ammonia,nitrite's

Hate to beat the drum again,but...after using amquel+ and doing 12 gal water chg.,on 3-8, 10 gal on 3-11 10gal on 3-13, 10 gal on 3-16, 8 gal on 3-18, 8 gal on 3-23 10 gal on 3-25...after all these h20 changes with the amquel+ for 47 gal tank,with crystal clear water..my ammonia is unchanged at 0.50,and the nitrite's is unchanged at 0.40...????..as stated on an earlier post water from my well is free from ammonia,nitrite's..it does have a 36 reading of nitrates..anyway I'll keep up the water change's.....the fluval 305 is working fine with a good current..how often should I gravel vac??...Hated to bring this up again people but afraid to take the two week vaction at month's end with this problem...thank's ....gary

 

  HI countryblue!    Cycling a tank can be frustrating!    What do you have in the tank?  I read your posts, and don't know if you have fish or are you doing a fishless cycle?   With a fishless cycle you don't do water changes, as it isn't necessary for the health of fish.   The tank will cycle faster without the water changes.   BUT with fish you have to do the changes or your fish will die, or get REALLY stresses and end up with fin rot, or such!

   I am not familiar with amquel+, since I am on a well that has no chlorine,  is it a dechlorinater?  What you need in that tank is bacteria.   If you can get it Bio-Spira is suppose to be the very best, but to date I have not used it, but have used both Cycle and Stress Zyme and find they help. 
   
   IF you have fish in your tank the water changes are good although I would recommend doing a 40 or 50% change every day,  but I am really concerned if your well water shows nitrates at 36!       Tanks to be healthy are suppose to not have nitrates above 40.  I try to keep mine between 5 and 10, and to do that on my well established tank, I have to do 50 % changes every few days, because I have a heavy fish load.  If yours is at 36 right out of the well, how will you keep it under 40 once the nitrogen cycle is complete and you have the added nitrates from ANY fish waste?
 
  You may consider getting a RO water filter that filters nitrates, this would be good for the health of your tank, but also for your families health.   

   Give us more info on your tank, there may be more suggestions.    Best of Luck! 

Fish in the Frozen North. 8)

 

thank's for reply!....tank was started on jan.22.cycled for 2 weeks before adding any fish.as of know I have 2 black tetra's,3 zebra danio's,two orange molly's,one ballon molly, two cory's,nitrates never have gone above 40 so far..I was concerned if I should gravel vac every time I replace water or just once in awhile....feeding is 1-2 times dailey..small amount.what they will consume in one to one 1/2 min. three day's ago I put in Bio-spria...fish are alway's hungry,and seem healthy...but with the ammonia,and nitrite reading's I know it's not good. still wondering about how many times I should gravel vac......P.s. all the fish I have mentioned have been in the tank since feb 3rd...cross my finger's I haven't lost one yet ....gary
  HI countryblue!    Cycling a tank can be frustrating!    What do you have in the tank?  I read your posts, and don't know if you have fish or are you doing a fishless cycle?   With a fishless cycle you don't do water changes, as it isn't necessary for the health of fish.   The tank will cycle faster without the water changes.   BUT with fish you have to do the changes or your fish will die, or get REALLY stresses and end up with fin rot, or such!

   I am not familiar with amquel+, since I am on a well that has no chlorine,  is it a dechlorinater?  What you need in that tank is bacteria.   If you can get it Bio-Spira is suppose to be the very best, but to date I have not used it, but have used both Cycle and Stress Zyme and find they help. 
   
   IF you have fish in your tank the water changes are good although I would recommend doing a 40 or 50% change every day,  but I am really concerned if your well water shows nitrates at 36!       Tanks to be healthy are suppose to not have nitrates above 40.  I try to keep mine between 5 and 10, and to do that on my well established tank, I have to do 50 % changes every few days, because I have a heavy fish load.  If yours is at 36 right out of the well, how will you keep it under 40 once the nitrogen cycle is complete and you have the added nitrates from ANY fish waste?
 
  You may consider getting a RO water filter that filters nitrates, this would be good for the health of your tank, but also for your families health.   

   Give us more info on your tank,  there may be more suggestions.    Best of Luck! 

Fish in the Frozen North.   8)

 

It is so hard to keep track of what people are up to with their tanks, I overlooked your first post where you told about your fish. :-[ So, about vacuuming. I would try to do that once a week, but only 1/2 of the tank at a time. It stresses the fish out if you chase them all over the tank, if you just do a half at a time, they can relax down at the other end. I still would take more water out each time you do a water change.
In my tank, I do 50% changes, or if the tank has gone for several days, I might do 50%, then at the same time, do 50% again. This might be confusing, but it gives the fish about an hour to adjust to the changing water. This keeps my tank between 5 and 10 for nitrates. What I have noticed from this is that the fish have vivid coloration, are healthy, and swim more vigorously than when the nitrates are above 20. I just don't know how you can do this though if your water comes out of your well at 36 for nitrates. ??? It does sound like your tank is coming along nicely though. Keep it up!

Fish in the Frozen North. 8)

 

thank's for your help..will start the water change now...I may change my name tank slave..thank's again....G
  It is so hard to keep track of what people are up to with their tanks, I overlooked your first post where you told about your  fish.   :-[  So, about vacuuming.   I would try to do that once a week, but only 1/2 of the tank at a time.   It stresses the fish out if you chase them all over the tank, if you just do a half at a time, they can relax down at the other end.   I still would take more water out each time you do a water change.
     In my tank, I do 50% changes, or if the tank has gone for several days, I might do 50%, then at the same time, do 50% again.   This might be confusing, but it gives the fish about an hour to adjust to the changing water.   This keeps my tank between 5 and 10 for nitrates.       What I have noticed from this is that the fish have vivid coloration, are healthy, and swim more vigorously than when the nitrates are above 20.     I just don't know how you can do this though if your water comes out of your well at 36 for nitrates. ???     It does sound like your tank is coming along nicely though.  Keep it up!

Fish in the Frozen North.   8)