Darrin
01-29-2007, 9:10 PM
I was given a 55 gallon aquarium Saturday. I moved the aquarium across town, about 20 minutes, saved eight gallons of the old water and filled the tank back up with treated tap water. I used the the old gravel, so I think I have good bacteria already in place. The tank, however was very dirty. I have done 20 percent water changes Sunday and today, including siphoning the gravel which turned the water in the waste bucket a very dark muddy brown. My water chemistry is ok, except the nitrates are still high. From what I can tell -- I find it hard to be accurate with test strips -- that the nitrate level is probably around 80 ppm, maybe a little less. This is dangerously high, correct? The PH is 8.2, the hardness around 250 and nitrate is at 0.
The tank came with a pleco and a sherpae barb. Both seem to be fine, despite the high nitrate levels. Inpatiently, I did get a small 2.5 inch Oscar yesterday. He seems to be doing very well too. He's eating and very active. He is, however, swimming sideways on occasion. His color is good.
I'll keep up my daily water changes until I can get the nitrates down to 20 ppm. The water looks good as it is very clear.
My question is how long do I have to get the nitrate level down before the health of the Oscar starts to detoriate? Is it probable that the bacteria level is good since the aquarium was moved and not a completely new set-up?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
The tank came with a pleco and a sherpae barb. Both seem to be fine, despite the high nitrate levels. Inpatiently, I did get a small 2.5 inch Oscar yesterday. He seems to be doing very well too. He's eating and very active. He is, however, swimming sideways on occasion. His color is good.
I'll keep up my daily water changes until I can get the nitrates down to 20 ppm. The water looks good as it is very clear.
My question is how long do I have to get the nitrate level down before the health of the Oscar starts to detoriate? Is it probable that the bacteria level is good since the aquarium was moved and not a completely new set-up?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.