Bad water test results . . .
- Thread starter tayhudson
- Start date
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..
... 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.
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.
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.
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?
: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.
One more question. Does my tank seem overstocked? I will need to upgrade eventually, but for now does it sound like too much??
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.
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.
