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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Hi: Lucy, i guess i should have explained better-i'm talking about Stability lol any thought?bella | 
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| The Stability doe's not have to be added weekly and has a shelf live of 4-years lol and does not have to be added unless you are, intorducing new fish or medicating your tank lol bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| I don't have personal experince with it but my thoughts on it would be the same as stress zyme.
If your readings are correct in your first post and you're showing nitrates it shows you've already got some beneficial bacteria working in your tank.
If you're looking for a suggestion, I'd let the ammonia levels drop and not add more until your almost at 0. If at that time you still have nitrites add a little more.
You don't want to OD your tank on ammonia. | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Hear is a quote from SeaChem…
“Stability is formulated specifically for the aquarium and contains a synergistic blend of aerobic, anaerobic, and facultative bacteria which facilitate the breakdown of waste organics, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.”
This statement suggests to me that Stability adds a “synthetic” blend of bacteria and not naturally occurring bacteria. | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| No, Lucy;- 1-have 2-more 20-gallons that i haven't cycled yet that is why i am asking all the questions lol there are 2-40-gallons with those stats that i first posted lol bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Ok, Dozey- that was basically what i wanted to know as i can't make head or tails of some of this stuff lol as i never took chemistry lol so very hard to program and old brain lol bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Lucy;- If i stop adding ammonia now would it not drop me back in the cycle ? or would it continue lol. bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| So; Dozey, so basically this stuff is good for removing ammonia-nitrate and nitrites which we need lol? bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| We do need to remove ammonia and nitrites and keep nitrates in a safe region. However we do not need artificial bacteria for this to occur. Naturally occurring bacteria will look after the ammonia and nitrites and weekly water changes will keep our nitrates in a safe level of 5-20ppm. | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| As long as there's ammonia in the tank the bacteria won't starve.
Let the ammonia get close to 0 before adding more if the tank isn't cycled by then. | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Ok, Dozey- I thought that the water changes would take care of that -lord know's i have done enough of them. bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| I had a 3 week old tank with 4 starter fish and the ammonia was 1.0 PPM and I followed Stability's directions exactly like they said and it did not work for me at all. I got Nitrate readings of 5.0 twice, same ammonia. Hope anyone who uses it has bette rluck than I did. | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| So, Lucy you are saying no more ammonia until it drops to-o lol ? bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Thanks -Fishjones, just asking questions , but very good to know thanks again bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by shih-tzu mom  So, Lucy you are saying no more ammonia until it drops to-o lol ? bella | That's what I'd do.
You're nitrItes are really high. I wouldn't be surprised to see that number drop (which is good) and the nitrAtes rise (also good) | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Shih-tzu, I'm going to try SafeStart in a few days and I'll let everyone know my results, hope it's better than Stability!!! | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by shih-tzu mom Ok, Dozey- I thought that the water changes would take care of that -lord know's i have done enough of them. bella | To the best of my knowledge, as long as your tank is stable (ammonia 0 & nitrites 0) you should base your water changes on your nitrite readings. Should your nitrates be 30ppm (too high) on water change day then I would recommend a 50% water change to effectively drop the nitrate reading to 15ppm (within the suggested 5-20ppm).
If your nitrate reading was say 10ppm a water change isn’t really necessary at all. Although as I like to vacuum the gravel at least weekly I do end up changing some water. | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I love the vacuming now with the python lol so much quicker and easier, i know that the ammonia and the nitrates control the water changes, lol too bad i couln't get the readings right lol. maybe soon when i see finished lol. well thanks Dozey and there goes my theory on adding more ammonia lol bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Fishjones; from what i have read it works according to some on the forum, so good luck and post your readings when you get started lol bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Lucy-Dozey;, thanks so much i think i have a much better understanding of the cycle now and i know it was a long process to get through my head but very much appreciated lol and thanks again for your time and trouble bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by shih-tzu mom Lucy-Dozey;, thanks so much i think i have a much better understanding of the cycle now and i know it was a long process to get through my head but very much appreciated lol and thanks again for your time and trouble bella | Understanding the cycling process is very confusing. | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Especially, when you know nothing about chemistry lol and much harder as you age lol [no offence anyone] bella | |
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January 2nd, 2009
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| | Moderator
|  No offense taken. | |
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January 3rd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Lucy; I did not add ammonia, this morning and my readings are ammonia-2.0-nitrite1.0 and nitrate-o so what is happening lol? bella | |
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January 3rd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| The nitrAte readings don't make much sense, they should have gone up while your ammonia and nitrItes dropped You're using the API master kit? | |
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January 3rd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Yes, Lucy the API test kit and i don't think i mixed them up lol.bella | |
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January 3rd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Lucy; i will do the test again, just to make sure i didn't mix them up lol bella | |
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January 3rd, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Ok, Lucy here is the readings again lol-ammonia-2.0 nitrate5.0-nitrite1.0 i think i did mix them up lol and where am i in this? Should i add the ammonia or not? bella | |
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January 3rd, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Don't add any more yet. You're doing great.
This is basically what happens:
ammonia levels rise
nitrite levels rise
ammonia levels drop.
nitrate levels rise
nitrite levels drop.
That's exactly what's happening now in your tank. Your ammonia is dropping because it's being converted to nitrItes then to NitrAtes.
IMO, you should leave it and test again tomorrow. There's still enough ammonia to feed the bacteria.  | |
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January 3rd, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Sorry wether your question has already been answered but my local fishstore wrote down the correct readings for a fish tank containing fish...
________________________________________ ammonia should be at 0 and no higher...any ammonia is toxic! Nitrite should be 0.1 or below...nitrite is also toxic! Remember that after a water change the nitrites and/or nitrates can be very high. Make sure you resolve this with some chemicals if this becomes a problem. Nitrates should be at 20 or below...these are not toxic at low levels. pH should be at either 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, or 8.0...make sure you have the right pH for your breed of fish! Some like their water more acidic, some like more alkaline, and some like it more neutral.
________________________________________ Safestart can help create helpful bacteria in your tank and speed up the cycling process I also use a chemical test kit, and i do NOT have to mix the nitrite and nitrate together, and i'm pretty sure your not supposed to either since your test kit sounds very similar to mine | |
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