test results question

[laura65536]

I know my 75 is overstocked....but this just doesn't make sense, I just did my water tests, I never did wait for the nitrates to get to 10ppm before to change the water, I just do it every 4-5 days cause I figured it was overstocked and it needed it. Well I waited 7 days to see what they'd get up to, which was only 10-20ppm (more than 10 less than 20 on my color card) but now it looks like my tank might be cycling again and I don't get that at all, my ammonia is .25 and my nitrite is 0

This tank has been set up for 6-7 months, has an ac110 with 2 sponges and the ceramic rings, and an emperor 400 that I just took apart and modified, I took the carbon out, added ceramic rings and biomax, filter floss and 2 1" airstones....

both have sponges on the intake tubes as prefilters...tank is stocked with 2 paroon sharks (8-9") and albino channel cat 8", 4 gouramis, 4 mollies, a pictus, a pleco 5", and there are a few feeders left in there (4-5 rosy reds)

is the ammonia a sign that they need to move to the bigger tank now or did I throw it into a mini cycle of sorts tearing apart my emperor last week? They don't look big enough to be in a 200 yet....

 

[bigspizz]

It is just WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY over stocked, and take the feeders out asap. Feed them light amounts of non live for a while. And yes it is a sign that you need a bigger tank not now, more like yesterday.........







Edit: make one of the ac 110's all bio, take one sponge out of the other and put in more bio. 100% change twice a day and that will get you buy till you get a new tank

 

[laura65536]

I have a 200 they can go in when they're bigger, it just needs set up. I know I'm overstocked in the long run, but right now the tank is usually fine. water is always crystal clear and tests come out just fine. I was mostly just wondering if I threw it into a mini cycle fixing the emperor 400...and how can I fix that or do I just have to sit and wait?

 

[pmtuneman13]

You could have killed some BB. For now, no feeding! I recommend squeezing out the sponges into the new filter media in your Emp. This will jumpstart the colony. Just chill on the feeding for a few days and do 50% water changes every other day until the ammonia drops. Your tank shouldn't go into a mini cycle that easy.. you need a larger tank set up... and ditch the feeders... get them out.

 

[Onion01]

yeah, if that is all you have in your tank, it should already be acclimated to those conditions. I know that when I stupidly swapped out four of my filter pads on my 75g at once, my tank went into a mini cycle for 3 or 4 days

 

[Bderick67]

When you modified the Emp 400s did you leave the biowheels on it or discard them?

 

[courtneem]

I dont think it is that overstocked. I mean I have a 55gl with

7" white pim
6 1/2" spotted pim
6" common pleco
6" vampire pleco
6 1/2" rainbow shark
4" bullhead

1 male betta
9 various tetra

Looking at my tank you see tetra and the shark out and that is about it. You would never know I have these catfish hiding in the bottom. They are healthy too. Growing as well.

My tank is stable, I do a 50% PWC once a week, clean the gravel. I run two HOB that are up to 60gl

I have a 120gl I am setting up to remove a few of them since they are growing

I think you just threw your tank into a minicycle messing with the filter and it may takes a few PWC and light feeding to get you back on track. You have a larger tank and are on the right path if you ask me.

 

[pmtuneman13]

Do the 1 cubic inch per gallon rule. Round up. This works astonishingly well for the larger fish. The rule is like a litmus test for full capacity. It doesn't really take into consideration the filtration or lack of in some cases.

 

[laura65536]

I left the bio-wheels on, but I forgot to leave them in the water while I worked on it

 

[pmtuneman13]

I do not know the life span of BB out of water... so I never take out the wheels long enough for them to dry. Does anyone know how long it takes for the BB to die... and how do you know that... I don't want guesses.???