Bad water test results . . .

[tayhudson]

Yes I added the sev recently. Sorry for the separate response.

 

[Corax]

Like I said, it's not easy when every person you ask advice from has their own way of doing things. And I am taking the advice as best I can without killing my fish and letting my tank go bad. So I'm doing what I'm told by 20 different people.

What have you actually done to the tank to correct this? I hope you've done nothing. I think you had the tank going, then added a bit too much to it, and now the tank is overloaded temporarily. Given time, it will adjust without you doing much beyond water changes to keep the fish from getting fried. I'll go re-read the thread and see if I still agree with myself..

 

[dundadundun]

I know the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate should always be 0.

... how? ammo turns to trites... trites turn to trates... w/c's or plants are the only ways to get rid of them after that. since the fish still keep eating and expelling waste that number will never go down on it's own.

nitrAte can be anywhere between 5-10 and 40

you need to do some large water changes. was your tank cycled?

:iagree:

I know what they should be. I do water changes frequently. And yes it was.

:wall:... your levels suggest your w/c's are insufficient for your stock until your biological filtration catches up on the job.

no need for salt. just need to make sure to do water changes until your bacteria can handle the fishload.

:iagree:

No you don't.. You said you knew that nitrate should be zero. Listen to good advice when it's offered.

:iagree:

riverfishgirl offers some good info in this thread also.

sorry if i'm coming off as a "debbie downer". no need to :swear: at me or flame me. i'm just trying to point out some good advice. hopefully it'll help you out.

 

[Corax]

ok, re-read most of it..

1 - Forget the salt suggestion..

2 - The 0.25 could be rising or declining.. Have you tested again to find out which? If it's holding, then I'd be it's going down cuz ammonia spikes happen fast. If your ammonia is holding and the nitrite is rising, then you aren't out of the woods yet. If the ammonia and nitrite are holding but the nitrate is increasing, you're getting better.. Until the nitrate starts going up, which indicates that you have bacteria that is comsuming the ammonia and the nitrate, you need to do water changes to control the numbers. Patience, it's going to be ok. Over-reacting will do more harm than anything.

 

[tayhudson]

What have you actually done to the tank to correct this? I hope you've done nothing. I think you had the tank going, then added a bit too much to it, and now the tank is overloaded temporarily. Given time, it will adjust without you doing much beyond water changes to keep the fish from getting fried. I'll go re-read the thread and see if I still agree with myself..

I haven't done anything at all yet. Since I just tested yesterday. And the only reason u added any salt to begin with was for the sev who's scales got picked off. I was told on here to use salt for that so it wouldn't get infected. So what do you suggest? Just wait it out?

 

[tayhudson]

I meant "I" not "u" stupid cell phone.

 

[tayhudson]

... how? ammo turns to trites... trites turn to trates... w/c's or plants are the only ways to get rid of them after that. since the fish still keep eating and expelling waste that number will never go down on it's own.

:iagree:

:wall:... your levels suggest your w/c's are insufficient for your stock until your biological filtration catches up on the job.


:iagree:

:iagree:

riverfishgirl offers some good info in this thread also.

sorry if i'm coming off as a "debbie downer". no need to :swear: at me or flame me. i'm just trying to point out some good advice. hopefully it'll help you out.

I'm not saying that any of the advice isn't good. I seriously appreciate all the help you guys have been offering me. Thank you all. I didnt mean to snap, its just a little frustrating when I'm getting so many responses. I'm sorry for that.

 

[tayhudson]

One more question. Does my tank seem overstocked? I will need to upgrade eventually, but for now does it sound like too much??

 

[Carch]

I personally think you're cutting it close with your filter size, though I'm sure other people would say it's fine.

I prefer to massively overfilter my tanks; I have a 40g breeder as well, with 1 kissing gourami and 1 senegal bichir, and my canister filter pumps out 350 gph (good for tanks up to 175g). These fish are small, 5-6". I do weekly 50% changes and my nitAtes hover at a steady 5.0ppm

Your HOB filter, especially being a Marineland Penguin, doesn't really have sufficient area for a bacterial colony that can handle your bioload. Your sev is going to hit 8" at some point, and depending on your pleco's species, it can grow as long as two feet. Plecostomus are notoriously messy fish, they produce a *ton* of waste.

I'd suggest looking into a good canister filter, and loading the baskets with bio media.

 

[Corax]

What happened to the Sev's scales? No, I still wouldn't add salt to the tank.

Can you list everything in the tank? Start with the glass box, end with the fish..