waltmillham

I have a 29 gallon tank that was treated with Bio Spira about a week ago, but...long story short, some stuff-non toxic, but messy got into my tank & I had to do a couple 30 % water changes to get it cleaned up. There are two convicts in there & they have recently hatched out a bunch of babies. Everything was low all week long. Amonia is low...almost no-presnet, but in just two days, the nitrites & nitrates have come up real high. I can't see the expense of ordering Bio Spira again. I could use Amquel+ to tie up the toxins. I could also use cycle in conjunction with that & water changes. Can you use both products at the same time & might there be any reaction with the BIo Spira?, but I can't imagine much is left in there. Your help is greatly appreciated! I put way more faith in you guys...even over the Petco people. You guys no your stuff.

Luniyn

Using Amquel+ will make the nitrite non-toxic to the fish until enough of the good bacteria can grow to eat it. It won't remove it, just make it non-toxic and leave it to be eaten and converted to Nitrate. I.e. it will keep your fish safer. It looks like you got pulled back into a mini-cycle. There isn't any need to add Cycle or Bio Spira as the process will happen on it's own. Yes it will take longer but it will still happen. To keep your fish happy you can do 20% water changes every other day or more if the nitrite level gets worse. Also be sure you are using a test kit that is compatible with Amquel+. If you are using one the test kits that test ammonia using a Nessler based reading then you will get false readings. One that is salicylate based (like in the master kit from API) should work properly.

waltmillham

Thanks for your help....very much appreciated!

Luniyn

My pleasure and good luck!

sirdarksol

The number one lesson that I have learned since getting my fishtank last year is that a water change is the first, and usually best, solution for a problem. Something may have killed off (or damaged) your bacteria colonies, so the N jump you're seeing is, essentially, a re-cycling of the tank. If this is the case, the only two ways that I know of to deal with the problem are chemicals or water change. The chemicals work, but I have read that they also change the quality of the water. The water change is much more labor intensive, but may be better for the fish.