Water changes or not

[Hiway]

So I made a rookie mistake and added too many fish at once ( lost 3, probably gonna lose the 4th, all guppies ) had a Nitrate spike and that went down after a water change or two...now my ammonia is high around 1 ppm ( maybe a little less )Nitrates are around 5, no nitrites,  very low ( ph ) I did a water change ( 3 gallons) a couple of days ago, is it ok to do another so soon ? I can't get that ph to go up, I'm wondering if that has something to do with it ? I have driftwood in the tank, and I know that can lower ph..any help would be appreciated

[lefty o]

while trying to establish bacteria, im not big on water changes, but since you have fish in you must control the ammonia. 25-30% water change per day as needed.

[Tihshho]

From the sounds of it, and please correct me if I'm incorrect, but you didn't cycle the tank first? Guessing you're starting with a fish-in cycle?

[Hiway]

I did cycle it with two fish, and it was good,  but I added too many at once and messed it all up

[Tihshho]

How large is the tank? How often/how much are you feeding? What is the stocklist of the tank? 

Generally 4 guppies shouldn't overload a tank if it went through the cycle process, but if it's a small tank or you're heavily feeding then that would also do it.

[Hiway]

I had 4 guppies, down to 1 now, 4 tetras, 4 snails, and one cichlid, 2 cory catfish in a 10 gallon. Feeding once a day, the bare minimum of food. I also have hard water ( 14 drops of the api test kit to turn green ) and low KH ( Never turned blue, started off VERY light yellow) my ph is nothing, like below 6ppm, I'm wondering if that's the problem 😒

[Tihshho]

Sounds like it's somewhat heavily stocked IMO, but to each their own. What kind of filtration are you using? What was your water change schedule after the cycle?

[Hiway]

2 filters, a 10 gallon that came with the tank and a 20 gallon Aqua clear, I only did water changes when the nitrate were around 20

I feel like I am failing miserably at this 😕 

[Tihshho]

Aquariums take time and patience, so don't beat yourself up about it. Take this as a learning experience and take your time.

I would recommend doing a 25% water change and then retesting. Test the next day and see where things are at and maintain the water change schedule until the ammonia starts to go to nitrite and back to nitrates. Normally, if there were no fish I would say ride it out, but I agree with Lefty and that you need to now work on balancing the params for the sake of the fish.

[lefty o]

On 4/18/2022 at 3:56 PM, Tihshho said:

Aquariums take time and patience, so don't beat yourself up about it. Take this as a learning experience and take your time.

I would recommend doing a 25% water change and then retesting. Test the next day and see where things are at and maintain the water change schedule until the ammonia starts to go to nitrite and back to nitrates. Normally, if there were no fish I would say ride it out, but I agree with Lefty and that you need to now work on balancing the params for the sake of the fish.

i agree, its a learning experience. it'll get there, but expect some bumps along the way.

[EVoyager31]

Everyone has already given solid advice and I agree. 25-30% water changes until it evens out and continue to monitor.

I have also used fritzyme 7 to help restore bacteria anytime I have minor spikes (and when first cycling). Not sure if fritzyme is technically “good protocol” but it has worked well for me multiple times. 

[Colu]

Daily water changes also add a double dose of prime to help detoxify any ammonia and nitirte just a disclaimer as   they's some debate as to whether it works to detoxify ammonia and nitirte

[Tihshho]

On 4/18/2022 at 6:46 PM, Colu said:

Daily water changes also add a double dose of prime to help detoxify any ammonia and nitirte just a disclaimer as   they's some debate as to whether it works to detoxify ammonia and nitirte

I used to do this in the past, but generally when it comes to someone who is struggling it's best to just put the work in rather than rely on elixers to do the work. I do agree that Prime can 'detoxify' (putting it in quotes because I'm not sure if this is 100% proven or not) but I don't know if it's a necessary step as it can also impact the cycle. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/18/2022 at 1:20 PM, Hiway said:

So I made a rookie mistake and added too many fish at once ( lost 3, probably gonna lose the 4th, all guppies ) had a Nitrate spike and that went down after a water change or two...now my ammonia is high around 1 ppm ( maybe a little less )Nitrates are around 5, no nitrites,

Pretty much daily changes until you're in the yellow for ammonia. Even then I'd at least do 15% a day.  The tank needs time to cycle, so just know that it's going to be a daily thing and have that pace.

 

On 4/18/2022 at 3:46 PM, Colu said:

Daily water changes also add a double dose of prime to help detoxify any ammonia and nitirte just a disclaimer as   they's some debate as to whether it works to detoxify ammonia and nitirte

Only once per WC or per 48 hours is what seachem recommends.  Essentially, it works for every 24-48 hours is what they say via the website.

Quote

How often can I dose Prime®?

A: Prime® can be dosed every 24-48 hours.

 

 

 

On 4/18/2022 at 1:45 PM, Hiway said:

I had 4 guppies, down to 1 now, 4 tetras, 4 snails, and one cichlid, 2 cory catfish in a 10 gallon. Feeding once a day, the bare minimum of food.

For now.... for the next 7 days:

1. Add some salt.
2. Feed only when you really absolutely need to minimally. (probably every 48 hours is what I'd do and even then you can wait a week and be absolutely fine)
3. Daily 30-50% WC until ammonia is in the yellow (.5 or below)
4. Dose some bacterial in a bottle daily for 7 days.

[Hiway]

I can not use salt, there are snails in the tank ( not sure if it's true,  this is what I was told )

Edited April 19, 2022 by Hiway

[JettsPapa]

I don't think this was mentioned above, but right now you don't need to worry about nitrates.  It's much less toxic than ammonia or nitrites.  40ppm in my tanks doesn't bother me (or the fish).

[gardenman]

In a low pH tank, ammonia's less of an issue. The lower the pH goes, the less toxic ammonia becomes. With the fish you have, and especially the snails, you probably want to bump up the pH (a lower pH helps to erode the shells of snails) a bit. Some crushed coral in a mesh bag in one of your filters could help with that. It would gradually dissolve, raising your Kh, while adding calcium your snails and livebearers will need and gradually raising the pH. Cycling a low pH tank is more complicated as the beneficial bacteria prefer a higher pH.

You don't want to do anything too drastic as big swings will cause more trouble than they solve. Given the fact that your water parameters are what they are, your tap water probably isn't ideal, so doing water changes on any kind of a large scale could just keep making things worse. I'd add some crushed coral and watch the fish. You should see the acidic water (low pH) eat away at the crushed coral and gradually raise the pH and Kh of the water and your cycle should improve. Watch your fish for signs of obvious stress for as the coral dissolves and the pH rises, the ammonia becomes more toxic. As long as the fish look and act okay, your tank should stabilize without large water changes. Replacing old bad water with new bad water just leaves you with bad water. Things like Prime that will help neutralize toxins (at least in theory) may help should the fish start looking stressed. 

Test your tap water and see if it's as bad as I suspect it is. If it is, stockpiling some in a container with crushed coral can make it more suitable for your fish/snails.

[Bev C]

I agree 25-30% water changes is best in the past with

moving my fish to new tank I used Seachem Prime and Stability and followed  their directions for cycle  a new tank with fish ,, and did not lose a fish I still use the Prime full time and I use The Stability for maintenance once a month  or when I get new fish  ,,,they say The Stabilty helps with good bacteria and helps fish and new fish from stressing to much 

[TonyVideo]

What are the water parameters that you are putting in? Adjust that first. This will allow slower changes to occur in the tank with 25% daily water changes.