55 gal problems

[itzazoo]

Ok I have a 55gal that has been up and running a month now. I'm having some water issues and would like your input. I just tested the water and the following reads:

nitrate 40
nitrite 1.0
hardness 300
chlorine 0.5
alkalinity 300
ph 7.8
ammonia 0.5

I have the following filtration: 2215 Eheim, whisper 60, bubble bar. Fish are 1 4inch oscar two small silver dollors, small pleco, and a firemouth. Water is still cloudy with both filtration systems. Maybe I'm just freaking over nothing. I'm sure the tank is still cycling. Your input is appreciated. Oh I just did a 25% water change two days ago.

 

[Nak]

You'd probably want to upgrade that eheim eventually with the bioload in your tank, oscars and plecos are some of the messiest fish you can get. They are pretty much living, breathing poop machines.

I have an Eheim 2215 running on my 55 at the moment, its a great little filter, efficient and quiet, but its fatal flaw is that its flow rate is simply... crap. After a while i constantly had poop lyinig around on the gravel on the right hand side of the tank (intake was on the left), the output couldnt create enough current to push anything down to the intake.

Eventually i added another 220gph Aquaone aquis 1250 filter to the tank to work in unison with my 2215, now theres not a single piece of poop visable anywhere.

Edit: oh, didnt see that you also had a whisper 60 in the tank

If you did a fish-in cycle, it could well be that the tank is just still cycling. The cloudy water is probably due to bacterial bloom which is common in new tanks, it doesnt really affect the fish it just makes your tank look dirty but it clears itself up eventually.

 

[andyjs]

Definitely still cycling-the cloudiness is probably bacteria from the cycle. Once the cycle is done, it should go away. I would do some water changes to keep the ammonia as low as possible. 0.5 isn't that bad, but any measurable amount of ammonia is harmful.

You will definitely need a bigger tank for those fish. I'd say an oscar needs a minimum of a 75 gallon by himself. With those tankmates, I think a 90 would still be too small.

 

[couger247]

I had the same problem
just change 50% ever week; not cleaning the gravel with a gravel vac, but when you get fish take out about two to three inches off the top of the water line, if you don't fish will die like crazy. I have not had any ore fish die since i started this method and it works great.

 

[Coler]

No question its not cycled yet. Keep testing and do a water change whenever you have ammonia or nitrite at .25ppm. Change whatever is necessary to get them down to 0 and repeat - test twice daily until you get those to a constant 0. Nitrite is a very quick killer.

Your other major problem here is the chlorine, presuming that test is accurate. This kills the beneficial bacteria which process the ammonia & nitrite through to nitrate. You need to be using a water conditioner which detoxifies chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals. Seachem Prime is great for all that.