Should I change water??

S

scott9

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Mar 20, 2005
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Ok heres the scoop. Bought 10 gallon tank about a month. It sat for 5 days with no fish or lie plants. Water temp is 78. Then on 5th day purchased Bio spira and 2 guppies. All is good. Male guppy is driving female guppy nutz, so we decide to buy 2 more female guppies and 2 corys and added in some more bio spira. All is going well. I have done a few water changes since then, some 25% a few 50% water changes. Water readings seem al within range, Nitrites 0,nitartes 0, ph 7 and ammonia is usually less than .5.

Ok, so checked water readings yesterday and just now and they are about the same. PH is a tad over 7, Nitrites are approx .5 nitrates approx 10 and ammonia approx .5 Should I do a 50% water change?? I read some where as well,that when using bio spira one shouldnt vacuum the gravel for 2 months?? Is that true?? Any help would be great. I do have more Bio spira in the fridge if I need to add more, and for water conditioner I have been using aqua safe to treat the water. I meant to purchuse Amquel, but i picked up a bottle of aqua plus by mistake so will return that!! Any help would be great. thanks. Scott
 
To play it safe you could do smaller (25%) changes for a few more weeks and add a little more bio spira after each change for the amount of water that you removed. I began vaccuming gravel within a few weeks after I used bio spira in one of my tanks and did not notice any negative affects.
 
Yes, as long as that nitrite is over 0.25 ppm then do water changes. And as long as the pH and temp are roughly similar to your tap water, do a big enough water change to get the levels as low as you can. Hobby test kits aren't super accurate so if they are showing any result then there is usually more than that present.

With so few fish and having used biospira I wonder why you are showing ammonia and nitrites at all. Perhaps you are over feeding your fish? Feed them what they can eat in maybe 30 seconds and no more than once a day. In fact skipping the occasionaly day is normally fine, but if there are pregnant live bearers (and you will ahve those) then feeding everyday is probably best.
 
How many days has this whole process been? I just had a similar situation that seems to have corrected itself, it just took a week. If the bacteria is in the filter and the bacteria is being fed, then it may just take a little time before it catches up and grows enough. I may be completely off, but the thought of not vaccuming the gravel would mean that you are trying to not take the bacteria out of the tank. If that is the case, then why not move the bacteria from the gravel, to the filter? A lite stirring of the substrate may release the bacteria back into the water so that the filter can pick it up and utilize it better. While the bacteria in the rocks will work, it would be much more efficent in the filter where the water is being concentrated on it.

Like I said, this is just a guess, but it seems like a logical thought to me. Please correct me if I am wrong!
 
If the ammonia and nitrite climb up too high I wouldn't care about upsetting my biospira, I would be more concerned with my fish and their long term health. And bio-spira does claim to work in 24 hours. there should be suitable amounts attatched to your filter material within that time to start working on ammonia levels. It will take a little more time before it becomes attached to the rocks, tank walls, etc...
 
Thanks

Thanks for the info. I did a 40% water change, added in Amquel +, plus i added in a bit more Bio Spira!! Wil continue to monitor the water readings! They al seemhappy and very playful. 2 female guppies sprogged a few weeks back, and 1 fry has managed to survive!! I only have a 10 gallon tank, so its survival of the fittest, which may not please others to know!! Cheers Scott
 
update::

Ok, checked my water yesterday with Fresh water Master test kit, readings:

ph 7.2 nitrite .20 ammonia .25 nitrate 15


Todays readings: (april 12)

ph 7.1 nitrite .50 ammonia .20 nitrate 20

Guess I wil ldo another water change now. For water conditioner I am using Amquel + Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks Scott
 
It looks like the bacteria are just having a bit of trouble catching up. At this point water changes are still a great idea but you can also reduce feedings to every other day. This will reduce the ammount of waste in the water. And since the nitrites are climbing I would add some salt to the water. Any source of NaCl will do, table salt ect... Just add 1 tsp per gallon to your change water (dissolved) and slowly add it to the tank. The salt will help the gills of the fish get oxygen better which the nitrites block. Some people like to be on the safe side and add a few tsp a day until they reach 1 tsp per gallon. That is fine as well since you are doing daily water changes. Then just add enough salt to the change water to make up for any salt you remove.

Once the tank is cycled do normal water changes and do not add any more salt in. It will slowly work its way out of the tank and won't hurt the fish or the bacteria at those low levels.
 
water change!!

I did another water change tonight, about a 75% change. Readings are now :

PH 7 Nitrite 0 Ammonia .3 nitrate 2.0

Maybe I should put in a bit more bio spira!!!

Thanks
Scott
 
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