Ok I have a 55g planted tank that has been running for around 2years and about 8months ago one of my payara(scomb) got what i think was ick. So i went to the LFS and they sold me some maracyn2 which i put directly in the tank with the fish instead of setting up a hospital tank. Before this antibiotic the tank was fully cycled and running very well with allmost no ammonia or nitrite and the nitrate got up to around 20ppm every week the day of a water change. Now it has been 8months or so since the meds and i still do not have any nitrite and my nitrate doesnot go above 5ppm which is the same as my tap. But the ammonia gets out of control and i have been changing 50% every 3-5 days just to keep it under a lethal amount. So what is going on here? Do i need to totally tear the tank down and clean everything and start over from fresh. I wish i would have done this the first time the ammonia spiked and i would have a cycled tank again. please help ----------thanks
Question about maracyn2 damage to bio in tank
- Thread starter hybridtheoryd16
- Start date
With 8 months, the meds are no longer in your tank. Check your tap water for chloramines and/or ammonia. How do you treat your tap water, and what is your procedure for filling your tank? Do not use a Python to fill your tank. That method can harm your bacteria colony.
Also, what filter(s) are you using?
Also, what filter(s) are you using?
A few other things:
How many fish are in there?
How big are they?
How often and how much do you feed them?
How many fish are in there?
How big are they?
How often and how much do you feed them?
The filtration on the tank is a magnum 350 canister and 2 emperor400's with dual bio-wheels and I also have 2 powerheads with foam filters that flow 300gph each moving water from one end to the other. i have tried to have alot of filtration and current cause of the payara fish that i was trying to raise. I have a sengal bichir that is 8'' and a hujeta characin that is also around 8''. they are fed live feeders and there are never any feeders left in the tank more than 1 hour. Thats the only fish left in the tank as of now. The ammonia killed the other payara's. I treat the tap water with novaqua and marineland ph buffer 7.0. I do water changes with a regular siphon hooked to a water hose. And the tap water has .25ammonia- 0 nitrite- 10-20 nitrate. I have not checked the other parameters. But this is a city water supply with the usual additives. thanks alot for the help so far.-----------feeders are fed daily
The NovAqua+ should do the trick if you are pre-treating the water. Since you have ammonia in your tap water, you also have chloramines (I assume you already know but just to be sure). I am also going to assume that you add the NovAqua+ to the tank and then fill it since this bile is so commonly regurgitated on so many fish sites. On the internet, anyone with a computer can be an expert simply by repeating what the last guy said. Unfortunately, very few people stop to think if what they are repeating is really sound advise or even smart. In your case, this is a very bad practice (it is even a bad idea with plain chlorine). Monocholramines are far more toxic than chlorine. To have it in your tank even for a short time can explain why your filters can't keep a suitable bacteria colony.
What I mean about pre-treating the water, is you should mix it in a barrel (any container) and then pump it to your tank after it tests good. Invest in a round trash can, an inexpensive submersible pump, and a short garden hose. I'll dig up a picture of one of my water changing gadgets. It is some PVC made into a hook with a ball valve and a garden hose fitting. It hooks over the rim of the tank during the fill ( I also use it to drain). Buy a small chlorine test kit from a pool store or Walmart (not very good but will work). Chloramines will show up in the chlorine test after about thirty seconds to a minute.
What I mean about pre-treating the water, is you should mix it in a barrel (any container) and then pump it to your tank after it tests good. Invest in a round trash can, an inexpensive submersible pump, and a short garden hose. I'll dig up a picture of one of my water changing gadgets. It is some PVC made into a hook with a ball valve and a garden hose fitting. It hooks over the rim of the tank during the fill ( I also use it to drain). Buy a small chlorine test kit from a pool store or Walmart (not very good but will work). Chloramines will show up in the chlorine test after about thirty seconds to a minute.
More info:
http://www.novalek.com/kordon/novaqua+/index.htm
I went to the Kordon site to look up the specifics of NovAqua+ and they recommend using it with AmQuel+ because the NovAqua+ does not detoxify ammonia...which is kinda strange because AmQuel+ will do the job of both (for the most part).
Switch to AmQuel+ and see how that works for you (still pre-treat the water). I have never had to deal with the quantities of chloramines that you have so I don't know how long the AmQuel+ will take to completely work.
Also, .25 ppm Ammonia in your tap water translates to .81 ppm Chloramine.
http://www.novalek.com/kordon/novaqua+/index.htm
I went to the Kordon site to look up the specifics of NovAqua+ and they recommend using it with AmQuel+ because the NovAqua+ does not detoxify ammonia...which is kinda strange because AmQuel+ will do the job of both (for the most part).
Switch to AmQuel+ and see how that works for you (still pre-treat the water). I have never had to deal with the quantities of chloramines that you have so I don't know how long the AmQuel+ will take to completely work.
Also, .25 ppm Ammonia in your tap water translates to .81 ppm Chloramine.
Thanks for the help and it really all does make sense. In a short you are saying that the chlorine/chloramines are killing the bacterial colony before it gets a chance to spread and fill the tank. Because of the time it takes for the novaqua to get rid of these. One other thing is i was using amquel with the novaqua but my LFS said to not use any additives to get rid of ammonia cause it would slow down the cycle process. ----------The only thing that does not make sense is that i have a 40t--60octagon-2 2og's that i use all the same epuipment on and they all cycled within a month or 2. i have allways used filters and gravel from a cycled tank to speed up the bacteria growth on a new tank and all these other tanks were seeded from the 55g in question. And i have even tried reseeding the filters/etc back to the 55 with no luck. Thanks alot for all your help i just can not figure this one out. I will start a regiment just like you say and pretreat my water the day before a water change and also get a test kit for chlorine/chloramines to test the water before it gets to the tank. And i will see how that works ----------thanks again