Newbie help

[OrionGirl]

Means you need to do water changes. I'm positive the nitrites are not 180 ppm--that would be pretty well instantly lethal, but any nitrites present indicate the tank is toxic and water changes should be done to reduce the level, at least down to less than 1 ppm.

The low alkalinity also indicates that you need to do water changes--hopefully it will increase after a round of changes. If not, it means you'll need to monitor the tank closely--low alkalinity = low buffering ability, which means the water will be prone to pH fluctations. This is rough on the fish, and reduces their ability to resist disease.

 

[BettaBetta]

i think i had my reading reversed...

pH 7.2
Alkalinity 180
Hardness 150
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 40

 

[OrionGirl]

Makes more sense. The alkalinity should be high enough to give adequate buffering. I'd still do a water change--the nitrites really are not good for the fish, and the high nitrates indicate the need for a change as well. Nitrates are not harmful to fish, but they are a useful way to track other things in the water we can't test for. A good goal for most tanks is to keep nitrates less than 20.

 

[BettaBetta]

thank you for your help this is so complicated. i think i have my ich problem undercontrol, my remaining fish are spot free. the one algea eater fish (i'm not sure what it's really called, it's not an algea eater, it's the fish that sucks on the glass and eats algea) still has several white spots, should i continue treatment? also, how often should i clean my tank? what's the best way to do it?

 

[OrionGirl]

If there are any fish that still show signs, you need to continue treatment. Otherwise, ich will return--that spot is a cyst that will hatch out into a bunch more little parasites that will reinfect the entire tank.

Cleaning--regular water changes, including cleaning the solid waste from the filter and cleaning the substrate.

 

[BettaBetta]

how often is regular? and what's the easiest way to clean the bottome of the tank?

 

[OrionGirl]

Frequency will depend on the test results--no way to put out a blanket amount. For example, I change water every week. All my tanks are planted, and I doubt they NEED this level of turnover, but water changes are beneficial so doing them more often than needed is much better than not doing them frequently enough. However, if your test results indicate nitrates above ~20ppm, you need to do a water change to reduce them. Nitrites or ammonia being detectable means you should do one immediately. What I recommend--once ammonia and nitrites are at zero, do water changes every week. Monitor the tanks conditions, and decide if more are needed, or less based on fish appearance, health and behavior, as well as other factors--algae growth? More! Filter clogging/slowing? More! Snail outbreak? More!

Cleaning the bottom--pick up a gravel vaccum. All LFS should have these--it's a flexible tube, attached to a section of hard tubing. You create a siphon of water out of the tank and into a drain or bucket, then use the stiff tubing to shuffle through the gravel, pulling out solid wastes that have accumulated along with the water. In planted tanks, you don't dig in deeply, but just clean the surface area of any large wastes. Go over as much of the substrate as you can each time, then replace the water removed.