Bacteria What to Use?

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Superbee

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Jun 29, 2006
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I was Told once to use Pond Bacteria Because one bottle treats 1000 Gallons
Verse Cycle: 420 Gallons Saves about $10

From the Very Start Fish Cichlids were Rubbing them selfs non stop all fish look good they even spawned now i have 200 Fry moved to another tank

But they still Rub all the time now another tank doing to same thing now

all fish eat good

Water 80 Degrees
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
PH 8.3

I have 200 Goldfish in a 800 gallon tank in my Garage Sick right now alot Dyeing I'm treating it now with Pondcare Melafix, I used these goldfish before they were sick to cycle my other tanks before Cichlids were put in
I was told that when the temp drops below 60 the good Bacteria turns bad
I have no way to heat this tank there is no Heat in the Garage but the temp never gets below 40 I had the same problem last year but Only lost 2 fish

Any Help would be great, I'm going to treat all my tanks with Cichlids was told it wouldn't Hurt.
Thanks
 

Coler

AC Members
Jan 30, 2007
7,291
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I was Told once to use Pond Bacteria Because one bottle treats 1000 Gallons
Verse Cycle: 420 Gallons Saves about $10

From the Very Start Fish Cichlids were Rubbing them selfs non stop all fish look good they even spawned now i have 200 Fry moved to another tank

But they still Rub all the time now another tank doing to same thing now

all fish eat good

Water 80 Degrees
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
PH 8.3
Those products are hit and miss as to whether they do anything. 'Cyce' is generally perceived to be useless. The ony one which gets consistent good reports is called Biospira.

Rubbing against decor/substrate or 'flashing' is usually a sign of an irritant of some kind, either parasitical or in the water. Don't worry about one fish doing it every now and then, but the same fish/all fish doing it continuously would be a reason for concern. My question is, as asked by jpappy, did you do anything to cycle your tank ? A cycled tank has nitrates slowly increasing unless very very heavily planted & lightly stocked. My next question is what test kit you are using. Paper strips are highly inaccurate and cannot be trusted. You need a good liquid drop test kit.

The fact that its 'spread' to other tanks means you either have the same problem in those tanks as regards water conditions or it is a pathogen (possibly parasite possibly bacteria) which has spread. If you can tell us what test kit you are using we can possibly exclude water parameters as the cause.

I have 200 Goldfish in a 800 gallon tank in my Garage Sick right now alot Dyeing I'm treating it now with Pondcare Melafix, I used these goldfish before they were sick to cycle my other tanks before Cichlids were put in
I was told that when the temp drops below 60 the good Bacteria turns bad
I have no way to heat this tank there is no Heat in the Garage but the temp never gets below 40 I had the same problem last year but Only lost 2 fish
Well its probably the effect of using them to cycle, depending on how diligent you were at testing and changing water. A fish cycle requires water changes whenever ammonia or nitrite is at .25 ppm or above. Exposure to higher levels for any period of time will stress and injure the fish and reduce their ability to remain disease free.

You need the water around about 65 - 68 Fahrenheit I think, maybe some goldfish specialists will correct me here. Nitrosomonas bacteria (the kind you want) operate best above 60 degrees and up as far as 90 degrees (both fahrenheit). Below 40 degrees nitrification (break down of waste ammonia to nitrate via nitrite) will probably not occur. Below 60 Fahrenheit 5 times less nitrification will be performed by the same bacterial colonies.

Any Help would be great, I'm going to treat all my tanks with Cichlids was told it wouldn't Hurt.
Thanks
I don't know what 'Cichlids' is. For now, make sure your test kit is accurate and that it isn't simple water changes that are needed. You also need, far more than 'cycle' or such, a good water conditioner that removes chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals. These alone will kill your good bacteria and your fish. Seachem Prime is great - does all this and will neutralise ammonia and nitrite in an emergency where you can't do a water change. You also need to heat your goldfish tank properly or your fish will die.

what size are the goldfish as a matter of interest. And how many cichlids do you have in what size tank, if you don't mind me asking. Just curious.
 

Superbee

AC Members
Jun 29, 2006
11
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Well,
First i use Dropper test kits i have never used the Strips.
I use Prime When new Water Added.
jpappy789: I have never had a Problem with that many Fish in the Tank Once is was going good using a 3000 Gallons Bio Filter pumping about 2000 Gallon an hour.
Once i nothiced that i had a problem i starting checking everything everyday everything was 0 everytime Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate Zero
Of course i had problem just like everyone else with Ammonia and everything but like i said the tanks have all cycled now all Zero..

The Speading to Other tanks like i said i used The goldfish to cycle all my tanks once they were all running witout Massive Spikes i moved them back and added New fish a couple days later Cichlids.

I pickup some Metriaclima greshakei (Albinos) i watched them for about an hour where i picked them at they seems ok, but after about 3 hours at home they starting Rubbing against decor, I just have Concerns.

The goldfish i have are commons i was them for Fishing for Catfish on the river i get them from the bate shop they can take water temp from Freezing to over 90 degrees as long as the water don't freeze they live they are about 2" to 6" in Size, Got very expensive buying $30 worth of bate and chucking it everyweek so i got this tank setup from a friend has saved me a ton of Money in the long run.

I think that was everything Answered
 

Coler

AC Members
Jan 30, 2007
7,291
3
62
45
Well,
First i use Dropper test kits i have never used the Strips.
I use Prime When new Water Added.
jpappy789: I have never had a Problem with that many Fish in the Tank Once is was going good using a 3000 Gallons Bio Filter pumping about 2000 Gallon an hour.
Once i nothiced that i had a problem i starting checking everything everyday everything was 0 everytime Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate Zero
Of course i had problem just like everyone else with Ammonia and everything but like i said the tanks have all cycled now all Zero..

The Speading to Other tanks like i said i used The goldfish to cycle all my tanks once they were all running witout Massive Spikes i moved them back and added New fish a couple days later Cichlids.

I pickup some Metriaclima greshakei (Albinos) i watched them for about an hour where i picked them at they seems ok, but after about 3 hours at home they starting Rubbing against decor, I just have Concerns.

The goldfish i have are commons i was them for Fishing for Catfish on the river i get them from the bate shop they can take water temp from Freezing to over 90 degrees as long as the water don't freeze they live they are about 2" to 6" in Size, Got very expensive buying $30 worth of bate and chucking it everyweek so i got this tank setup from a friend has saved me a ton of Money in the long run.

I think that was everything Answered
you will not have 0 nitrate in a cycled tank unless it is heavily planted and lightly stocked. if you're using API test drop kits remember to shake bottle two for 30 secs before adding to test tube and shake the solution then for at least one minute. Then leave for five minutes and that's your reading.

if its just an occasional rub against the decor I wouldn't worry. if its continuous it may be a problem. have you observed anything in particular about the fish faeces ? long white/stringy or anything else ? can you see anything on the surface of the fish ?

are they otherwise behaving as if healthy - no gasping/heavy respiration/hanging out at the surface of the water a lot ?

are they eating ?

sorry for all the questions - just trying to sort out some advice for you :)

as I said above, your temp on the goldfish seems far too low for them to be healthy long term, and is too low for efficient processing of waste by way of the nitrogen cycle (the good bacteria).

edit : how long was the tank that the greshekai are in left without fish after you took out the goldfish ?
 

Superbee

AC Members
Jun 29, 2006
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Well Nitrate Stays Light Yellow and the Nitrite Stay light Blue i have did it enough times to know when it's going up did it like 3 days ago did 25% water change, I can see nothin on the fish at all no white spots, I have brown fish in there that would make it easy to notice
poop look normal, now another tank someone in there is Leaveing massive long poop i don't know which ones there are some pelco's some Blood Parrot Cichlids and some acei,
in a 55, All the fish eat like they have never eat before always at the top wanting food, no gasping/heavy respiration

I have moved the Goldfish to a 200 Gallon Tank i pickup off craislist last week i now have 5 heaters in it the temp is now up too 77 i have it set for somewhere around 80, but it's going to start getting cold after to day i can't say what it going to do then
Let me know
Thanks
 
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