Need Some Advice

M

mrgolf

AC Members
Jan 27, 2008
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Hey everyone,

Having a little trouble with my tank. I will provide as many details as possible. I think I know what mistakes I have made in the past so Im looking for what I should do now.

I set up my 30 gallon tank a couple of days after Christmas. I let it run for a few days then added 2 black skirt tetras and 2 platys. It was about 9 days later and I added 4 more fish then 4 more a week later and then 4 each week for a few week. I know that was not the thing to do (now) but it is what it is. My readings throughout that time were generally .25 or so for ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5.0 nitrates. I was doing daily water changes of 25 percent or so to keep the ammonia as low as possible. 3 weeks ago I still had no nitrites so I was getting a little concerned since it had been 4 weeks or so since the tank was running. While at the LFS i explained my concerns to the worker and she said (obviously) that I had overstocked the tank and that the nitrites may take a while to show up and recommended I use API stress zyme to speed up the process. So the first 7 and 14th days (yesterday) I added the recommended amounts. The first 2 times i added it it seemed no big deal and the nitrites were running aound .25 max and was still having ammonia so i was still doing daily or every other day changes of 25 percent or so. Yesterday I added the dosage and it seemed like all he** broke loose.

The water became very cloudy and didnt get better all day. All my fish were lifeless and seemed to lose most if not all of their color. I found 4 of my swordtails under my log decoration (I guess there was a gap). I checked my parameters and all were fine but decided to do a 50 percent water change late last night.

Today the water is still cloudy and lost a 10 day old swordtail fry and my fish still look lifeless. Hardly any activity at all. Some of the tetras seem ok but my swordtails are definately not acting right....haanging out at the top near the heater. All fish in general are not anywhere near as active as they have been.

So my question is....What should I do now? I know thew mistakes of the past so lets concentrate on now please.

Here are my current parameters.....

30 gal long
1 panda cory
6 swordtails (2 male 4 female)
3 cherry barbs
3 silver tip tetras
2 red eye tetras
2 black skirt tetras
1 platty

current temp 80
ammonia .25 or less
nitrites 0 or verry little
nitrates 5.0
api liquid test kit
havent worried about ph early readings were 7.2 i think
havent touched the filters....both are flowing well

Any help would be appreciated. Gotta get back to work so I will respond to qquestions later this evening. Been reading alot here and all of you have been a great help.

Looking forward to doing my next tank right!! (55 gal)

Scott
 
First thing I could say is the only proven method of speeding up the cycle is to use a product called Bio-Spira. Even then it can be hit or miss since the stuff has to remain refrigerated though shipping in order to be effective.

As for where you are in cycle, what I have seen in the past is that most of the time it starts with cloudy water, clears over time, then shortly after you get a surge of nitrites. (a big enough spike that there is no doubt about if you are spiking) After a couple weeks that goes down and NitrAtes start rising.

That is just my experience however and yours might be different.

My best guess would be that the partial changes are reducing the ammonia enough that you are going to cycle slowly. (Much easier on the fish btw so I wouldn't change it)
More experienced voices than mine might have more insight.

As for getting slammed for fishy cycling, not from me you won't. I did much worse than you did when I started. Glad you found this site.
 
What is done is done and we have all made mistakes. Don't worry about it. What I want to say is stop using stress zyme. It will do nothing for you tank and could make matters worse. The only chemical you need to add is a declor to the water when you are doing water changes and topping the tank off with water. As far as the cloudy water goes it sounds like a bacterial bloom which is very common in cycling tanks. Once the bacteria that is forming in your tank figures out where it will best serve your tank, the cloudy water will disappear and you will wake up to crystal clear water once again. Just keep doing the water changes and testing your water to stay on top of the water quality and you will ride out this storm.

Marinemom
 
Thanks for the insight. I've been reading alot and have sort of been expecting the bacteria bloom both of you mentioned. I guess the biggest thing that has caught me by surprise is the reaction of the fish. Man, they look like they are on their last leg (or fin I guess) especially the swordtails.

I did my post at lunch today and in kind of a hurry. The only thing of significance that i left out is that the second filter i added after about 3 weeks. I wanted a bigger filter than came with the set up and the original plan was to run both for a while then get rid of the original. Then I read where too much filter is not bad so I decided to leave both.

Any other insight anyone?
 
Forgive me if I am stressing something you already done. Make shure the filter is braking water surface or there is an air stone running. It might help the fish somewhat. I just saw "....haanging out at the top near the heater. " and thought maybe they don't have anough oxigen.
 
If your fish still are not acting normal and appear to be lifeless still, I would recommend lowering the temp in the tank gradually like a degree or two. If the water is too warm, it holds less oxygen for the fish. You can also try lowering the level of the water to get an immediate solution for the fish to get more oxygen. It will allow for better gas exchange at the surface of the water which will allow the water to be oxygenated better. You may also want to try running an air stone or an air wand powered by an air pump to help with this too.

Marinemom
 
An update from yesterday.....

Water still cloudy....maybe a SLIGHT improvement although I dont think so. Swordtail still lifeless....cant find 2 and 4 are still hanging out at the top near the filter.....tetras seem to have some color back....platty swimming around some....last cory cat (panda) died

current parameters

temp 80
ammonia .25
nitrites 0
nitrates 5.0

Any updated thoughts and ideas would be helpful. Will try the above suggestions when I get home from work tonight. Thanks all.
 
Thanks alot for the responses Marine, pc, and leo. Ive emptied a little water and working on the temps.

This is really really weird and frustrating. I have 4 fish, 3 swordtails and my 1 platty are in the back right upper corner of the tank where the 1 filter and heater are. They are near the top, at a 45 degree angle and 3 of them are basically stacked on top of each other just hovering. Still cant find the other 2 swordtails and the tetras are kind of swimming around but not really like they were just 2 days ago. Im really worried about all of them and dont know what to do. The rest ate last night but 3 of the 4 didnt.

I hope I didnt put anyone off when I said I realized my past mistakes. I just meant I knew I overstocked too soon and now I know the stress zyme shouldnt have been used.

If this is really just a bacteria bloom would the fish be acting this way? I really dont know and havent heard anyone mention that fish act differently when a bloom is going on.

Should I do a major water change since the fish are dying and acting the way they are even though my parameters are ok?

What do you make of my parameters? Shouldnt I be having some nitrites by now? And why some a week or so ago but not now?

If you need anymore info just let me know and I will provide it.

Thanks for your help!
 
I forgot to mention that you really should not be feeding the fish while this is going on or at least keep it to a minimum.It will just compromise the water quality issues further. You can try a water change. At this point I don't think there is any harm in doing one. Make it brief though so as not to stress out the fish any further. There could also be something in the water called I think TDS which I think stands for total dissolved solids. Too much of this in the water can make life for the fish in your tank very tough. Solution to lower this is a water change. Just make sure that the temp of the water is the same as the temp in the tank. Also make sure to use a good declor for the water you are adding such as "Prime" and you should be good to go. I know this is tough when you are peering into your wonderful tank and there seems to be a problem but have patience and persistence and this too will work itself out.

Marinemom
 
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