Water Levels in my tank as of NOW

Knight~Ryder · 12-24-2007, 09:25 PM

Okay I just tested my water

Ammonia is 1.2
Nitrate is 0.3

Does this mean I need to change my water?
Why is it spiking now after 1 month?

What should I do as of now?
Also if I do a water change, should I add more prime..it's in a grain form, not liquid...also is there anything else I should add? Is 5 gallons good to take out?

JustOneMore20 · 12-24-2007, 09:42 PM

Yep, you need to do a water change. You want the ammonia level to be 0. It could be elevated because of the fish being dead. 5 gallons will be good to take out.

Did you check nitrItes? Ammonia is converted to nitrites before nitrates, so they may be elevated as well. If it is, the water change will help lower it as well.

I have not seen a grain form of Seachem Prime. Its a dechlorinater, right? Can you find a link to it on the web? It could be something new......

You might want to check the water parameters every other day or so for the next week, just to make sure the ammonia goes down and you don't have any nitrItes. Do water changes as needed.

Knight~Ryder · 12-24-2007, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustOneMore20

Yep, you need to do a water change. You want the ammonia level to be 0. It could be elevated because of the fish being dead. 5 gallons will be good to take out.

Did you check nitrItes? Ammonia is converted to nitrites before nitrates, so they may be elevated as well. If it is, the water change will help lower it as well.

Yes, it was 0.3

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustOneMore20

I have not seen a grain form of Seachem Prime. Its a dechlorinater, right? Can you find a link to it on the web? It could be something new......

Sorry, it's called JUNGLE START RIGHT http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=NJ059

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustOneMore20

You might want to check the water parameters every other day or so for the next week, just to make sure the ammonia goes down and you don't have any nitrItes. Do water changes as needed.

I did a 10 gallon water change. I used the siphon and grabbed a 5 gallon pail, dumped that out, refilled the 5 gallon, added the crystal form dechlorinator and repeated. The tank is full again, filter running.

Water is now 24 degrees, but should warm up again soon I hope.

JustOneMore20 · 12-25-2007, 12:31 AM

Ok, so the 0.3 was nitrItes....you said nitrAtes in your post, but the -ites sounds more like a 0.3.

It gets confusing with all the words that are alike.

Excellent, thats a good dechlorinator (removes chlorine and chloramines). And a 10g water change is good.

I'd check the levels tomorrow to see if the ammonia has gone down and stayed down. If it hasn't then you might want to check everyday and do a small water change every day. Otherwise, checking every other day for the next week would be good....just to make sure this is from the dead fish and not from the tank cycling.

Knight~Ryder · 12-25-2007, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustOneMore20

Ok, so the 0.3 was nitrItes....you said nitrAtes in your post, but the -ites sounds more like a 0.3.

It gets confusing with all the words that are alike.

Excellent, thats a good dechlorinator (removes chlorine and chloramines). And a 10g water change is good.

I'd check the levels tomorrow to see if the ammonia has gone down and stayed down. If it hasn't then you might want to check everyday and do a small water change every day. Otherwise, checking every other day for the next week would be good....just to make sure this is from the dead fish and not from the tank cycling.

I took the castle out for now, just left a log, rocks and all the fake plants in.

Can I get an easier tester kit? The one I have is all manual and takes a while to do.

I don't even know how to check the ates yet? I also havent checked the PH yet, is this super important too? Seems like my tank is going to take forever to cycle???

emc7 · 12-25-2007, 01:44 PM

Don't worry about pH, the fish adapt if you keep it stable. It is way more important to keep the ammonia and nitrite down. Nitrate is the least toxic of the the 3 (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate). When cycling, its good to test so you see where the nitrite goes, but again it is way more important to keep the ammonia and nitrite down. Keep these 2 at a safe level with water changes and hopefully you won't have any more fatalities.

Knight~Ryder · 12-25-2007, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emc7

Don't worry about pH, the fish adapt if you keep it stable. It is way more important to keep the ammonia and nitrite down. Nitrate is the least toxic of the the 3 (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate). When cycling, its good to test so you see where the nitrite goes, but again it is way more important to keep the ammonia and nitrite down. Keep these 2 at a safe level with water changes and hopefully you won't have any more fatalities.

Okay, new test levels are

Ammonia just over 0.6
Nitrite 0.1

PH (which I never did before) between 8.2 and 8.4

Is this alright?
I think it's better then yesterday.

Should I do anything to the tank now or just leave it?

emc7 · 12-25-2007, 11:53 PM

don't feed overnight and test again tomorrow.

12-24-2007, 09:25 PM	#1
Knight~Ryder Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Age: 26 Posts: 221	Water Levels in my tank as of NOW Okay I just tested my water Ammonia is 1.2 Nitrate is 0.3 Does this mean I need to change my water? Why is it spiking now after 1 month? What should I do as of now? Also if I do a water change, should I add more prime..it's in a grain form, not liquid...also is there anything else I should add? Is 5 gallons good to take out? __________________ -Activated my first freshwater tank Nov 25/07 -Emperor 280 biowheel filter -Visi-Therm 100 Watt Heater -Whisper 60 Air Pump (Tetra) 38G/144.4L {Size 36 x 13 x 20} 7 Cherry Barbs (5 Female, 2 Male) 6 Cardinal Tetra 4 Rummy Nose Tetra 3 Black Skirt Tetra 1 Otocinclus Affinis suckermouth Last edited by Knight~Ryder; 12-24-2007 at 09:30 PM.

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12-24-2007, 09:42 PM	#2
JustOneMore20 Banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL Age: 22 Posts: 3,654	Yep, you need to do a water change. You want the ammonia level to be 0. It could be elevated because of the fish being dead. 5 gallons will be good to take out. Did you check nitrItes? Ammonia is converted to nitrites before nitrates, so they may be elevated as well. If it is, the water change will help lower it as well. I have not seen a grain form of Seachem Prime. Its a dechlorinater, right? Can you find a link to it on the web? It could be something new...... You might want to check the water parameters every other day or so for the next week, just to make sure the ammonia goes down and you don't have any nitrItes. Do water changes as needed.

12-25-2007, 12:31 AM	#4
JustOneMore20 Banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL Age: 22 Posts: 3,654	Ok, so the 0.3 was nitrItes....you said nitrAtes in your post, but the -ites sounds more like a 0.3. It gets confusing with all the words that are alike. Excellent, thats a good dechlorinator (removes chlorine and chloramines). And a 10g water change is good. I'd check the levels tomorrow to see if the ammonia has gone down and stayed down. If it hasn't then you might want to check everyday and do a small water change every day. Otherwise, checking every other day for the next week would be good....just to make sure this is from the dead fish and not from the tank cycling.

12-25-2007, 01:44 PM	#6
emc7 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Johns Creek, GA Posts: 3,624	Don't worry about pH, the fish adapt if you keep it stable. It is way more important to keep the ammonia and nitrite down. Nitrate is the least toxic of the the 3 (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate). When cycling, its good to test so you see where the nitrite goes, but again it is way more important to keep the ammonia and nitrite down. Keep these 2 at a safe level with water changes and hopefully you won't have any more fatalities.

12-25-2007, 11:53 PM	#8
emc7 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Johns Creek, GA Posts: 3,624	don't feed overnight and test again tomorrow.

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