nitrate/nitrite help

[blackghostuk]

.............so as long as that stuff worked, it shouldnt have had anything to kill the bacteria correct?

Correct. It shouldnt have died off, but the test results say it has.
Unless your nitrite kit is faulty?

25% changes wont help much. I'd do at least 50%, often enough to keep nitrites as low as poss. And dont feed (or hardly at all). And the easy-fix....add some more mature media, or one of the bacterial filter-aids.

 

[zspidel]

Correct. It shouldnt have died off, but the test results say it has.
Unless your nitrite kit is faulty?

25% changes wont help much. I'd do at least 50%, often enough to keep nitrites as low as poss. And dont feed (or hardly at all). And the easy-fix....add some more mature media, or one of the bacterial filter-aids.

ok thanks guys for all the help! and as far as the bicher, i dont know much about them. but i thought oscars could pretty much live in a mud puddle?

 

[knobhill]

i turned the filter off when i switched the tanks yes, but i left all the water in the canister. i just rinsed all the parts after i took the test that gave me the nitrites of .5 and nitrates 10 and ammonia 0 in treated tap water. i used the aqua safe (think thats it) to treat the tap water. i filled up a tub last night treated it, let it sit til about 45 min ago when i did the rinse. so as long as that stuff worked, it shouldnt have had anything to kill the bacteria correct?

Not enough good bacteria...you are expecting a cycled filter to instantly cycle a fresh fish tank with two fish in it. You should have brought some water from the cycled tank into the new one to speed up the process. Like most of the members have said in the post--pony up for some bacteria in a bottle.

 

[zspidel]

Not enough good bacteria...you are expecting a cycled filter to instantly cycle a fresh fish tank with two fish in it. You should have brought some water from the cycled tank into the new one to speed up the process. Like most of the members have said in the post--pony up for some bacteria in a bottle.

ok, i guess i forget to mention in this post that i used about 16 gallons from my 55 and about 15g from my friends tanks. but ill just go find somethin to help the tank cycle

 

[zspidel]

hey i think i figured out what i did wrong. looking back on this and thinking it step by step. i had my filter in my 55g to get it ready for the 120 for about 2 wks. i got the 120 all set up, kept the water in the canister from my 55. did a water change in my 55 and used the dirty water to put in the 120g. my buddy came over w i think 15 or 20g of his cycled water. i filled the rest of the tank up w tap water, then treated it. im thinkin this is where i screwed up

 

[BODYDUB]

Just keep up with about 25% daily water changes till your filter is cycled.......

 

[BODYDUB]

ok thanks guys for all the help! and as far as the bicher, i dont know much about them. but i thought oscars could pretty much live in a mud puddle?

And if this is the logic you're going to use then your fish is in the beginning stages of HITH.......

 

[Zander_The_RBP]

Not enough good bacteria...you are expecting a cycled filter to instantly cycle a fresh fish tank with two fish in it. You should have brought some water from the cycled tank into the new one to speed up the process. Like most of the members have said in the post--pony up for some bacteria in a bottle.

im sorry but that's completely unnessicary becuase the bacteria in our aquariums live ONLY on surfaces they do not live in the water column. transfering water from one tank to the other does nothing except match the water parameters more closely for the fish


to OP: your tank has only gone halfway through the cycle your still growing your nitrite comsuming bacteria. you should be doing DAILY 50% water changes to keep it at 0.25 and under (until it cycles and then it should always be at zero). Nitrite is (IMHO) more dangerous than ammonia. Heres why, ammonia (NH3) can be neutralized (converted to NH4+) by acidic water conditions or certain dechlorinators but nitrite (NO2) cannot be. it also harms your fish much differently than ammonia. While ammonia directly burns the gills and skin of fish, nitrite binds to haemoglobin in there blood cells rendering them unable to carry oxygen(or in smaller amounts reduce the ability to carry oxygen).


If you filled the tank with tap water while the canister was running and then treated it it is very likely this is what you did wrong as the chlorine may have nuked the bacteria if it ran more than 5-10 minutes before being treated


good luck and keep up with the water changes


EDIT: Didn't read this post

ok thanks guys for all the help! and as far as the bicher, i dont know much about them. but i thought oscars could pretty much live in a mud puddle?

who the hell told you that ? oscars natuarly come form certain tributaries of the amazon (which exact ones i am not sure) the amazon has some of the purest water on earth so who ever told you that must have been droped on his head as a child

 

[knobhill]

im sorry but that's completely unnessicary becuase the bacteria in our aquariums live ONLY on surfaces they do not live in the water column. transfering water from one tank to the other does nothing except match the water parameters more closely for the fish

I politely disagree, any trace of nitrate, nitrite and ammonia in cycled tank water will assist in the cycling process. It is obviously present in the water other wise our testing equipment would be useless.

 

[zspidel]

And if this is the logic you're going to use then your fish is in the beginning stages of HITH.......

so my one oscar will have hith cuz for 1 day the levels were high? tell me how your logic works. water changes daily and the levels are fine.