Help

[Bexyjane]

Gave my fish tank a good clean sat, washed all the sand, rocks etc when i was doing it i notice some of the filters were looking a bit worse for wear so i changed them over making sure i washed them in old fish water first. anyway this moring when i woke up one of the fish was dead. for the rest fo the day the fish was been swimming right at the top of the tank which ive never noticed before. the ammonia is slightly high and the nitrate (i tihnk, could poss be nitrite?!) wat is goign on? please help

[Christine]

Check out the stickied thread on "the nitrogen cycle" Sounds like cleaning everything at once knocked your tank back so that it has to cycle again.

[Zoe]

Yep, like Christine said, you uncycled your tank. You shouldn't ever have to do a "thorough" cleaning that involves cleaning all sand and rocks and replacing most or all of the water, because that removes and kills most or all of your good bacteria. Without those bacteria, the ammonia and nitrites will build up until the bacterial colonies re-develop. It'll take a week or two; in the meantime, do a 25% water change every time your ammonia or nitrites are over .25.

Note that nitrAtes and nitrItes are different. NitrItes will come first in the cycle, and they are toxic. When enough bacteria develop, you won't see any nitrItes. You'll probably always have some nitrAtes, which is the last step in the cycling process. They aren't very toxic, anything between 10-30ppm is normal - and you remove the buildup with smallish weekly water changes (25-40%)

[Fishfirst]

I concure... hopefully there will be enough bacteria left in the tank to cycle it quickly... swimming at the surface is usually ammonia or nitrite poisoning.

[mousey]

even getting a new filter with knock out enough bacteria that you will mini cycle again.
just had that happen. My old filter expired. I transfered all the media to the new one but it is still going to mini cycle. . Don't clean the tank too thoroughly, and if you are changing filter media or rinsing it only clean the surface of the gravel.
Do you have the suction tube cleaner for doing gravel?

[Kyoberr]

Hmmmm, sad day. I agree with Christine, try what she advised, then see if it doesn't work.

[Sander]

You put your tank in a mini cycle, the rocks and gravel never need to be "washed" just a good through vacuuming with a syphon and use a sponge brush for you decorations and glass to get any excess algae off. And for your filter, when ever you want to change your filter, (not sure what type you have) if its a hang on the back filter, float the new pad in your tank for a couple weeks, to help the bacteria to start to grow. Your filter pads can last a while, all you really need to do is swish it (old/established filter) around in the bucket with the old water from you PWC you may brush the excess sludge off but never rinse it tap water, just a good swish in you water and you'll be good to go. The only time I change my filter pads is after a few PWC and swishes, the water continues to come out of the intake tube compartment. Just remember to do a PWC (partial water change) about 20-30% every 2 weeks with a good vacuuming of the gravel and you'll be as good as gold! Happy Fish Having!