BikBok Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 if your fish are salt tolerant, this can also help minimise the affects of the nitrite until it's under control. (not so good for plants and snails though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Sounds like a great way to kill them all when the tank is so sick! I would know do that if I knew the aquarium water was awesomely fabulously healthy. (Mine regularly get 40% changes, or more depending) Why is the pH the crucial factor? It that about the ammonia thing like Sharn said? If so I guess that would make bit of a difference.... but hard to predict the outcome. The reason for doing a complete wc is because the tank is so sick. It will get rid of what ever is lingering in the tank. If the tank is healthy , you can do regular small wc to mantain the tank water quality. The gravel needs a good vacume too and if the under gravel is not working, best to remove it. ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted August 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 undergravel filter removed. my fears proved to be correct, there was black yukky waste beneath the undergravel filter. we have done a 30-40% water change today, and will do a 10-20% tomorrow as well. and so on until the levels are healthy again. i don't agree with 100% changes. how long do you think it will take to get the water healthy again? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 It could be a good thing that your nitrite levels are higher, if your ammonia levels are lower. It could mean that your tank has advanced further through the cycle. The next step will be increased nitrate and further reduction to ammonia and nitrite. It is very hard to predict how long it will take for the tank to complete the cycling process as it depends on a lot of variables. All you can do is minimise the stress on the fish while the cycle is continuing at its own rate. It sounds to me like you have done the right thing by removing the under gravel filter (if it's not working). An eheim canister is a good filter and most of your beneficial bacteria are in there. Am I right in thinking that Stress Zyme is a product containing beneficial bacteria, designed to help the cycle process? If so I would follow the instructions on the bottle and use it to help the cycle. Some people say that kind of product really works. Other say it's not much use. But if you have it, then I say definitely use it! Good luck with your fish and good on you for finding out what the problem is and addressing it. I'm sure it will get better from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted August 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 thanks very much whetu. i really hope we have found the problem. the undergravel filter has not worked for ages and we have been using the eheim filter all this time too. i think when we moved we put some of the tank water in large plastic containers, the fish in bags in polyboxes (we only brought with us a few bristlenoses, some guppies and 4 siamese fighters), then the tank was drained of nearly all the water and it was put in the back of the car. perhaps the long journey from north to south islands managed to get lots of gunk stuck beneath the undergravel filter? maybe it has been there for longer, but either way it is gone now and we have got rid of the worst of what was there. over the next week things will get better i hope, and i hope my fish will be able to cope with this situation. we have a 2nd tank set up now that has better levels (not perfect but better), but it is brand new so i fear will suffer from elevated ammonia and nitrite levels. we have a few guppies cycling it at the moment but won't introduce anything else for a while. i think for now our main tank is getting a lot more healthier, and now with small water changes daily it'll be better in no time. and yes stress zyme contains the beneficial bacteria and claims to get rid of ammonia and nitrites. we have some so worth a shot eh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 we got a testing kit today as we really want to sort out the tank. we recently moved from north to south islands and brought only a few fish with us, and have only bought a few since being here. perhaps this is part of the problem. the gravel was not washed when we set the new tank up as we wanted to keep the bacteria from it, and we brought as much of the water from the tank as we could, but it would only have been about 1/5 - 1/4 at the very most of total water. all tap water (which is rain water) we treat with a water ager. we have been adding a bit of stress zyme too. so we have done the tests today and this is our results: pH: 7.4 (i tested the tap water too which seemed to be 7.4 also) Ammonia: the test gave 1.0 which according to their table means there is 0.015ppm in our tank water. I hope i did it right. Nitrite: 0.2. This is worse than yesterday (before our water change yesterday) where it was less. We will do a 20% water change daily until things improve. We have a good eheim filter, as well as an old undergravel filter that doesn't work. we are going to remove the undergravel filter as there is some waste that is most likely stuck beneath it, good call? your advice is appreciated. thanks. Do you mean NitrAte? Unfortunately, the good bacteria left in your canister and gravel would probably have died within a couple of hours of starting your long journey from the North to the South Island. Also I believe there is very little bacteria contained in the tank water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted August 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 the test says nitrite... we tested again yesterday evening and ammonia was down to 0.25, nitrite/nitrate was the same. none of our fish are looking ill so things are getting better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 The tank is still cycling and will take some time to settle down. The bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate have not multiplied to the point where they are doing the job properly. Patience grasshopper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 I wouldn't be adding anymore Fish untill your Test Readings are where they should be. Get into a Good Routine of doing Regular Water Changes, Test the Water after each Water Change, and you will find things will stabalise in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted August 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 we won't be getting any more fish until its sorted. regular water changes yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 ... Unfortunately, the good bacteria left in your canister and gravel would probably have died within a couple of hours of starting your long journey from the North to the South Island. Also I believe there is very little bacteria contained in the tank water. While I agree that probably most of the good bacteria died during the transfer, I'm not so sure that they die off as quickly as rumoured. After a recent water change, I accidentally left one of my filters turned off :oops: (I have two eheim cannisters on my tank). I discovered my mistake about 48 hours later, so turned it back on and monitored the water conditions in the tank. If the filter had gone anaerobic and all the good bacteria had died, I would have expected at least a small ammonia spike, but didn't get one. I think in tukituki's case it was probably a combination of some of the bacteria in the filter dying off and the gunk stirred up from underneath the UGF that created a nasty soup! The addition of the new fish at that stage would have added to the load. That's my theory anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted August 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 the stuff under the UGF was quite nasty, probably the prime suspect for my sick tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuffaDragonNZ Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 have you done a water test yet if so what were the results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted August 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 will be doing a water change later on this afternoon and will post the results up then. last water change was on saturday but we took more than intended to (about 30-40%) as we found all the waste beneath the UGF, so thought it best to wait until today for next one so as not to stress the fish out too much. cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted August 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 hi i have done a water change of 30% and tested again, ammonia is zero! which is great, and nitrite is down to 0.05ppm, so we are well and truly on the road to a healthy tank i hope. when should the next water change be to get rid of the remaining nitrite? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkfur Posted August 24, 2009 Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 sounds like your rainwater might not be so good either, maybe the roof needs a wee clean? any bird poopies will muck up the ammonia and nitrates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted August 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 it tastes fine and doesn't make us sick, sorry i don't see the need to scrub the roof! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted August 24, 2009 Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 hi i have done a water change of 30% and tested again, ammonia is zero! which is great, and nitrite is down to 0.05ppm, so we are well and truly on the road to a healthy tank i hope. when should the next water change be to get rid of the remaining nitrite? thanks. Did you test right after you did the water change? Of course there would be little or no ammonia present, because you just changed the water. Just keep doing regular water changes and test the water daily. The cycling process can take weeks. You need to be getting negative tests for ammonia for more than one day. The tank is still cycling and will take some time to settle down. The bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate have not multiplied to the point where they are doing the job properly. Patience grasshopper. What he said. it tastes fine and doesn't make us sick, sorry i don't see the need to scrub the roof! Also, just because it tastes fine to us and doesn't make us sick doesn't mean that it won't make your fish sick.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tukituki Posted August 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 i can certainly do daily tests. i've been working hard to make sure no more fish get sick, and none have, my tests results have improved greatly, we're doing ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted August 24, 2009 Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 Your doing great Just keep up with the Water Changes everyday, sometimes Twice a day if your Ammonia starts to rise. Nitrites should also be sitting at 0, so untill this happens your Tank will still be glong through the Cycling Process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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