lullabyroars
Member
This might be a little long, and Im also new here, so please bear with me cause im so confused. I've posted on loads of other forums but no one can help. I really need some advice.
So I keep getting weird readings from my API kit and I cant work out what's going on. I know all about the nitrogen cycle and how it works and how important it is so I don't want people to explain that to me because thats not my issue. I filled out the emergency sheet just because I thought the info might be relevant.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 15 Gallons
How long has the tank been running? 2 months
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 25 Celcius/77 Fahrenheit
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 1 male betta and 3 panda cory cats
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? At the moment every few days
How much of the water do you change? Sometimes 30%, sometimes 50%
What do you use to treat your water? Amquel Plus
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? I take up debris and so the substrate gets mixed up a little
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? I did a fish in cycle with the betta
What do you use to test the water? API liquid test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”. At the moment they fluctuate too rapidly to tell, however I explain in detail with actual readings below. My pH is 6.4.
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? At the moment for my betta it's once a day and my cories every other day.
How much do you feed your fish? My betta is 4 or 5 pellets at the moment and the cories are a small pinch
What brand of food do you feed your fish? My betta has Hikari Gold floating pellets and my cories take Fluval Bug Bites
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Not at the moment
Okay so some further details on the actual problem: My tank was cycled around a month ago after doing a very careful fish in cycle with my betta (he was perfectly fine and still is as I gave it my undevided attention to ensure his safety and comfort) and after around 2 weeks to my surprise it showed proper readings of 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and 5ppm nitrates for about a week or so after that.
I then proceeded to buy 6 Panda cory cats but 3 didnt make the journey home from the fish store unfortunately and in hindsight, it would never have been a good idea to introduce all 6 at once, but I'd still have preferred to move them to another tank not have them die. But the 3 remaining have now been in the tank for about 2 weeks now and they look really happy.
I was using API quick start to boost my bacteria upon adding the cories and as expected the ammonia rose a little so I water changed and dosed API ammolock, however I didnt realise how bad it was for the bacteria as I was researching my sudden 8ppm ammonia reading. I was told the ammolock gives that false reading and the way it binds the ammonia means nitrites cant consume it (nitrites were still at 0ppm). So, I did a 90% water change to get most of that ammolock chemical out and swapped to Amquel Plus, which I had been recomended.
The next day, I got excellent readings: 0ppm ammonia and same for nitrite and a 5ppm nitrate. So I thought this was great and my issues were solved. Wrong, as the next day I was up at 2ppm ammonia again, no nitrites. I dosed Amquel after a water change again, as im just conscious of my fishes' health. Next day, same result. So I quit amquel for now just incase and just kept on water changing to keep ammonia down instead.
2 days ago I had 2ppm ammonia and 0.25ppm nitrite, so I thought the cories had induced my tank to re-cycle and I also did a water change. But then yesterday I tested expecting the same and no, I had 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and 5ppm nitrate. So I felt good but suspicious. I was hoping for the same today but no again, im back at 2ppm ammonia and 0.25ppm nitrite.
Meanwhile, my betta and my cories are acting perfectly normal. I reduced their feeding as I usually feed my betta 2 times a day (3 or 4 hikari gold pellets each time but im working on getting bloodworms to vary his diet) and I was feeding my pandas a tiny pinch of Fluval Bug Bites which they eat like their life depends on it. I stopped feeing them the bug bites on the regular as they seem to eat organic matter (?) off every surface in my tank (wood, leaves, rocks, even my betta's floating log) and so i do it every 2 days now incase it is them pooping too much. My betta is down to once a day for now (dont wanna stop fully atm bc he has a minor wound (a few scales got knocked off his head) and i want him to keep his strength up to heal well - it's been three days and hes still very active tho and eating)
Anyone got any idea of whats going on? I just need to fix this and understand it so i can prevent it and I need the water to be stable enough for my fish.
Thank you!
So I keep getting weird readings from my API kit and I cant work out what's going on. I know all about the nitrogen cycle and how it works and how important it is so I don't want people to explain that to me because thats not my issue. I filled out the emergency sheet just because I thought the info might be relevant.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 15 Gallons
How long has the tank been running? 2 months
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 25 Celcius/77 Fahrenheit
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 1 male betta and 3 panda cory cats
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? At the moment every few days
How much of the water do you change? Sometimes 30%, sometimes 50%
What do you use to treat your water? Amquel Plus
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? I take up debris and so the substrate gets mixed up a little
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? I did a fish in cycle with the betta
What do you use to test the water? API liquid test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”. At the moment they fluctuate too rapidly to tell, however I explain in detail with actual readings below. My pH is 6.4.
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? At the moment for my betta it's once a day and my cories every other day.
How much do you feed your fish? My betta is 4 or 5 pellets at the moment and the cories are a small pinch
What brand of food do you feed your fish? My betta has Hikari Gold floating pellets and my cories take Fluval Bug Bites
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Not at the moment
Okay so some further details on the actual problem: My tank was cycled around a month ago after doing a very careful fish in cycle with my betta (he was perfectly fine and still is as I gave it my undevided attention to ensure his safety and comfort) and after around 2 weeks to my surprise it showed proper readings of 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and 5ppm nitrates for about a week or so after that.
I then proceeded to buy 6 Panda cory cats but 3 didnt make the journey home from the fish store unfortunately and in hindsight, it would never have been a good idea to introduce all 6 at once, but I'd still have preferred to move them to another tank not have them die. But the 3 remaining have now been in the tank for about 2 weeks now and they look really happy.
I was using API quick start to boost my bacteria upon adding the cories and as expected the ammonia rose a little so I water changed and dosed API ammolock, however I didnt realise how bad it was for the bacteria as I was researching my sudden 8ppm ammonia reading. I was told the ammolock gives that false reading and the way it binds the ammonia means nitrites cant consume it (nitrites were still at 0ppm). So, I did a 90% water change to get most of that ammolock chemical out and swapped to Amquel Plus, which I had been recomended.
The next day, I got excellent readings: 0ppm ammonia and same for nitrite and a 5ppm nitrate. So I thought this was great and my issues were solved. Wrong, as the next day I was up at 2ppm ammonia again, no nitrites. I dosed Amquel after a water change again, as im just conscious of my fishes' health. Next day, same result. So I quit amquel for now just incase and just kept on water changing to keep ammonia down instead.
2 days ago I had 2ppm ammonia and 0.25ppm nitrite, so I thought the cories had induced my tank to re-cycle and I also did a water change. But then yesterday I tested expecting the same and no, I had 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and 5ppm nitrate. So I felt good but suspicious. I was hoping for the same today but no again, im back at 2ppm ammonia and 0.25ppm nitrite.
Meanwhile, my betta and my cories are acting perfectly normal. I reduced their feeding as I usually feed my betta 2 times a day (3 or 4 hikari gold pellets each time but im working on getting bloodworms to vary his diet) and I was feeding my pandas a tiny pinch of Fluval Bug Bites which they eat like their life depends on it. I stopped feeing them the bug bites on the regular as they seem to eat organic matter (?) off every surface in my tank (wood, leaves, rocks, even my betta's floating log) and so i do it every 2 days now incase it is them pooping too much. My betta is down to once a day for now (dont wanna stop fully atm bc he has a minor wound (a few scales got knocked off his head) and i want him to keep his strength up to heal well - it's been three days and hes still very active tho and eating)
Anyone got any idea of whats going on? I just need to fix this and understand it so i can prevent it and I need the water to be stable enough for my fish.
Thank you!