I have been using microbe-lift Nite out for 5 days and my ammonia and nitrites are still at 4ppm and 5pp. I have nothing left from my old tank but a little carbon that had been out of the tank for 2 weeks, and is a little wet can I use this? I have 1 peacock bass, one blood red parrot, one Oscar, one pleco and one rope fish who is suffering from the ammonia in a 75 gallon tank. I'm hearing a lot of different answers about what to do please help!
Please Help before I loose all my fish
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I'd do 50% water changes every day until ammonia and nitrites are below 1 ppm. I can't think of anything that would reduce the toxins other than water changes. 4 or 5 ppm is sky high with fish in. I try to avoid huge water changes, but I might even go higher than 50%.
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By doing the water change will that be taking all the beneficial bacteria out?
The bacteria don’t live in the water column. They live on surfaces. Get on your local Facebook aquarium group and get some cycled media from someone. See if someone is willing to sell you a cycled sponge filter. Like GuppyDazzle says, get those water changes going!
And honestly, with those numbers, I would start with the absolute highest water change you can do without beaching the fish. I would go 90% if I could.
And honestly, with those numbers, I would start with the absolute highest water change you can do without beaching the fish. I would go 90% if I could.
First don't panic. Lots of knowledgeable people here who can help. Will need a little more information to better advise. Can you tell us about your tank and recent activity? We need to understand what has caused these high levels so you can take the right action to turn that around.
For now, water changes are a good start. One more important thing to do beside doing water changes, do you have Prime water conditioner? Adding this will make the water safer for the fish. It will not reduce the levels but it will reduce the effects these levels have on them.
For now, water changes are a good start. One more important thing to do beside doing water changes, do you have Prime water conditioner? Adding this will make the water safer for the fish. It will not reduce the levels but it will reduce the effects these levels have on them.
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I set this tank up the week after Christmas and it was doing fine until I completely cleaned out the filter with tap water. I cleaned it out because I had some wood that was releasing tannins in the water and I thought this was a bad thing. Then I got some more fish and a water test kit. After running tests I realized how bad the tank is doing. I have only Aqueon water Conditioner. thank you for your help.
yes tank is from Christmas I accidentally killed all beneficial bacteria and I got new fish
Okay - Yea washing the filter with tap water most likely killed off your good bacteria. Hopefully there is still some left and this will restart the rebuilding process. In any case your tank is cycling. Not familiar with Aqueon water conditioner but I see it does remove ammonia and nitrites, so it should be okay. Others who are familiar can speak up about that. I use Prime as do many others.
What kind of water test kit? Strips will not give a good accurate reading but at least you get an indication. a good test kit is API Master test kit, but that is something you can look at later. For now you need to work on your parameters and the fish. As we've said daily water changes and testing are best for now.
If this is a full cycle your actions are limited because you have fish in the tank. Kcopper has a good suggestion. If you can get hold of some cycled media it will accelerate the cycle. If it's a mini-cycle same thing just a shorter recovery time for the tank to complete the cycle since there is already some good bacteria in your system.
Hopefully, with the water changes you see these levels drop. They should, but will not be gone until the cycle completes. Of the two Nitrites are the more lethal, so try to get both down.
Also, it's natural for wood to release tannins. A trick to reduce this is to put the wood in a pot and boil it. This disinfects the wood and drive some of the tannins out. It will never get it all out but it does make a difference.
Good luck and keep us posted as this moves along.
What kind of water test kit? Strips will not give a good accurate reading but at least you get an indication. a good test kit is API Master test kit, but that is something you can look at later. For now you need to work on your parameters and the fish. As we've said daily water changes and testing are best for now.
If this is a full cycle your actions are limited because you have fish in the tank. Kcopper has a good suggestion. If you can get hold of some cycled media it will accelerate the cycle. If it's a mini-cycle same thing just a shorter recovery time for the tank to complete the cycle since there is already some good bacteria in your system.
Hopefully, with the water changes you see these levels drop. They should, but will not be gone until the cycle completes. Of the two Nitrites are the more lethal, so try to get both down.
Also, it's natural for wood to release tannins. A trick to reduce this is to put the wood in a pot and boil it. This disinfects the wood and drive some of the tannins out. It will never get it all out but it does make a difference.
Good luck and keep us posted as this moves along.
Chances are you didn't actually completely destroy your BB. They certainly took a beating but you are still producing nitrite so part of your nitrogen cycle is working. What is your nitrate currently at? If you are still producing nitrates, then your whole cycle is intact, just not at the level you require yet.
Your best bet is just to keep going with the water changes. You are probably going to have to do them daily, but soon enough you will be back to normal.
Your best bet is just to keep going with the water changes. You are probably going to have to do them daily, but soon enough you will be back to normal.
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Uhmm I think you know that tap water will instakill the beneficial bacteria that you waited for sometime to build up and the worst is it's the filter. Anyway you could have just removed the wood then water change until the tank clears. Well the thing happened and I think you already felt bad from doing it for now just do what we say and lets see if some of our friends here can also advice a better solution since this is a problem that needs a quick solution.
I did Buy the API Master test kit and the test vile looked a little darker than the 5ppm mark I have been holding off on the water changes because my local mom and pop fish store is telling me to hold off and let the BB do its job I'm glad I got another opinion.
Your good with the test kit. The LFS may not have fully understood your issue, so good thing you are seeking help. As has been said, you have damaged the BB but all is not lost. There is still BB in the tank. As Kcopper asked - what are your Nitrate levels. This will confirm that you still have good BB.
The only thing working against you that you can't control is time. Performing daily water changes and testing is your best course of action.
I recommend you do a large initial water change and then 20% daily to keep the levels below 1 PPM until the cycle completes.
The only thing working against you that you can't control is time. Performing daily water changes and testing is your best course of action.
I recommend you do a large initial water change and then 20% daily to keep the levels below 1 PPM until the cycle completes.
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No, the water changes will not deplete the BB. The bacteria colonies form on surfaces, not in the water column.
Do water changes based on your test readings. You can keep ammonia and nitrites down to 1 ppm or below by doing water changes. For example, if you take your ammonia reading and your nitrite reading and add them together, and the result is 2 ppm, a 50% water change will dilute that to 1 ppm (theoretically, not always neat and clean). Test every day until you get it under control. That's kind of getting ahead of things, you need to get that ammonia down.
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