twice if you can. Check the ammonia/nitrite again in a few days. Keep it up until Ammonia and NitrIte are both reading zero.
Might want to feed a little less as well. Fish can go a week without any food. Just cut what you have been feeding them in half until the tank is cycled, and it will help with the bio load.
10-20% a day is not enough. 40% would work best. Catfish make waste like nobodys business. And none of these fish if under 6" should be intentionally starved. Emmaciated and poor water quality would = death for at least the Knife. They should be growing at 1-2" per month more their first few weeks. Feed only what they can eat in a sitting 1x a day until the water is controlled. Adult and semi-adult fish do fine when periodically starved( and should be to help maintain their long-term heath) But Babies should never be starved.
Avoid scrubbing out the filters themselves, pre-filter, bio media, bio media. run the carbon cartride on the penguin and make sure the wheel is working properly. You can also try adding a sponge to the intake tube to help with bio-logical bacteria surface area. But IMO you need more powerful filtration. Never replace your bio-media.. and never wash it in anything but old tank water. Gravel can harbor good bacteria. but unless it's kept in a shallow depth can also trap debris that pollute your tank. Personally I suggest syphoning most if not all of your gravel out and leaving the tank bare bottom. This will help you literally see how dirty these fish are, and help make sure you syphon all the solid waste out.
Avoid scrubbing out the filters themselves, pre-filter, bio media, bio media. run the carbon cartride on the penguin and make sure the wheel is working properly. You can also try adding a sponge to the intake tube to help with bio-logical bacteria surface area. But IMO you need more powerful filtration. Never replace your bio-media.. and never wash it in anything but old tank water. Gravel can harbor good bacteria. but unless it's kept in a shallow depth can also trap debris that pollute your tank. Personally I suggest syphoning most if not all of your gravel out and leaving the tank bare bottom. This will help you literally see how dirty these fish are, and help make sure you syphon all the solid waste out.
MonsterMinis;4585039; said:
I didn't say to starve them, I suggested cutting back on their food a bit until the water quality issue was resolved. Overfeeding is a common cause for an ammonia spike as well. Cutting back on the food would address both potential issues.
I also suggested 20-40% per day if possible. As long as you keep their crap cleaned up daily and do not overfeed, ammonia will not be generated in significant quantities so even 10% daily should be fine. If he's reading 8 currently though, it would be a good idea to do a couple big changes initially (50% or more) to bring that down.
I'm agreeing with you actually 
just filling in a few holes. stressing a few points that really should be. Most people will "freak out" and go above and beyond whats reccomended thinking they are doing the right thing. I'm just pointing out that feeding needs to be decreased, but shouldn't be cut-out entirely and the reasons it's bad to do so. also that Water changes more is better. But I wouldn't do more then 50% a day. More can potentially inhibit the cycle of the tank.
just filling in a few holes. stressing a few points that really should be. Most people will "freak out" and go above and beyond whats reccomended thinking they are doing the right thing. I'm just pointing out that feeding needs to be decreased, but shouldn't be cut-out entirely and the reasons it's bad to do so. also that Water changes more is better. But I wouldn't do more then 50% a day. More can potentially inhibit the cycle of the tank.