PLEASE Help get my water to normal levels! I do not want to lose any more fish!

I would first like to say that I am a beginner and have made some mistakes. My main mistake was not fully cycling my tank before adding fish. I only left the tank running for 48 hours before adding fish.

I currently have 3 fish in my tank: 1 x guppy, 1 x platty, and 1 x gourami.

I lost 2 fish so far because my water level is not right. My guppy has pink gills and my platy seems to be loosing its fin color. I bought the platy with a black fin but now the fin seems to be going clear in color. I bought the API master testing kit and here are my water readings:

Ph: 7.6
Ammonia: 0.50 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm

I have a 20 gallon tank with a 50 gallon marineland filter. I also have a heater and my temperature is set to about 77 degrees. I can provide more information if necessary.
What can I do to get my water to normal levels? I would greatly appreciate the help!

 

HI Jak,
Everyone has been in the same boat as you at one point or another. Did you add anything in the last 24 hours to treat your water (like Prime)? If not, don't. Get yourself a bottle of Tetra Safe Start and add it to your tank. Your nitrification cycle needs a kickstart.

 

HI there Adam,

I actually did a 30 percent water change last night and added some prime to it. I also added something called "Correct PH" which I got from Petco. What else can I do?

 

OK. Still get the TSS and add it to the tank. You just have to wait 24 hours after adding Prime before you can add TSS.

 

HI Jak3d

Welcome to FishLore!!

I'm really sorry about your fish.
Looks like the cycle is in full swing.

Before following Adam's advice it would be a good idea to do a water change to get those nitrites down.
They are at a very dangerous level.

Nitrite poisoning effects the blood where it can't absorb oxygen which can cause suffocation.

Good luck, I hope your fish feel better.

 

HI Jak3d, and welcome to FishLore!

Sorry to hear you're having some troubles. It's not at all uncommon--we all made plenty of mistakes while learning. What type of dechlorinator/water condition are you using? The first thing I'd do is dose the whole tank with that to bring the ammonia down, as the pink gills can be a sign that high ammonia is causing problems.

My recommendation would be to finish the cycle quickly using a bacteria-in-a-bottle product. There are many available, but the one that most forum members here have used and heartily recommend is Tetra SafeStart. It's very simple to use, just do a large water change and dose with dechlorinator, then wait 24 hours. It's critical that you wait at least 24 hours, as water conditioner will kill the TSS bacteria. After the 24 hours are up, test to make sure that your ammonia is 0.25ppm or below. If it is, go ahead and pour the entire bottle of SafeStart (make sure you get one big enough for a 20g; it's not a big deal if the bottle is larger than necessary, just pour the whole thing) into the tank and then do nothing for two weeks. No water changes, no adding any chemicals, no new fish or inverts, just feed the fish lightly as you normally would. You can test the water during the TSS cycle; however, it's my recommendation that you don't TSS is packed in an ammonia solution to keep the bacteria alive, which can and will cause ammonia and nitrite levels that look a lot worse than they actually are. Those readings might cause you to panic and do a water change, and doing a water change during TSS will kill the cycle. You'll have to start over if you do that, so it's best to just bring the water as close to 0ppm ammonia as you can before testing, and then trust TSS to do its thing.

There are other bacteria bottle products out there, such as API Quick Start, Seachem Stability, Jungle Start Right and ATM Colony. Quick Start and any Jungle product are, imo, not worth the plastic they're packaged in, Stability works well but requires more work and is, imo, easier to screw up as a result, and I believe there's only one member here who has any experience at all with Colony.

I'd also take your tank temperature up just a bit to 79 degrees. In my experience, that's arguably the best temperature for a vibrant, active tropical community, but 77 certainly won't hurt anyone.

Edit to add: I highly recommend not using any chemical pH modifiers. A high or low pH can be adapted to. Chemical pH modifiers are prone to causing large pH swings, which can and will kill fish. It's best to just acclimate fish to your pH slowly rather than risk a swing that wipes out a large portion of your tank.

 

HI there Adam,

I actually did a 30 percent water change last night and added some prime to it. I also added something called "Correct PH" which I got from Petco. What else can I do?

i'd advice against using products like that as it will work well enough for a bit but when you do a water change your pH will fluctuate which will kill fish

so with prime if you still haven't cycled your tank you need to wait 24 hrs since you did the water change and then you can use TSS to do an fish in cycle (unless you fish go belly up by the time you read this (and I really really really hope that isn't the case) just make sure you have a few conditions set

1. get all parameters as close to 0 as possible (ammonia, nitrite)

2. don't add before 24 hrs after using a water conditioner like prime

3. make sure you buy the bottle correct for your tank read the back not the front of the bottle and when you add it add the whole thing after shaking it up well

4. don't do a water change for 2 WEEKS after adding TSS

5. lightly feed your fish during this time no need producing a ton of extra ammonia

 

HI Jak3d, great advice so far, but will add that with your nitrite at 5PPM, a water change is needed as soon as possible. I would do a 90% water change, wait an hour, retest, and if your nitrite is still elevated, do another 50% water change. Try to manage your nitrate below .25PPM. Best way to manage is with water changes. Best of luck.

 

Right, forget about adding chemicals to alter the pH. the ammonia and nitrites are the issue now. pH is generally not that big of a deal unless it's extremely low or is fluctuating quite a bit.

 

HI Jak3d, great advice so far, but will add that with your nitrite at 5PPM, a water change is needed as soon as possible. I would do a 90% water change, wait an hour, retest, and if your nitrite is still elevated, do another 50% water change. Try to manage your nitrate below .25PPM. Best way to manage is with water changes. Best of luck.

Wow!?! a 90 percent water change? alright I will try it when I get home.

I also want to thank everyone for their quick replies. I am new to this forum and so far am loving it.. its very active!

I am sorry but I am a total newbie. What is "TSS"?

I also want to add that I have had fishes added to the tank for about 1.5 months now.

Thanks again.

 

No apologies needed!! Welcome to Fishlore !!

TSS is Tetra Safe Start. It is beneficial bacteria (BB) in a bottle. It is easy to find in pet stores, and I think in Walmart too.

 

No apologies needed!! Welcome to Fishlore !!

TSS is Tetra Safe Start. It is beneficial bacteria (BB) in a bottle. It is easy to find in pet stores, and I think in Walmart too.

ah ok! I will go grab a bottle asap.

 

Welcome to FishLore!

If you choose to use SafeStart, here is what you need to do:

Do a large water change (or even back to back water changes) to get ammonia and nitrite as close to 0ppm as possible. Wait 24 hours then add an entire well shaken, appropriate sized bottle of SafeStart to your tank. Don't worry if the bottle will treat a tank larger than your tank, you cannot overdose, but you can easily underdose. Then do nothing but lightly feed your fish for the next 14 days. On day 14 test your water and if all worked correctly you'll be cycled.

 

Another option is to get month-old filter material, such as a sponge or even old cartrdge from a healthy source. By healthy, I don't mean an LFS but rather someone with a stable tank and no recent illnesses. Stuff as much as you can of it into your filter while still allowing the water to flow through freely. This seeding material will give you beneficial bacteria on the spot, and will avoid the extreme stress of huge water changes on your already weakened fish. I've done 90% water changes, and some fish recover from them while others keel over.

Hang in there--it will get better!

 

Another option is to get month-old filter material, such as a sponge or even old cartrdge from a healthy source. By healthy, I don't mean an LFS but rather someone with a stable tank and no recent illnesses. Stuff as much as you can of it into your filter while still allowing the water to flow through freely. This seeding material will give you beneficial bacteria on the spot, and will avoid the extreme stress of huge water changes on your already weakened fish. I've done 90% water changes, and some fish recover from them while others keel over.

Hang in there--it will get better!

Hi!

I really do hope it will get better! I bought these fishes for two 2 year old children who love fishes but never knew it would be this much work! I am willing to do what ever it takes to fix the water and hopefully add some more fish! I appreciate everyone's quick responses! I will post back in this thread if I need more help.

 

They say to not use the pH down solutions because the sudden change can hinder the fish.

Also, I'll second the Tetra SafeStart. I had added several drops of bacteria supplement before using that as well. And someone on here advised me not to feed the fish daily. I didn't realize they can actually go quite a while without food. I began to feed my fish once every other day. The excess food causes poorer water conditions and an increase in Ammonia, thus Nitrites. Creeping up on a month now with these fish and this tank.

 

Hi!

I really do hope it will get better! I bought these fishes for two 2 year old children who love fishes but never knew it would be this much work!

Fishkeeping is just hard in the beginning because the learning curve is so steep. 98% of what you need to know, you need to know when you start up the tank. Then you spend the rest of your fishkeeping days learning the other 2%.

For example, all I do now is feed my fish daily and do a partial water change once a week.

 

Wow!?! a 90 percent water change? alright I will try it when I get home.

I also want to thank everyone for their quick replies. I am new to this forum and so far am loving it.. its very active!

I am sorry but I am a total newbie. What is "TSS"?

I also want to add that I have had fishes added to the tank for about 1.5 months now.

Thanks again.

Yes, the percentage of water removed equals the percentage of contaminant removed. Say you have 1PPM nitrite, if you do a 50% water change, you only remove 50% of the contaminant, so your test reading for nitrite after the water change would be .50PPM and so on..

 

Just in case no one brought this up to your attention: NEVER ever check your water perimeters right after you've added Prime or other conditioner, ALWAYS wait at least 24 hours if you want to get accurate measurement of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates in your tank water. If you make two or three 90% water changes back to back! you still have to wait at least 24 hours after the last change to check your water perimeters.. Good luck

 

Hi!

I really do hope it will get better! I bought these fishes for two 2 year old children who love fishes but never knew it would be this much work! I am willing to do what ever it takes to fix the water and hopefully add some more fish! I appreciate everyone's quick responses! I will post back in this thread if I need more help.

Once you do get the tank cycled do not add a bunch of fish. I personally would wait at least 1mth to get a good colony of beneficial bacteria. If you added a bunch of fish right away the BB couldn't handle the extra bio load. Only add 1 fish at a time then wait a few weeks before adding another. Also you don't want to overstock your 20gal so be very careful when picking fish. You'll need to know how big their gonna get. Sorry to hear you lost some fish. Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

UPDATE!I want to thank everyone for their responses as I have received many great ones and did not yet get a chance to comment on some. I did around a 75% water change yesterday and here is water my numbers look like now:

PH: 7.2
Ammonia: Between 0 and 0.25 PPM
Nitrite: Between 0.25 and 0.5 PPM
Nitrate: 5.0 PPM
(The reason I have some that say "between" is because the color did not fully match up on the card and looked to be somewhat in between... not sure if its alright to put it that way).

Old reading:
PH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0.50 PPM
Nitrite: 5.0 PPM
Nitrate: 20 PPM

Here is exactly what I did yesterday night:

1) Did a 75% water change
2) Added API Stress Coat + Water Conditioner (I had Prime but did not use that)
3) Added API Aquarium Salt
4) Waited 1 hour and then tested the water with the results mentioned above.
5) Fed the fish!

I plan to pick up the TSS today and wait until it has been 24 hours and then add that to the tank. I have a few questions:

1) How are my numbers looking now and what can I do next?
2) Should I do a partial water change before adding the TSS tonight? If so, how much water should be changed? Should I be adding any water conditioner such as Prime or Stress Coat +?

I would love to hear some of your suggestions!

 

The readings look good.
I bet your fish are feeling better.

If you're going to use Tetra SafeStart please read this:

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/q-a-with-tetra-about-tetra-safestart.58116/

Test the water today.
If the readings still look about the same no water change is necessary and you can add TSS if it's been 24 hours since adding the conditioner.

It wouldn't hurt to do one if you want. Just be sure wait 24 hours after adding conditioner that detox's ammonia and/or chlorimines before adding TSS.
(That info is included in the link )

 

The readings look good.
I bet your fish are feeling better.

If you're going to use Tetra SafeStart please read this:

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/q-a-with-tetra-about-tetra-safestart.58116/

Test the water today.
If the readings still look about the same no water change is necessary and you can add TSS if it's been 24 hours since adding the conditioner.

It wouldn't hurt to do one if you want. Just be sure wait 24 hours after adding conditioner that detox's ammonia and/or chlorimines before adding TSS.
(That info is included in the link )

Wonderful information in that link, I greatly appreciate it. I have only a few questions before I do this tonight. You say above that it wouldn't hurt to do a water change just to be safe... my question is, if I do go ahead and do a water change, how much should I change? Also, I am guessing that I would not be adding any tap water conditioner after doing the water change as it says to allow 24 hours without it before adding the TSS. Does this sound right? I mean, would the fish not be harmed if I add water straight from the tap without any conditioner?

Thanks!

 

Wonderful information in that link, I greatly appreciate it. I have only a few questions before I do this tonight. You say above that it wouldn't hurt to do a water change just to be safe... my question is, if I do go ahead and do a water change, how much should I change? Also, I am guessing that I would not be adding any tap water conditioner after doing the water change as it says to allow 24 hours without it before adding the TSS. Does this sound right? I mean, would the fish not be harmed if I add water straight from the tap without any conditioner?

Thanks!

if you do a water change you need to either use a dechlorinator that doesn't bind ammonia as that is what the bacteria in TSS eat or wait 24 hrs before adding the TSS

 

if you do a water change you need to either use a dechlorinator that doesn't bind ammonia as that is what the bacteria in TSS eat or wait 24 hrs before adding the TSS

Would this be alright?:

 

Would this be alright?:

I think so but i'd wait for someone elses advice before deciding

 

I wouldn't use any form of water conditioner within 24 hours of using SafeStart, but I would consider doing another water change today to bring those nitrites down to 0.25 or lower, then waiting until tomorrow for the TSS. The TSS ships in an ammonia solution to keep the bacteria fed well and alive during shipping, and contact with an agent that removes, binds or detoxes ammonia would eliminate that solution and kill the bacteria. IMO, it's not worth risking your entire TSS cycle to squeeze in one last water change. If you feel the need to do one, I'll always wholly encourage you to do so, but wait the 24h before beginning the TSS after it.

 

I wouldn't use any form of water conditioner within 24 hours of using SafeStart, but I would consider doing another water change today to bring those nitrites down to 0.25 or lower, then waiting until tomorrow for the TSS. The TSS ships in an ammonia solution to keep the bacteria fed well and alive during shipping, and contact with an agent that removes, binds or detoxes ammonia would eliminate that solution and kill the bacteria. IMO, it's not worth risking your entire TSS cycle to squeeze in one last water change. If you feel the need to do one, I'll always wholly encourage you to do so, but wait the 24h before beginning the TSS after it.

This makes sense. How much water do you think needs to be changed to get my nitrites under 0.25?

 

Based on your numbers earlier today, a 50% water change should get the nitrate under 0.25

 

This makes sense. How much water do you think needs to be changed to get my nitrites under 0.25?

50% should get them to 0.25. I'd consider doing as much as a 75% change (or three 5 gallon changes over the space of a few hours, if a 5 gallon bucket is what you have) to make sure everything's well within where it needs to be, then test 24 hours later and, if ammonia and nitrites are 0.25 or lower, go ahead and introduce the TSS.

The key with TSS is that once you get it started, you can't change water or add any chemicals for two weeks afterwards, short of emergency scenarios, so make sure you're happy with where your parameters are before adding it.

 

Your really close to being cycled I would continue with daily water changes. I had the .25 ammonia .25 nitrite and .5 nitrate for a few days and when my ammonia hit 0 my nitrite hit 0 12hrs later. I would hold off on the TSS since you are soooo close but that my opinion....lol.

 

I just went to my Petco and they only had the BIG 8.45 ounce of the TSS there so I picked that up. It says that it treats up to 100 gallons. I only have a 20 gallon tank. Should I put in half a bottle? And by the way, it is a tetra safe start plus.

 

There are a ton of replies here so I didn't read them all but I highly recommend tossing out or at least putting away the pH correct. 7.6 is perfect for most fish you will be adding and you don't want to mess with the pH of your water unless something is really wrong with it. Good luck with the TSS. It works wonders and it looks like you're almost half way through your cycle by the sounds of it. Soon you'll be set!

You can't overdose on TSS so half a bottle may be fine but adding it all can only benefit your cycle. Up to you!

 

You should always add an entire bottle of SafeStart. There is no way to ensure that the bacteria is evenly distributed in the bottle, plus as mentioned, you can't overdose.

 

Is there a difference between tetra safe start and tetra safe start "plus"? They only had the "plus" version at the store.

 

Also, you should always condition your tap water (Prime is a very good water conditioner). So when you do a water change, make sure your tap water is within 1 or 2 degrees of your tank. Fill your 5 gallon bucket with the correct temperature tap water. Add water conditioner. I like to mix it some with a 1/2 gallon pitcher ( dedicated to aquarium use, new, never washed with soap ), so I mix by scooping some water and dumping it back in the bucket. I do this several times. It helps to remove gases from the water. Then add it to your tank. Always use conditioner and always wait 24 hours after the water change to add Tetra Safe Start. Hope this makes sense! Good luck!

Edit: I use an instant read digital meat thermometer to test my tap water to make sure I get it to the right temperature . I also keep rechecking the temp as I fill the bucket because it can get warmer as it runs.

 

there shouldn't be a difference, but if your unsure, read the bottle

 

I believe TSS Plus just works faster than TSS. .and no WC for two weeks if you add TSS.

 

I wondered that too about the Plus version because that's what I used too.

Never found the answer, but it sure does seem to be working.

 

I think the Tetra website says the Plus is a more concentrated version.