bbfeckawitts

Hi, After a recent suggestion (because my tiger barbs were not well) I bought some Aquarium tests. I have Nitrite, Ammonia, and pH (all in liquid). Yesterday, my Ammonia was about 6ppm, Nitrites were 0.25ppm and pH is 7.6 (not a problem). I have 3 Tiger Barbs, 2 Silver dollars, 3 emerald green cories, and 2 Ghost Catfish in the tank. I did a 50% water change yesterday, and after that the ammonia was 4ppm and Nitrites were 0.00ppm. Today I did another 50% water change, and after that the Ammonia was 2ppm. Going down Nicely. When should I change more water, and how much? My tiger barbs appear to be doing better, and are eating fine. I don't have any medications in my tank except AquaSafe and Aquarium Salt. A

whitewavemoon

If it were my tank, I would do another water change tomorrow, of at least 25-30%. I would keep doing them until my Ammonia was under .25, with 0 being ideal. Obviously your tank is still cycling, so you'll want to check your water paramaters daily, until you reach 0 Ammonia, 0 NitrITE, and measurable NitrATE. While you're still cycling, it's important to check your paramaters and do water changes when your Ammonia gets too high. I know some people say you shouldn't do water changes during cycling, or that it will slow your cycle, but I'd rather slow my cycle and have my fish live, than to poison them.
I hope this helps. It was good to read that your Barbs were doing better.
Good Luck!

tan.b

yeah, thats what i've been doing. twice a day, 50% water changes :P. i understand it may slow down my cycle, but no point rushing through it with dead fish ! main priority has got to be the fish and keeping them alive and well! by the way...could i just ask, did your fish have red inflamed gills when the ammonia was up? my ammonia is between 0.25 and 1.00 (depending on the day!) and my fishes gills have been looking quite sore. they're meant to be pretty hardy fish (danios etc) so i was surprised. i have read other people having higher ammonia than me and their fish not seeming bothered by it, though their pH was lower?! anyway, good luck, and good on you for investing in a test kit! they certainly explain any oddities going on in your tank!!

bbfeckawitts

I checked the gills before (because I heard yours had red gills), and nothing. I'll do another 50% water change tonight.

bbfeckawitts

Another thing I noticed about my tiger barbs, where their black stripes are, on some of them they have gray spots. Not like salt, but like dull color (grey). I think this may be from getting picked on. Anyone else had this problem?

whitewavemoon

Have you done any searches on fish diseases? I'm not saying that they have anything, however since your Ammonia was so high, they could've been stressed. It's hard to tell you for sure, without knowing what the spots look like. Velvet looks similar to Ich, but is grey. I'd look up some information on diseases and try to rule them out just to make sure.
However your Tiger Barbs could be picking on each other. Tiger Barbs are schooling fish, and like to be kept in groups of at least 6. This helps keep the aggression down. I wouldn't add any more fish though, until you've cycled.

bbfeckawitts

Yes i've been looking up all kinds of fish diseases, nothing matches. I did another water change, 40%, and now my Ammonia=1ppm, Nitrites=0ppm, pH=7.6

Gunnie

I'm happy to see your ammonia level is coming down nicely.* That is what being a good fishkeeper is all about!* I'd keep up with the water changes, and you can also try using amquel plus as your water conditioner.* It will help neutralize the ammonia and nitrites, but will still make it available to the bacteria in the tank.* Keep an eye out on the tiger barbs.* My guess is they are turning grey because they are stressed, just as whitewaven had stated.* ** *

bbfeckawitts

Yes, I definatly plan to keep up those water changes, and I won't make the mistake of adding fish too early again!! I added the fish before I knew the tank needed to Cycle first

Gunnie

Don't beat yourself up too much over this. We've all been in your shoes. I didn't have the forums when I first started and cycled my first tank with fish. Just keep doing all you can to keep your fish from getting sick, and you are already a better fishkeeper because of your experiences. When you have a tank in the future get out of balance, you will know exactly how to handle it. Keep up the good work!

bbfeckawitts

My ammonia is going down and Nitrites are going up! Yay! Cycle is moving on!
Brianna

tan.b

its a drag isnt it this cycle lark?! :P are your fish looking better yet?

bbfeckawitts

Yes my fish are doing better I got 7 Ghost Shrimps today, hopefully keep my ammonia low with scavanging : Not sure if thats good but you live and learn :

Also got 3 Ghost Shrimps for my sisters tank, its very small (1/3 gal?) but fully cycled! Plenty of goodies for them to eat in there! We actually cycled it with Triops (brine shrimp?)!
-Brianna

bbfeckawitts

Hi again, My ghost shrimp are sooo cool! They grab everything and eat everything they can! My tiger barb (Reggie), still had not gotten her color back so I switched her to a very very high quality (and expensive), pellet food and she gained her colors back (litterally) overnight! What a change! All the fish are doing great. Attached is a photo of my ghost shrimp... also if anyone knows anything about breeding ghost catfish see my topic in the breeding forum...
-Brianna

Attached Images

ghostshrimpA.PNG (323.4 KB, 36 views)

bbfeckawitts

Just an update, Nitrite =.50ppm, Ammonia =0ppm, pH =7.2. Almost finished cycling! The nitrite was at 5.0ppm for about a week, then it got down to .50ppm in 2 days. All fish are happy and healthy.

-Brianna

bbfeckawitts

My tiger barb jumped in the filter and got stuck. RIP Otto

Gunnie

Sorry about your fishie. Hope all is still doing well with the cycling.

bbfeckawitts

Yes every thing is fine. I put something so no one else can get stuck in the filter.

-Brianna