Fi$hFace

I was really excited a few days ago because I thought my tank was finally cycled. For some odd reason, I decided to check the perameters of my tank this morning and sure enough... ammonia 1, nitrite 2.5, nitrate 10. What the heck Two days ago the perameters were Ammo 0, NitrIte 0, NitrAte 5. What has gone wrong in 48 hours!?!?!

Lucy

Have you added anything to the tank? Overcleaned? Over fed?

What are you using to test? (I think I've asked you that before, but I forget)

sirdarksol

Any chance the filter stopped working or lost power somewhere in there?
Did you add any fish in the last 48 hours?
I'm sure others will come up with other possibilities, too. There are so many variables that it's sometimes difficult to pinpoint what caused a problem. The best you can do is keep working at it and keep your fish alive and happy until the problem passes.

Fi$hFace

Im using the API Master test kit. I haven't done anything different. The last time I cleaned it was 3 days ago. A day before I got the 0, 0, 5 readings.

Jess

When you say "cleaned" what are you doing to it. Maybe you over did the cleaning.

Fi$hFace

Well. water change. I don't really clean it all that much. I just suck out some water and try to get the fish terds and stuff. I try to clean the top part of the glass where the water evaporates because there is always a whiteish line that runs around the top. Other than that... Not too much. I did like a 25% water change.

Fi$hFace

You know. About a month ago, I bought these water lilly bulbs that are supposed to start growing within 30 days. Could that be affecting anything? They have started to sprout. Maybe those bulbs are screwing with the cycling process.

Jess

No, I don't think that's it. Hmmmm. Sounds like your doing the water change thing right.
Also not over cleaning. I'm stumped.

sirdarksol

If they're sprouting, they shouldn't be negatively affecting anything. If they rotted away, that sure could do this, though. Are all of them sprouting, or does one or more of them look fuzzy?

Lucy

I agree.

Any chance there's ammonia in your tap water?

Fi$hFace

I stopped using tap water. I've been buying spring water by the gallon instead. Only one has sprouted. The other has yet to sprout. Maybe I'll toss that one in the trash. I wish I knew what was going on. My one fish, a red platy is also acting weeeeird. His top fin is standing straight up on end, (he normally keeps it flat) and he keeps swimming straight up and down. At first I thought he was just being silly, but now I don't know if there's something wrong with him. He'll just go straight up and down, like vertical instead of horizontal. Moving his fins to keep him that way. He's not going to the surface or anything. Maybe he's just playing. He's doing it right in the water flow, where the water comes back out of the filter. Its kind of funny, but I don't know if there's something wrong.

Fi$hFace

No one has anything?

Sasukii

two of my fish enjoy the current, they actually will swim into it for a little bit, then take a 'ride' to wherever the current takes them. They spend time elsewere too, and then sometimes just go back to ride along again...

Kayin1470

does your platy have anything on his gills that seems unusual?? if not I wouldn't worry about it.

Fi$hFace

No he doesn't have anything on his gills or fins or anywhere else. I honestly think he was just being silly. I have a female platy in there too. Perhaps he was just flirting? I know my two mollies are constantly flirting with each other. They weave in and out of the bubble line from my bubble wand in the back of my tank. Its histerical.

fishlover78

I, by no stretch of the imagination am an expert, only a was fish keeper but I AM STUMPED sometimes at the end of a cycle the parameters go wacko and then calm down, its kind of a weird explanation, but this happened when I finished a cycle too, actually various times its happened to me.

Fi$hFace

Well. I guess I'll go back to doing daily water changes and hopefully the ammo and nitrites will go back down to zero. Its just so frustrating...

fishlover78

that sounds like a good idea to me, yeah it is really frustrating, trust me you have no idea, I know cycling can be frustrating but just keep going!

Abalisa

I've noticed that my tetras like to play against the current of the water that filtering out sometimes. I've often wondered if they were enjoying the current, or the freshly filtered water. If he looks ok otherwise I wouldn't worry too much.

Steve420

Can I ask what you used to do this? Any chance whatever you used to clean this part had some sort of chemical on it? Just an idea...

Escobar

The best thing to do will be to just keep an eye on it as mentioned above there are too many varaibles to pinpoint the fault. I had a similar scenario where everything was at zero but then I got a spike out of nowhere and no change to pinpoint. These things will always happen from time to time.. Don't get stressed by it, just take that humans are fallible and will never be able to recreate nature in the tank and that things like this will continue to happen.

ScarfaceShaz

I agree with escobar. Just hang in there and be patient. Its the key to this hobby. Keep up with your water changes. I recommend you use Prime, to help eliminate any spikes in ammonia and nitrites, quickly, especially if they are high, and you have fishes present...