Urgent HELP! My water is a mess!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
P

purplekelly

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 9, 2010
22
0
0
Baltimore, MD
I posted yesterday that I was having some issues and you guys were very helpful. Someone suggested that I get a test kit - the real kind with liquid reagents - which I did on my lunch break today.

I just did the tests, and my tank is in bad, bad shape. PH is 6.4, ammonia is off the charts at 8ppm, nitrate is at 5ppm, nitrite at 5ppm.

So what do I do? I did a 50% water change last night and I am about to do another one now. I know I need to keep doing that, and keep testing. What about chemicals to stabilize the tank?

The issue is that I (following the written instructions as I didn't know any better) changed the filter media over the weekend, and my tank is now cycling. It's a 10 gallon stocked with a pleco, guppies, danios, platys, and tetras. I have a 29 gallon tank that I am moving them to soon...I think I want to get the water stabilized first though.
 
I have an appointment at 7, and after that I am going to go to my LFS (House of Tropicals in Glen Burnie, MD, if anyone is from around here) and see what advice they give me. Anything you folks can offer is also appreciated.
 
You can try SeaChem Prime to neutralize the ammonia, but you should continue to do daily large water changes until your cycled again and show ammonia=0 / nitrite=0.

Also feeding less would be helpful -- fish can tolerate lower feedings very well and will produce less harmful waste.

Good luck!
 
how many fish in total? Is the tank a new setup, you said you are cycling? Prime will make the water safer for the fish and water changes will help but if you just set the tank up you just have to many fish to start with and your tank is never going to catch up. If that is the case I would transfer some of the fish to the 29 right away.
 
with those readings i agree i would just go to the 29 asap and prime is a lifesaver it has been helping me keep my fish over my cycle issue. also i have been using stress zyme to try and get my bacteria going
 
Getting rid of the pleco will also help in the long run. I'm assuming its a common pleco? They get way to big for a 29 gallon. Even the smaller species are poop machines. Depending on the size of yours, it could be putting out as much waste as all your other fish combined.
 
As your 10gal is not cycled, the 29gal is not going to be any worse, in fact it will be an improvement as you will then have 40gal of water in total to dilute the waste. Split the fish between the 2 tanks, 3/4 of them in the 29, and a few in the 10gal.

Then change the heck out of the water to control that ammonia. 50% a day if you have to. Dont overfeed, in fact 1/2 rations is probably a good idea.

It sounds like you have too many fish for the 10gal anyway, even it it was cycled.

Chemcicals wont really help, you need to let the nitrogen cycle stabilise. The low pH is actually good, ammonia is less toxic at a lower pH, so ignore that.

But main thing they need right now is fresh water, and lots of it.

Ian
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom