freshwaterguy

My RIO 125 tank is cycling, and have been using Tetra test kits for PH, Nitrite & Nitrate

Last Friday my tank read 1.6mg/l for Nitrite and a few days earlier was 0mg/l, PH steady 7.5 and no nitrate reading <12.5mg/l

I thought things were going ok and perhaps they are, but today I purchased a Tetra Ammonia test kit below are todays test results. Is everything OK if not what action needs to be taken.

Test Results

PH 7.5
Temperature constant 77F
Ammonia <1.5mgl (looks less than 1.5mg/l but more than 0.25mg/l) - first time ammonia tested today
Nitrite 1.6mg/l (been 1.6mg/l for a week tomorrow)
Nitrate <12.5mg/l

I did not expect to see any Ammonia - yet clearly have some. I have done water changes since I have been cycling tank using gravel cleaner.

I added an Rena 200 Airpump & Airstone yesterday, tank has been running since August 5th, lights are on for 9 hours and I have x 4 tiger barbs & x 4 zebra danios

I do not want to do a water change if it can be avoided as tank is cycling, but i do not understand why i have ammonia and nitrite and a little nitrate.

Help appreciated.

jsalemi

It sounds like your tank is still cycling, possibly adapting to the increased bio-load of the fish. How long has it been since you started it? Did you do a cycle before you added the fish, or did you start with fish right away?

freshwaterguy

Aug 2nd - tank set up & Aug 5th - added x 4 zebra danio & x 4 Tiger Barbs. Pet shop told me water changes not really needed, reading on web about cycling told me to do partial water 10 to 20% changes. I did not expect to see Ammonia when tested today as I have had 1.6mg/l nitrite for 1 week.

My LFS only sold me the PH and nitrite tetra test kits and said that is all I would need, having read internet I purchased nitrate and now today Ammonia test kit.

Conditions were a constant PH 7.5 temp 77F and 9 hours light and the Tiger Barbs have shown no sign of Ich.

However Zebra Danio's appeared last Friday to have fin rot, I spoke to LFS & purchased Tetra General Tonic which was added last Sunday, the LFS checked out one of the Danios (3 of the 4 danios had clamped fins) the carbon filter was removed on Sunday, all other filters remain and have not been cleaned yet since purchasing the tank - only the white filter is changed weekly.

Is it possible treatment of tank has killed bacteria that got rid of the ammonia? if so where do I stand now I have ammonia, nitrite and a very low nitrate reading?

I have cleaned the filter head and impeller.

I read about fin rot and have the lights off since Sunday, added an airstone, and increased the temperature every 12 hours temp is now 86F, 85 to 90 recommended. Of all the treatment I have read about I have not added sea salt. The Danios all have there fins back and are now active again.

My full test results are as below - I wonder if I have done too many water changes and too much gravel cleaning? or have I done anything wrong? or perhaps I need to just wait for the ammonia to drop and nitrite to drop to zero.

Aug 12th - PH 7.5, nitrite <0.3mg/l
Aug 12th - first water change 10%
Aug 18th - nitrite <0.3mg/l
Aug 22nd - nitrate <12.5mg/l
Aug 24th - nitrite <0.3mg/l
Aug 24th - 20% water change
Aug 31st - nitrite 1.6mg/l & nitrate 0mg/l
Sept 1st - nitrite 1.6mg/l
Sept 1st - 20% water change
Sept 3rd - nitrite 1.6mg/l
Sept 4th - nitrite 1.6mg/l & nitrate <12.5mg/l
Sept 6th - PH 7.5, nitrite 1.6mg/l, ammonia test kit bought & used for first time reading <1.5mg/l

sgould

Whether your tank was cycled and you lost bacteria during treatment (yes, it is possible), or whether the tank was never cycled to begin with, it is clear that you are in the midst of a cycle now. To complete the cycle, you now have to balance leaving enough ammonia in the tank to allow new bacteria to grow, against not having so much ammonia in there that you lose fish. That means that you will need to continue with regular water changes. However, I am not familiar with the particular test kit you are using, and it is using a different scale than I am familiar with, which measures in PPM rather than mg/l. Consequently, I am not sure how to advise you with respect to at what level of ammonia reading on your kit to do a change. Probably you should do one at least every other day. I would not do any gravel cleaning at all until the cycle is complete. Once the tank has cycled, you should do a water change of 20-25% every week, at which time you should also resume gravel cleaning. You will know the cycle is complete when you get no ammonia readings, no nitrite readings, and some sort of nitrate reading.

Also, your pet shop is giving you some bad advice on a number of points (water changes not needed, don't test for ammonia, etc), so I would be very wary of anything else they tell you in the future.

freshwaterguy

Re PPM vs my mg/l tetra test kit results

I just found this mg/l to ppm conversion calculator on the web at http://www.unitconversion.org/concen...onversion.html

I believe my reading for ammonia on color chart is 1 mg/l therefore using above calculator this is 1.001142303 ppm I assume this calculator is correct if so what ppm figure is fatal to tropicals.

I know tank is in midst of cycling but is this reading bad? I have 20 litres (20%) water treated and ready for a partial water change I can just change 10% if recommended by you more experienced guys.

sgould

1.0 is fairly high, and you should not let it get worse. I would suggest a 50% water change anytime you are getting up in that range. The toxicity of ammonia varies depending on your water's pH. When pH is below 7, ammonia become less toxic. Above 7 and ammonia becomes more toxic. Since your water is falling in that 2nd category, you really want to stay on top of your ammonia readings to keep the fish safe. Warning signs that they are having a problem would be redness around the gills, and staying near the surface gasping for air.

freshwaterguy

I spoke to LFS this morning who advised that I should do a 25% water change, which I have just done after conditioning the water overnight.

I have another 20% water conditioning now ready to change tomorrow

I will be testing for Ammonia again later today as todays earlier reading prior to 25% water change was approx 1ppm and will test for Ammonia daily, I will continue to test for nitrite and nitrate as well

Thanks for your advice, I really do not want to lose any fish but can now see the benefit of doing a fishless cycle.

I will now be putting purchase of live plants on hold until ammonia is zero and the tank has cycled.

I will let you all know how I get on.

freshwaterguy

9th September test results

have now done 50% water change 25% yesterday and 25% first thing this morning latest test results looking better, ammonia gone I will be testing daily and if required do partial water changes - thanks for your advice!

Ammonia 0mgl or 0 ppm
Nitrite 1.6 mg/l or 1.6ppm
Nitrate <12.5mg/l or <12.5 ppm

freshwaterguy

todays test results

Ammonia 0mgl or 0 ppm
Nitrite 1.6 mg/l or 1.6ppm - still !
Nitrate <12.5mg/l or <12.5 ppm

now i have a small amount of green algae on front of aquarium, which I have not had before lights on for 9 hours, although I not to worried I will be removing when doing next water change and reduce lights if comes back again.

A red tailed black shark might be added when tank has cycled and I have read they are partial to a little algae.

Things are going ok though! lots of activity with the tiger barbs and zebra danios being so active

freshwaterguy

Cycled and Happy do not respond to this post