phoebe1988 Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 (edited) Hi there, I recently upgraded my aquarium to a 50 gallon for my existing butterfly telescope with an external filter so I could get him some friends and keep him separate from the invertebrates in the original tank for ease of using medications. I did a fishless cycle of the tank using some bio-media from my existing tank and by adding plants to the aquarium + nite-out and I have been testing with an API kit. Before adding my telescope the levels were 0 for ammonia and nitrite and 10 for nitrate. I added my fish and a few days later I was still reading zero ammonia and nitrite for several readings. After adding two more goldfish (a ranchu and an oranda) the tank was initially cycling fine but a couple of days later I got an ammonia spike of 1.0ppm, 0 nitrite and 10-20 nitrates before I could dose the new fish with prazi or salt as a precaution. (I don't have access to a quarantine tank.) I have been doing daily tests with 50-60% water changes using Seachem Prime to bind the ammonia. I also have not fed the fish to try and get it under control and have checked for any rotting plants. After 2-3d the ammonia decreased to 0.25ppm but there is still no nitrite??? Nitrates have continually been between 10-20 before water changes. I felt bad for the fish and gave them a really small amount of food, checked the ammonia today and it's increased to 0.5ppm, still no nitrite. Meanwhile some of the fish have been rubbing on the sand and I have noticed some red veins visible in the fins. Ideally I'd like to remove the plants and do a salt treatment but I'm worried this could set back the tank cycling even further. I've dosed them with praziquantel this evening and added an airstone but I'm just not 100% sure what to do next....any suggestions would be highly welcome! Edited September 23, 2020 by phoebe1988 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted September 23, 2020 Administrators Share Posted September 23, 2020 Why are you dosing meds? The red veins is from the stress of the water parameters and frequent water changes. You're on the correct path. Don't feed often and let the tank catch up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebe1988 Posted September 23, 2020 Author Share Posted September 23, 2020 1 minute ago, Cory said: Why are you dosing meds? The red veins is from the stress of the water parameters and frequent water changes. You're on the correct path. Don't feed often and let the tank catch up. Hi Cory! Thanks for replying. Mainly because of the rubbing on sand and concern for flukes or Ich in the new fish.....Would you just wait and see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted September 23, 2020 Administrators Share Posted September 23, 2020 Well ammonia in the water will cause running. As it burns their skin. Also if you put prazi in today and ammonia goes up tomorrow, you'll be changing out all the meds anyway. So first priority is getting things stable so it's not a million dollars in meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoebe1988 Posted September 23, 2020 Author Share Posted September 23, 2020 Thanks! I panicked and hadn't thought of that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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