My goldfish is pooping A LOT. No, like, really, A LOT.
- Thread starter StarSapphire22
- Start date
No I got a really good deal ordering it, so it's on its way here. 
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Yay! Everything finally got here today! The aquaclear is up and operational and I'm liking it so far...pretty quiet and I love the clear intake tube. It's only been running for about an hour and a half so I can't say much else yet. We will try the api pellets tomorrow.
I got my api test kit too...and I'm kinda confused. I did a test before my water change tonight out of curiosity and everything was looking good, except my ammonia was somewhere between 0 and 0.25...closer to zero we think. Then 0-40 for my other numbers. Not good, but I haven't been able to do a poop siphoning for 5 days, so I was kinda expecting it. The poop epidemic is not quite as...large...but definitely still happening. I did about a 30% water change, and tested again immediately after and it said my ammonia was 1.00! What the heck?! My other numbers were 0-20 and my ph was 7.5 both times. I added tetra aquasafe for the amount of water I added, and tetra easybalance. (I think that's what it's called?) I add that weekly. Why did my tests turn out like this?
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I got my api test kit too...and I'm kinda confused. I did a test before my water change tonight out of curiosity and everything was looking good, except my ammonia was somewhere between 0 and 0.25...closer to zero we think. Then 0-40 for my other numbers. Not good, but I haven't been able to do a poop siphoning for 5 days, so I was kinda expecting it. The poop epidemic is not quite as...large...but definitely still happening. I did about a 30% water change, and tested again immediately after and it said my ammonia was 1.00! What the heck?! My other numbers were 0-20 and my ph was 7.5 both times. I added tetra aquasafe for the amount of water I added, and tetra easybalance. (I think that's what it's called?) I add that weekly. Why did my tests turn out like this?
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Wow I can't fathom why that would happen. I haven't seen a chem spike once since my tank cycled. Do you think something happened with your other filter or something? I mean even when my tank was overstocked and people told me I was under filtered I haven't broke zero once since cycling (and I test regularly).
I'm not sure what those chemicals are but just remember that with most ammonia neutralizing chems the API test kit will still show a false positive even after you use it. It has to do with the way it neutralizes the ammonia and the API kit can still pick up on it even though it has been rendered harmless so if you test after dosing and it still shows the same level of ammonia don't let that worry you too much.
I really can't figure out why it would shoot that high even only being 5 days since vacuuming. It sounds like a bigger problem to me like an issue with filter media or something but I haven't been around long enough to know all the causes of something like that so don't let me worry you
I'm not sure what those chemicals are but just remember that with most ammonia neutralizing chems the API test kit will still show a false positive even after you use it. It has to do with the way it neutralizes the ammonia and the API kit can still pick up on it even though it has been rendered harmless so if you test after dosing and it still shows the same level of ammonia don't let that worry you too much.
I really can't figure out why it would shoot that high even only being 5 days since vacuuming. It sounds like a bigger problem to me like an issue with filter media or something but I haven't been around long enough to know all the causes of something like that so don't let me worry you
I actually agree completely. I just don't usually say that because I haven't tested enough products to be 100% when saying it but I learned the joys of prime pretty early on after joining this forum. It does the same thing that 4 other chems I had did all at once.
But I will stand by safe start forever. It saved the day for me and I will recommend oT over and over for anyone that is cycling or needs to boost BB for some reason (washed out their filter media the wrong way or something)
I haven't read the whole thread so I apologize if I'm making you repeat yourself, but do you have gravel, and did you vacuum it with the water change? That can churn up all the gunk in the gravel, giving you a high ammonia reading. It is possible the gravel is really full of poop.
I have sand, and I did a siphoning of it...lots of poop tidbits were stirred up, but I'd say I got at least 90-95% of that out (I'm sure I probably missed some somewhere). I just woke up so I'll do another test before work.
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Tested at 0.25. Everything was established when I got it and we kept it wet, but could I be doing a mini cycle for some reason, or is it just all the poop?
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Hey! Check your tap water for ammonia. If your water processing facility uses chloramine instead of straight chlorine (chloramine IS ammonia and chlorine)- it will have ammonia. Mine comes out at a whopping 1ppm where I live- and I have a slight reading for about 12 to 24 hours immediately after a water change. If that's the case, still do your water changes- just do no more than 25%, and make it a bi-weekly change instead of once a week. A Python style water changer will be a GREAT help for this- it hooks up to a faucet, when you turn the faucet on, it starts the siphoning (you can turn the water off after it is going, it will keep right on working), and then you just turn a valve & fill the tank directly from the water source (just dump enough water conditioner into the tank to treat the whole tank, not just the amount you're adding back in), instead of lugging buckets. I LOVE IT!!! I do other housework while it is going, and just check on it every 5 minutes. (Mine has a "fish saver guard" attached at the bottom to keep anyone from being injured, but, you can just throw pantyhose over the bottom end, too.) My guess is you have ammonia in your water source... which is pretty common, actually. Also, you could very well be doing a mini cycle- it does happen when you move tanks, even if you keep everything wet. They usually don't last long, though... my 50 gallon mini-cycled after moving it, and I had .25 on both ammonia and nitrites for a week- then they were gone. Still check the tap, though.
