_plecki009_

I just did my first partial water change this evening and everything went pretty well. I introduced fish to my tank about 1 1/2 months ago. I have Python cleaner and used it to get a lot of skum out of the gravel substrate. I set out two pots of water (from the faucet) and let them warm up to room temperature. In each pot I put two teaspoons of Amquel. I made sure that the water was a similar temp and added it in. But i noticed that the my ammonia levels are rising slightly. Later I read on the sight that bacteria that help the nitrogen cycle can be disturbed when the tank is over-cleaned. What should I do to get the reading down again? Is this normal? What did I do wrong?

clinton1621

Thats normal after stirring up the gravel and mixing up the dissolved waste into the water column, also dechloring water with chloramine in it releases ammonia as a byproduct. You shouldnt lose a lot of bacteria by just doing a partial change though, so it should all work out fairly quick.

You should really do weekly water changes of 15% to 20%. By letting it go for over a month you are getting a lot of waste built up in the gravel which will lead to higher nitrate levels, algae, and other problems.

Alessa

what are your exact readings? ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

pepetj

Hi _plecki009_: Your aquarium info obviously refers to another tank (running for a year), what tank are you referring to? What is your stocking? Do you keep plants in it?

By the way, welcome to Fishlore, and MTS! (Multi Tank Syndrome, in case you're not familiar with this wonderful term)

You seem to be experiencing a "mini-cycle". Probably you overcleaned your substrate -I do thorough vacuum of it, just one half each week. Since your tank has been running for a month and a half, I suggest you take some media (sponge) from your 45gal tank's filter and place it in your new tank's filter, but leave the one there be. You could also add some substrate from that tank to help your likely disrupted colony of nitrifying bacteria get back on track.

For the meantime, you could very well keep an eye on your water parameters, and perform daily partial water changes (20-30%) without substrate vacuum until your cycle gets back in.

Anyway, wait for the experts response.

Hope this helps

Pepe
Santo Domingo

pepetj

Well, it looks like the experts I was referring to already answered you while I was typing! Take their advice. They know better than I do.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

_plecki009_

Thanks for the quick response everyone! Your advice is really helps! Alessa: I don't have a water test kit, but I bought a "Mardel Live pH/Live ammonia" water tester that comes with a strip I have to replace every 6 weeks. The ph level is a steady light blue, but the ammonia side that was yellow is now turning a pea-green color (the "caution" square).

Pepetj: thanks for the welcome! I actually set up my tank a while back, but I only had water and a filter from a cycled tank in it. It took me a while but I finally added fish 1 1/2 months later. I was wondering, when I do partial water changes, how should I treat the water? Is AmQuel enough? I did notice one thing. When it was time to refill the tank, the water I had in the two buckets was not enough so I refilled one of the buckets with faucet water and put the AmQuel in immediately. Should I have let the water sit for a longer time? (I don't know if that has anything to do with ammonia levels...) Would you recommend buying a water-test kit?

clinton1621

Those live monitors are not very precise... you need a liquid test kit, the best one is API's Freshwater master test kit. Its quite possible that your tank isnt fully cycled, thats why you need the test to confirm your actual ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels... this will give you a better idea of how far along you are, and what to do from there.

Dechloring the water and adding it immediately is fine, no problems there.

jdhef

If you set up your tank with used filter media and let it run without fish for a month and a half, unless you were adding fish food or ammonia, the benificial bacteria may have starved to death. So you may be cycling.

I would highly recommend getting a liquid test kit, and testing your water's ammonia, nitrites and nitrate to see where you are.

_plecki009_

clinton621 and jdhef, thank you for your posts!! I'll buy the API mater water test kit as soon as I can. How much do they usually cost? The fish look fine this morning, and GOOD NEWS the pea-green test strip is turning a yellow color again...but now I know that these readings are not as accurate.

I feel a lot better now! Thanks again everyone!

jdhef

I think I paid about $30 at PetSmart for mine. You can probably get it cheaper on line. Check Drs Foster & Smith and Big Al's. There are links to both at the top of the page.

_plecki009_

Thanks jdhef. This is quite a journey. This afternoon I added some fresh faucet water (with Amquel) to the tank and I'm noticing that my ph levels are dropping (around 6.3-6.5)--again this is according to the test strip that are not very reliable. I'm going to run to the store to pick up the master water test kit. I thought I would do another partial water change. Do I need to pick up a ph balancer as well?? Could our faucet water be too soft/hard? Is this the best thing to do?

mrsmuffin

I would not do anything to adjust your pH. Most fish will adjust to your water's natural pH and it should level out. The fish don't adjust well when the pH is constantly changing and that is what ends up happening if you are adjusting it with chemicals.

jdhef

I would holds off on buying any ph balancer until after you test with a liquid test kit to see where you tap water really is. Adjusting ph with chemicals is pretty iffy. If you need to raise it you are better off putting some crushed coral or something that will raise the ph naturally and not lead to swings in ph.

When I first set up my tank, I was worried about my ph because it was around 7.8. I googled ph info and everywhere I read it said raising ph was far easier than lowering ph. In the end I just left my ph alone and all has gone well.

clinton1621

The ph monitor is probably going bad... they only work for a limited time, especially with frequent water changes. The ph probably hasnt changed, the monitor is just worn out and giving you a low reading.

_plecki009_

Oh, I am sure glad I checked this thread before I went to the store!! Thanks for the advice mrsmuffin, jdhef and clinton1612. Water test kit, here I come! lol! I will make sure to post the results on my profile tomorrow. I really appreciate the help!

_plecki009_

yay! I picked up my API master water test kit Mon. and it was definitely worth the money for 800+ tests! It's easy to use, too. The pH was a little low (6.5) so i thought i would get some crushed corals like jdhef suggested. Do I have to crush the corals myself? Or can I buy them crushed at a local petstore? The nitrate readings were fairly high. Does this mean the tank is almost fully cycled? Anyway, just wanted to say for the advice!

clinton1621

Thats actually a good pH for a planted tank... I would leave it alone unless it drops down more close to 6.0

Fishies-for-me

what is the ammonia and nitrites?? Nitrates are the final result of a cycled tank and you keep then from getting high with weekly water changes. If they are fairly high do about 25% 2-3 times aweek to bring them down to where they should be then 1 water change a week should keep them down unless you are over stocked...in that case you need to do more .

_plecki009_

Fishies-for-me: the last water check I did (on mon.) the ammonia levels were about 0.15 and the nitrate levels were around 0.25. I think I'll do another water test today because I added some faucet water (w/ Amquel) and the readings are probably different. Some days I feel more like a scientist...

clinton1621: I'm glad a pH of around 6.5 is good for a planted tank! I hope to add some more live plants in the future. I heard that neon tetras do well in a pH of 6.5 but that they are not good beginner fish...

I'll post the new test results on my profile later today. Thanks everyone!

clinton1621

Neon tetras are kind of hit or miss as a beginner fish... they need to be in very good health to start with, and they need a very long acclimation period. But you could go with Cardinal tetras, or Black Neon tetras... these are a different breed of neons that are usually much healthier and just a tad bit larger.

_plecki009_

Good news! I checked my aquarium water again today because I added more faucet water (w/ Amquel) to the tank. Now the ammonia levels stand at 0.0, the nitrite levels are at about 0.10 and the nitrate levels around 17. ::sighs in relief::

I also tested the tap water I use to fill the aquarium out of curiousity. The pH levels were high (7.6+) and the ammonia levels were at 0.75-1.00. The nitrite level read 0.0 and the nitrate level was 7. Maybe that is why the ammonia reading on the old test strip always reads a higher ammonia value whenever I add water. (?) I find it interesting that the pH level in my tank is so much lower than the tap water...maybe I'm using too much Amquel?

Anyway, I'm really enjoy my new API test kit! Thanks for the help, everyone!

clinton1621

Live plants can lower your pH level, and also driftwood if you have any in the tank.