Yes, I am posting a HELP thread

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
No it hasn't. She has been doing a little bit better today so I just took the time and observed. She still looks the same, but she's been swimming around rather than just sitting in one spot.
In the morning I'm going to go get a test kit, change 25% of the water, etc to see what I can do to fix any problems that I have. if it is an ammonia problem, do you recommend just a huge water change or using one of the additives that gets rid of ammonia? I typically try and avoid additives, but whatever you guys recommend I'll do
 
I'd recommend water changes. This gives you an opportunity to keep their water fresh and clean. Ammonia removers will never work effectively and simply starve the bacteria thus your tank cannot continue its nitrogen cycle effectively.
 
alright so I got my water tested this morning at the LFS (too cheap to buy my own kit atm). dunno what test kit they are using.
ammonia: .25
nitrate: 0
nitrite: 1.0
150 gh
300 kh
8.4 ph

So I'm assuming nitrites are gonna continue to go up for a bit since there's still some ammonia and no nitrates yet. Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know a ton about this stuff. If I do just like a 20-25% water change every day for the next couple of days will that be enought to dilute but keep the cycle going to get my BB levels up?
 
Well, you've found out why the fish is sick anyway. If you only did a 25% water change you'd only knock the nitrites down to .75. Do a 75% water change (use declorinator if you need to!) and you'll knock them down to .25. You can add 1 teaspoon salt per 10 g to help with gill function when you've got a nitrite reading. If they were my fish.....I'd be doing daily 75% water changes. Ammonia and nitrite are dangerous and need to be '0'.
 
that's fine by me as long as the BB will still get established since it's a new tank. Thanks for all the help!
 
The beneficial bacteria live mostly on objects in the tank and filters, and only a few are in the water. Many people do very large water changes on a frequent basis without trouble. I hope the best for you and your cons. You must already know about cycling, so I'll just say those are really great looking fish and I look forward to updates. A little salt wouldn't hurt either, but clean water is always the best prescription.
 
badger126;3416161; said:
that's fine by me as long as the BB will still get established since it's a new tank. Thanks for all the help!
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Some will say it takes longer to cycle if you do water changes during the cycle. I'll never in a million years believe that. Even the tiniest amount of bacteria (unmeasureable) will be enough to get the BB going. I added (marine) salt to a tank I was going to put Mollys into and killed the BB (saltwater/brackish bacteria is different that freshwater). So I ended up having to do daily/twice daily water changes. It cycled in the same 3 wks as any other tank will cycle.
 
So doing a water change I don't wanna gravel vac then at this point right? I know some about cycling, but I'm not as knowledgable as I should be. I'm gonna go pick up one of those gravelvacs that hooks up to the faucet to make things easier. Stowing buckets for 75% of a 50gal tank is no fun!
 
Alright I've done a 50% water change for 2 days now and I can't really see too much improvement in the she convict. Maybe a bit more color and moving around a bit more. Nitrates down to .25 before I did the second water change. Maybe I expect results too fast. Is there any amount of time you guys would predict for me to see a definite improvement if this is in fact the problem? If not, when should I start looking for a different solution?
 
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