carlos413

Hello everyone, I have a bit of a problem and its driving me nut’s. I have a 55 gallon freshwater planted aquarium. Its been set up for just over a year now. Three months ago my family and I moved 15 miles away. My water test results before the move was 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 15 nitrate. I took steps to try and save my biofilter. I left 10 gallons of water in the tank so the gravel was wet wile we moved. I also left water in the filters and took another 15 gallons of water from my established tank in buckets. I set up the tank added some water to top off the tank. Three days latter I test my water and boom, I have 3 PPM ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate. I know some how I lost my biofilter. I been in my new place for 2.5 months now and I am still getting ammonia readings between 1ppm to 3 ppm. There is no way I could do a fishless cycle since I already had fish in my tank when I moved. I thought I had a bacterial bloom because after four weeks of moving I got the white milky looking cloudy water. However the white milky cloudy stuff been going on for about a month. So between the cycle and this cloudy stuff its really depressing this is my first post and I am just looking for some good sound advise. Thank you all in advance.

dee34

hi carlos if im right u saved 10 gallons of old tank water and kept the filter as it was ,so in total there was 45 gallons added and theres high nitrate readings !

carlos413

I left 10 gallons in the tank and I took another 15 gallons of my old water in buckets for a total 25 gallons.

aquarist48

You are surely going through another cycle. I'd do 50% water changes for a few days and add some Prime or Nova Aqua. until you get the readings you need 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and 5-15 nitrates. I would add some carbon to the filter if you don't have any in there now. Check your tap water for ammonia. Are you over feeding?

dee34

try doing some water changes and see if the readings change the only other thing i think it could have started a new cycle and in that case the water just needs to mature and welcome to fishlore ........

Lucy

Hi Carlos welcome to Fish Lore

Sorry you lost the cycle. I agree with aquarist48, daily water changes and prime (or stress coat+) to detox the ammonia for 24 hours between water changes until you get your cycle back.

Good luck and enjoy the forum.

carlos413

My tap water has no ammonia nitrate or nitirite. I have been doing 15 gallon water changes every other day. I also been useing prime religeously on every water change I don't use carbon only if I get funny smell in my tank I use blackwater extract in my amozon them tank.

Thanks for the advice and the welcomes. So you guys saying to do water changes daily instead of every other day like I been doing? Also it's a 55 gallon and I am only takeing out 15 gallons every Other day? Is that enough?

Lucy

A reading of 3 is pretty high, as you know ammonia is toxic to your fish, you'll be heading into the nitrite stage next, which is also toxic.
So yeah, to minimize the stress on the fish, I'd go with 50% daily.

I know it's a lot of work.

jdhef

Yes, by doing daily water changes, you'll be adding Prime or Stress Coat+ daily, which is a good thing since those products only detox for 24 hours.

carlos413

Should i add carbon to the filter? will that help get rid of some of the clouddiness? i dont use it becase it gets rid of my blackwater extract. I alse read somewere that carbon is overrated. is this true? thanks again guys.

carlos413

when I dose with PRIME should i dose for the 55 gallons every day or the amount of water that i am replacing?

carlos413

how do you get that list of your fish on there?
"36 Gallon with: 3 Boseman's Rainbows 5 Odessa Barbs 2 Zebra Danios 2 Dwarf Gourami's 3 Panda Cories"

Lucy

I dose for the amount of water I'm replacing.

That's his signature. At the top, under My Settings, you'll see Edit Signature

Sharkitty

Hi Carlos, welcome to fishlore. Sorry about your cycle. Mine won't get with the program but it's only a 2.5 gallon!

Does anyone else here thing TSS might be a good choice for him? 50% water changes on a 55 gallon wound awful - personally I would happily pay the $15 for a break from that!

Carlos: If you haven't heard of it, "TSS" is Tetra SafeStart and it's basically a bottle of good bacteria that you dump in your tank for an instant (or at least quicker) cycle.

Lucy

I don't have personal experience with it, but many members recommend it.
Be wary of any other bacterial additives, they tend to use up the ammonia and starve the good bacteria.

carlos413

I have used tss. i got two bottles that was rated for 75 gallons, i am not pleased with the results.

Franklin

That is exactly what I was going to suggest.If you can find it locally great.Buy it,add it,and let everything sit for 7 to 10 days.Don't change the water,and do not add any water conditioners.If you cannot find it locally,here is a link,
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod...IVO0rBZPiR3FoS
In the meantime,I would do at least 50% water changes daily.If your ammonia gets as high as 3ppm,I would do 75%,and check it in the morning and evening.You may need to start doing more than one water change a day.Do you have a python?If not it is going to be a major pain,but necessary to keep your fish alive.

carlos413

I am just going to stick with the 50% water changes daily. thank you all for the advice i will post updates

carlos413

when I dose with PRIME should i dose for the 55 gallons every day or the amount of water that i am replacing?

carlos413

Quick update.
I have been doing 40% water changes everyday for three days now. Here are the results.
Ammonia .25 nitrite 0 nitrate 0.

carlos413

UPDATE
I been doing 50% water changes like most you guys suggested. My test results today are 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates. I am I suppose to get a spike in nitrites after the ammonia drops off Please help so I can better understand this. Please read the original post so you can get the whole story, thanks.

agabr123

some people actually never see their nitrItes spike. however, since you're removing most of the ammonia during the water changes, your cycle is going to take quite a while. the best thing i can suggest is just to be patient. what you can do is test your water immediate before you do your daily change to see what kind of readings you get.

oh, and when you dose with prime you can just dose for the new water that you add

Sharkitty

You've got a lot of posts for a fishkeeper who "just started" agabr123.

Carlos - I have never had a nitrite reading in my tank. Don't worry about that too much. The owner of my new choice of LFS told me that even when you clean the test tubes there can be residual chemicals left in them, so you should label them somehow and always use them for the same test. Just a thought (I'm going to start doing that).

While the 0 ammonia might slow down your cycle it's good for your fish (much better than 2 or even .5), so consider that a blessing. Good luck!

JennDFK

According to your tank info your aquarium is planted... Sometimes you won't get nitrates because the plants are using it as food.

Good Luck!

agabr123

lol, i don't like doing things halfway i got my first tank (actually a betta bowl thankfully i know better now) back in november, and now have 8 tanks running and several more waiting to be set up!

Sharkitty

Holy disposable income, Batman!

carlos413

How will i know my tank is cycled if this is the case?

JennDFK

I'm in the same boat... I have a new 55 gallon... our tap has nitrates so coming out of the tap our water is 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5 nitrates... looks like a cycled tank... Add plants to the mix and I have no earthly idea.

I think the key is to check your water daily and as long as you dont have ammonia or nitrites just let it be...no need to do anything but your normal water changes... After you see stability then you can feel like you are saftly cycled...it's kind of like juggling cats only harder...

carlos413

I will do that thank you all for the help

agabr123

lol, craigslist is the biggest enabler and luckily 5 gallon kits are pretty cheap