updates (or lack thereof)

hi everyone,

my tank is approaching two months old now. hard to believe i've had it that long! danios have been in the tank since the third week of june.

cycling....remains the exact same as it always has been.

ammonia 0.25
nitrites 0
nitrates 5-10

i test every second day and have seen absolutely no movement in numbers yet.

i think i'll take it to a local pet shop tomorrow to have it tested using their kit.

it's hard to decide when to add new fish, given that my parameters aren't budging AT ALL. i'd like to start stocking it but...i'm hesitant because i don't know what the heck is going on with my cycling.

i should add that the fish seem happy and healthy. they are extremely active. eating very well. no signs of stress at all. despite not being in a proper school (i only have two danios) they don't fin nip at each other or appear upset.

i posted a while ago about a missing fish. i had a third danio, who completely disappeared. i have searched the tank several times for remains. nothing. my only assumption is that he was either a) eaten, which seems unlikely because he was the biggest of the bunch or b) died and decomposed quickly before i had a chance to notice...but i doubt that too. who knows. either way i'd think that a dead fish would be a good source of ammonia but the ammonia levels haven't moved an inch.

 

what test do you use?


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api master kit.

 

Have you tested your source water?
It quite often seems to contain some ammonia, which rather frightens me.--rick

 

hi there, yes i've tested my source water, and wondered if perhaps i was wrong...so i took it to a professional and had it tested, and it was fine.

funny story...okay, NOT funny story...i'm pretty much the world's worst fishkeeper, considering that i woke up today, came to check on them, and another one has disappeared. what the heck. i am seriously at a loss for words. i checked under/inside both of our ornaments, around the leaves of the trees, gave the gravel a good stir, checked the filter, looked behind the heater, the airstone, checked the floor all around the tank (but the lid is 100 percent covered - no chance of escape anyway), checked the inside of the canopy (thinking perhaps he got stuck to the lid somehow...which i know is not possible..the water line is quite far below the lid). i am seriously at a loss for words. that's two fish now that have absolutely vanished. my only assumption at this point is that the remaining danio eats them. i feel like that's a long shot - because he isn't very big and you'd think you'd see some swelling in his belly if he ate something substantial. there is absolutely no other place he could be hiding.

 

Yes a danio eating danio is quite a long shot, I agree.
Back to the ammonia thing, I recall a few months ago quite a few posts complaining of ammonia that should not be there, always, it seemed, reporting .25 as the reading.
It made my wonder if the tiniest amount of ammonia would cause the API kit to defer to the lowest, other than zero, reading available on their chart.
I don't know, this is purely speculation.
As to the Danios, well there is always the Mary Celeste theory--sorry, I should not kid, but I really can't help with a logical explanation, unless you happen to have lots of snails or fish large enough to dispose of the remains quickly--best of luck, and try not to walk under any ladders today----rick

 

i have one other danio. no one else. lol. so he didn't get attacked by a swarm of fish!

 

i feel like a complete fool hahaha but i kid you not, the fish is NOWHERE to be found. i would understand if the lid was off unattended or something and perhaps he jumped, but that's not the case. perhaps he buries himself deep in the gravel? lol. no, that's not it. i've overturned the gravel a billion times today. but i mean, there's no answer. there really isn't.

 

If the fish is dead in your tank you'd see it on your API test. Don't worry about the ammonia still showing as .25

My tank is cycled with 5 labs, 2 platies, 5 mollies, 10 tiger barbs, 1 acei, and a common plec. (Yes I know the plec will out grow my tank). And my API still says ammonia .25. As long as you see blue for nitrites and nitrates climbing between water changes you're good. Just watch how much you increase your bio load at any given time. You'll throw the tank into a mini cycle.


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i've never seen an ounce of purple on the nitrites test. it has always shown up as a pale aqua blue colour. not a hint of anything above 0. i used a product called tetra cycle in the beginning.

i'd really love to go out and buy a few new fish today but i'm skeptical of whether my tank is okay...guess i'm just being overly cautious. but i mean, it's been nearly 2 months.

 

What fish and how many do you have in there right now?


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Well, first of all, you should not feel feel a complete fool (that is my territory here, thank you), but rather a conscientious aquarist.
I cannot seem to find any info on your tank, but as I tend to keep rather large tanks, it is not at all unusual for me to say (yes, ok, I do talk to my fish, but this goes no further than you), 'ah, there you are', after a couple of weeks apparent absence.
I presume, though, that you keep a tank of a size easier to keep track of fish in, and furthermore, and in your keeping only danios, I really have no explanation.
It is somewhat like Roanoake, or my wife's proposing to me, these things are more properly held in the journals of Charles Fort, or a nuclear physicist talking about a multiverse (well, physicist and cosmologist).
I do hope that that was impressive, as I have no idea, are seem to be masking that fact rather poorly.
My honest guess is that your cycle is doing well, as either gamma rays, Scotty, or alien abduction disposed of two danios without stressing your biofilter, and that your API test kit is likely registering the most minute quantity of ammonia as a sort of false positive, in reading ,25.
Perhaps, if you are so inclined, add another couple of fish of similar bioload, perhaps with tracing collars, and see if your water parameters continue to stay stable; I'm betting that they will.--rick

 

yes, the reason I asked you what test you use is because sometimes the API reads false positives. Honestly if you've used TSS and nitrites are at 0 and there are nitrates you are cycled. You could also be misreading the ammonia test. Also are you waiting 5 minutes until reading it? it could just be a simple misunderstanding that I wouldn't worry about.
As for the 2 missing danios. what ornaments do you have in there? Anything they could swim in and out of? If so it could be quite possible that they got stuck in it, but I would be surprised if both of them did. hmmm. if you do have ornaments like I said, have you taken them out and looked in them? I have heard stories of people finding their fish stuck between two of the walls or something like that. I've heard other stories of fish coming out of ornaments when the ornaments are taken out of the water. Do not take an ornament out and leave it out right now. It could be a possibility that they are just hiding out somewhere in them and by leaving it out they will die without water obviously.
Do you have any cats, birds, or other animals?
hmm I don't know what to say. Sometimes when fish have disappeared for other members they will suddenly reappear.
Have you checked the filter? That's a worthy place to check sadly.
I wish you best luck. If you add new fish don't add too many or you'll overwhelm and disturb the cycle.
what size tank is it??
Good luck!


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okay folks, i found this morning's fish! lol. i went out to run errands for a few hours, came home, and boom, there he was. clearly he was hiding somewhere but....i honestly have absolutely NO clue where. i searched for him this morning for a couple of hours, haha.

i bought two danios today. so now i have four. my tank is a 23 gallon national geographic brand. dimensions measure a 29 gallon, but where it's a bowfront, i'm guessing that's where the discrepency is.

i, too, am assuming that my cycle is doing very well, and my api kit is just screwy. because the water is crystal clear, and everyone is happy and healthy. no signs of stress whatsoever.

also, i made a typo in this post - i didn't use tetra start - i used nutrafin cycle, haha. i had tetra safestart on the brain apparently. i've been trying to order it from a local supplier but they are having a heck of a time getting ahold of it. i'm going to united states in a few days so i think i'll just pick it up myself.

 

happy you found him
sounds like your tank is doing great and it's ready to be stocked!
do so carefully though


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I went through this dilemma a few years ago, not being able to get the API ammonia to be a 0. I talked to a few people on phone, luckily I actually got the well known Dr. Tim one day, who know s a lot about fish. He said absolutely the API ammonia gives false positives if you use Prime. I cannot repeat why, been too long. Upon his suggestion, I got the Seachem multitest ammonia kit which does give an accurate reading. This kit is cumbersome to use and takes 30 minutes to read. So I only use it once in a while to confirm a zero test. I still never get a zero reading with the API, but if it is between 0 and.25 I call it a high 0 and don't worry about it.



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neonblue- great to hear how your tank is doing. i remember we touched base a while back with our nat geo kit. good luck!!!!