View Full Version : over feeding
i thinnk i over fed my fish, i got a nitrie spike, and a nitrate spike. will a standard water change fix this problem?
jericsen
02-04-2004, 9:46 AM
A 25% water change with water safe chems will certainly help. Is water cloudy as well? This is usually another sign of overfeeding. Ammonia will rise also. good luck.
its a little cloudy but not very much. also, when i test for ammonia, it comes up as a milky white, which is good isnt it?
mogurnda
02-04-2004, 12:33 PM
I would be surprised if a little extra food caused the appearance of NH3 and NO2 in a cycled tank. What are the actual levels?
nitrite was 1.0, nitrate was 40. but, ive been trying to coach my clownfish into eating for the past few days now.
also, without any bottom feeders, i had alot of food build-up on the substrate, so i know i was over feeding, and that the food was decomposeing.
mogurnda
02-04-2004, 1:32 PM
Sounds like it's time to reduce feedings and add a cleaning crew!
i need something that is hardy though. im still a beginner, and since my cbs died, im worried about inverts
mogurnda
02-04-2004, 5:10 PM
Probably a good idea to try to siphon the uneaten food out, if you haven't already. If your nitrite and ammonia go to 0 and stay there, try a couple of hermit crabs to start with. Blue legs and scarlets are my favorites. They should be fine at 40 ppm nitrate.
i syphoned out most of the food i could find at the bottom. which lead to me changeing about 15 gallons. which should be good enough, cause a 75 gallon tank, with sand, rock, etc, really isnt 75 gallons at all hehe. any tips on feeding? i bought frozen brine shrimp to coach my clown into eating. hopefully i can better judge how much they can eat hehe
why are my nitrites spikeing? after doing the major water change yesterday, i tested the water for nitrites, and its high again, real high, 2.0
Sregnar35
02-05-2004, 10:18 AM
Is your test kit old?
mogurnda
02-05-2004, 10:28 AM
Caz,
I can't remember the history of your tank. How long has it been set up? Is it possible that it hadn't finished cycling by the time you added fish? In my experience, the ammonia spike is over relatively quickly (a week or two), but nitrite drags on for about 6 weeks. It sounds like you're in the middle of it right now.
it has been set up since a couple days before christmas. i was unable to cycle with live rock, just two damsels, 75 gallon, 50# base rock, and sand/crushed coral bottom(not much crushed coral though). so i guess i should be doing a big water change every week or so then huh? the test kit is new, and ammonia come up milky white which is good right? could this arise from my over feeding?
thanx guys
Sregnar35
02-05-2004, 10:56 AM
can't say about the test kit results, my test is good if the water is clear
mogurnda
02-05-2004, 11:20 AM
Because test kits differ, I am not sure about the NH3 results. What I find worrisome is the presence of nitrite at all. If the tank had completed its cycle, and the rock was therefore properly seeded, overfeeding should not have caused such a big increase in NO2. 2 ppm is a lot.
Have you got any kind of filter in the tank? Have you recently changed the filter medium? That might reduce the bacterial population enough to cause an increase in NO2.
Meantime, if the NO2 stays that high, I'd do water changes every few days until it goes down. Fish really don't like nitrite.
i have an aquaclear 500 that i use for filtration, since the absence of live rock. i also use a maxijet 1200 i think (295gph) i leave the charcoal in the filter. is this good or bad? i recently rinsed it though could that be the problem?
mogurnda
02-05-2004, 11:57 AM
Rinsed with what? If you rinsed with freshwater, that could certainly have wiped out a lot of bacteria.
no, with saltwater i took out of the tank. when i was doing the water change. maybe its time for some new charcoal?
or should i take it out entirely?
mogurnda
02-05-2004, 3:27 PM
If anything, the pad that's in there is serving as a surface for bacteria, and I'd leave it. The charcoal shouldn't make any difference at all.
The basic problem is that you don't have enough nitrifying bacteria to deal with the new fish and excess food. If you saw the tank cycle, with ammonia and nitrite going up and then down, after you first set it up, then I'm a bit mystified.
as am i, i have cycled many freshwater tanks, and you get the ammonia spikes, the nitrite spikes, then after a while your readings are at 0, but another nitrite spike? after it was at 0 for so long, i dont know what to think i wonder if i sucked up too much bacteria when i syphoned the bottom?
mogurnda
02-05-2004, 3:33 PM
Bacteria are pretty much stuck to the sand, they won't vacuum up that easily.
Ultimately, for decent biological filtration, you will probably want to add some good-quality, cured live rock.
ive been trying to get some since day one, but i dont want to trust myself to "cure" it. so ive been waiting for a lfs to get some in to cure in their tanks first.
coudl this be the reason my clowns dont have a strong appetite?
Caz,
A lot of times in stressfull situations your fish will come off their feed. I'd really worry more about getting my water quality adjusted than getting the clowns to eat hearty. Fish don't need as much food as a lot of people think. Live rock would certainly help your situation even if you only add a little bit at a time,"if cured". If you have a quarintine tank I'd encourage you to remove your fish till things in your big tank settle. Aclamate to quarintine tank. I don't know what you were meaning exactly by over feed. However if it's been a long term/large amount(s) issue you might have to "recycle your tank if very extreme," Try to vaccume out as much of the food particles as you can . Also keep in mind if your sand is sugar "very fine" there may well be a large amount of food material in it. I'd also reccomend increasing your clean up crew.l " I tend to assume the worst sorry".
Hope this might help . Also any porus calcium based salt tank safe "rock" will in time become live rock and you don't have to worry about a die off. Just an algae bloom. Hope this helps
Chris
one more thing I'm not say that you shouldn't add cured live rock. It will add algae. critters etc to your tank. Only that you can add those substitutes and they will be jsut the same if you're patient.:D
update: the one clown that wasnt eating died late last night :( nitrates are in the yellow, around 10 or so, ph is prefect 8.2, ammonia is 0, and nitrites have fallen to .50, so i guess its getting better huh?
thanx
caz
mogurnda
02-09-2004, 9:17 AM
Sounds much better. Without live rock, expect the nitrate to go up, but that isn't a huge worry at this point.
what should be my next step? getting a few hermit crabs?
anyone have any suggestions?. should i get an invert? if so, what kind? i want something thats not going to keel over and die if my nitrates get above 20 hehe
mogurnda
02-10-2004, 11:33 AM
Having done the experiment repeatedly, I am certain that hermits won't keel over in 20 ppm nitrate, or even somewhat higher. Nor will astrea snails. They will certainly keep things a little tidier, but things won't really stabilize until you get some live rock in there.
nitrites boomed back up to 2.0, oh well.... my lfs says he will be getting in some LR soon.
my girlfriend bought me 10 pounds of live sand. should i add this two the tank, or bring it back? i know its not a ton of sand, but it was 24 bucks. think it is worth it?
Anhything will help caz the bacteria the better also it will seed your sand with all sorts of good stuff. It should really help your tank out.
thanx maxilaria. i added the sand. ill post again in a few days after i test nitrites