agoh Posted March 14, 2005 Report Share Posted March 14, 2005 G'day guys I have a problem My fish have started to breath quite fast this morning ( gills pumping fast) , all of them, and so I have taken the following tests. Ph: around 6.6 - 6.8 (light green) Ammonia: 0.3 PPM (very slight yellow coloration in test kit) Nitrite: 0.25 PPM (very slight red coloratuib in test kit) Temp: 27°C Central Question: Can low ammonia AND nitrite levels combine to be harmful? Fish behaviour looks alright...(i.e. congos still chasing eachother and showing off) Other factors to note: Bogwood added in the weekend, most of its tannins have been released first but I maintained leaching after adding as part of my 'black water' biotope setup. The water is slightly stained, and a 20% water change was made on sunday. As I understand, tannins aren't harmful anyway, and ideally I should be keeping both ammonia and nitrate right down to zero, but I thought there could be something I'm chemically ignorant of or missing, so please shoot away and tell me off. In any case, afterwork I will be doing water changes again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted March 14, 2005 Report Share Posted March 14, 2005 Can low ammonia AND nitrite levels combine to be harmful? individually they can be harmful. do another 20% water change daily til it drops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agoh Posted March 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2005 thanks, I'm just hoping this is just a slight bump in the current cycle, perhaps the bogwood has slightly destabilised the cycle as a 'foreign organic entity'?... although I'm positive no little creatures inside the bored holes on the wood are decomposing inside or causing any waste byproduct....anyway once stabilised (nitrite and ammonia test results reach zeroish or look clear) lets hope the gills slow down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted March 14, 2005 Report Share Posted March 14, 2005 Ammonia: 0.3 PPM (very slight yellow coloration in test kit) u want this at zero. I'd change more of the water 1/3 at least, don't feed the fish for 2 to 3 days retest, if levels are still the same, feed the fish change 1/3 of water, don't feed fish for 2 more days. Is the tank a new setup? How much do u feed your fish? Are the fish breathing heavy at the top or the bottom of the tank? Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agoh Posted March 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2005 yeah the tank setup is quite new...I housed a 2 glowlights 2 sterbai cats and a bolivian ram in a 40 gall then transferred them to a 55 gall....transferred about half the water from the 40....but the big booboo is I used new fine gravel and introduced 2 chocolate cats..a butterfly and a couple of congos... Iso suppose the cycle was at its embryonic stage.....and the new african party and freshwater bog wood (which I bucketed for about a week) must've initiated the ammonia spike.... even more when I got home today the congos were unusually on the upper quartile of the tank! teach me for being impatient...I've done the changes and will keep doing re-tests without feeding etc etc as you said...tankyou guys...many tanks for your help. :lol: 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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