Rookie issues

[Mark C.]

So I watched this video that Cory put out a long time ago:

He is talking about how with planted tanks you can’t necessarily just watch the Nitrate levels to see if a tank is cycled. He said to look at the life in the tank. Are the plants growing? Is there algae growth? I’m attaching a picture of the top spike of my Amazon Sword and it’s growing pretty good. Also, I can see some films coming up on some of the aquarium decor so I’m feeling a little more positive now. 

[Mark C.]

Looks like one of the Guppies that I have had for a while isn't doing great. He's just kind of floating around letting the current spin him. I tested the water and everything looks ok, The PH is staying fairly stable around 7.2 or so and KH is between 2 and 3 dkh. The other couple of fish in there seem to be thriving. It looks like my female guppy is filling up with fry.

I dosed the tank with some Prime tonight to see if that helps him but I don't know what the deal is. He has been doing great. He has been wearing that female out chasing her around.

[Mark C.]

So I am now having spiked Nitrites. They seem off the charts. Makes me panic now because of the fish. So I’m dosing Prime everyday. I actually thought I was past this point but I guess not. I am reading that this stage lasts a lot longer. I did dose Easy Green the day before I noticed the Nitrite spike, would that have anything to do with it? Will the plants help protect the fish from the high Nitrites?

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/23/2022 at 6:18 PM, Mark C. said:

He's just kind of floating around letting the current spin him.

It might be a swim bladder thing.  Is he trying to eat at all?  I would put him in a breeder box so he's not being tossed around in the current and can try to recover.  How do his gills look?  If need be, I'd make a thread in diseases section with photos and a video potentially, full test results, etc.

 

 

On 5/27/2022 at 8:23 PM, Mark C. said:

So I am now having spiked Nitrites. They seem off the charts. Makes me panic now because of the fish. So I’m dosing Prime everyday. I actually thought I was past this point but I guess not. I am reading that this stage lasts a lot longer. I did dose Easy Green the day before I noticed the Nitrite spike, would that have anything to do with it? Will the plants help protect the fish from the high Nitrites?

Dose it only once every 24-36 hours.  Are you heavily feeding?  Do you have the ability to run carbon?  What is your other parameters?  I also would stop dosing easy green right now until you have a grip on what's going on.  What is the tank size, how much did you dose, etc.

On 5/23/2022 at 6:18 PM, Mark C. said:

He has been wearing that female out chasing her around.

He may have ran into the wall / hardscape and just hurt himself. It happens a lot unfortunately.

[Mark C.]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:05 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

It might be a swim bladder thing.  Is he trying to eat at all?  I would put him in a breeder box so he's not being tossed around in the current and can try to recover.  How do his gills look?  If need be, I'd make a thread in diseases section with photos and a video potentially, full test results, etc.

 

 

Dose it only once every 24-36 hours.  Are you heavily feeding?  Do you have the ability to run carbon?  What is your other parameters?  I also would stop dosing easy green right now until you have a grip on what's going on.  What is the tank size, how much did you dose, etc.

He may have ran into the wall / hardscape and just hurt himself. It happens a lot unfortunately.

Good news is the male guppy is almost back to normal. 
 

I don’t have room for carbon in my Tidal 55. I have the sponge, the matrix and coral in there. I may be feeding a little heavy right now trying to get the angel to eat but not crazy amounts. Other parameters: my KH has come up to around 40 ppm. PH is around 7.2 or 7.4. Zero ammonia and some nitrates, probably from the Easy Green. It’s 29 gallon with plants. I have only doses it once and I used three squirts. I wanted to start at the lower dose. 
 

I may have been leaving the lights on too much. Not sure if that will affect Nitrites. I know if affects algae growth. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2022 at 9:17 PM, Mark C. said:

Other parameters: my KH has come up to around 40 ppm. PH is around 7.2 or 7.4. Zero ammonia and some nitrates, probably from the Easy Green.

hm.... so the KH --> PH ---> Nitrates are definitely interacting.  Let me try to find the link.

What is your light, your schedule and setup for that?  I promise you my algae issue was worse!  (LOL, check my journal photos to see how bad it got)

[Mark C.]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:20 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

hm.... so the KH --> PH ---> Nitrates are definitely interacting.  Let me try to find the link.

What is your light, your schedule and setup for that?  I promise you my algae issue was worse!  (LOL, check my journal photos to see how bad it got)

I just have the lights that are attached to the top of the Aqueon kit I got. I don’t have a schedule for that. I just say, Alexa turn on the aquarium and they come on lol. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:57 AM, Mark C. said:

Is he ok?

On 5/16/2022 at 7:42 AM, Mark C. said:

I don’t have a tank that is established enough to put filter media into the quarantine tub so it will be seriously like me starting a brand new tank. 

it's ok because you can much more easily perform water changes with the QT setup.  (and usually it's more often with meds).  But. If it's ICH. you need to treat the tank now.

[Mark C.]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:58 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Is he ok?

Yeah, he is great! All healed up. Treated the tank with API Super Ick Cure. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2022 at 10:00 PM, Mark C. said:

Yeah, he is great! All healed up. Treated the tank with API Super Ick Cure. 

very cool.  He's a luigi fish! LOL

That's the name of mine, similar pattern.

[Mark C.]

On 5/28/2022 at 1:01 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

very cool.  He's a luigi fish! LOL

That's the name of mine, similar pattern.

My son came up with a unique name for him, Clowny lol

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2022 at 10:02 PM, Mark C. said:

My son came up with a unique name for him, Clowny lol

LOL.  well. Look up Pat McAfee colts lose to jaguars and you'll giggle for a little bit.

So, the whole KH thing, I'm sorry I've been busy. it's been a week!  I am very happy to hear the coral has really helped you out. 

PH and your nitrates, we know that the KH is slowly going up, so your PH will too.

You have nitrates from something, and we basically need to figure out what is causing it. 
Usual suspects are.
1. Tank buildup (gravel vac / WC issues, old tank syndrome)
2. Feeding
3. Something is hiding and releasing nitrates, injured fish or something.

Easy green, on my 29G as an example, I feed and my nitrates are in the 10-20 range. I try to keep them low these days, so I haven't been dosing as much (plants are still trying to grow in, low load for sure).  But, if I dose, my nitrate is low for instance, 3 pumps, I'm in the 30-40 range.  I don' t know if this is what caused the nitrate spike, but the best way to find out is just to test daily, to see if it climbs and if it keeps climbing or if it stabilizes.

[Mark C.]

On 5/28/2022 at 1:05 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

LOL.  well. Look up Pat McAfee colts lose to jaguars and you'll giggle for a little bit.

So, the whole KH thing, I'm sorry I've been busy. it's been a week!  I am very happy to hear the coral has really helped you out. 

PH and your nitrates, we know that the KH is slowly going up, so your PH will too.

You have nitrates from something, and we basically need to figure out what is causing it. 
Usual suspects are.
1. Tank buildup (gravel vac / WC issues, old tank syndrome)
2. Feeding
3. Something is hiding and releasing nitrates, injured fish or something.

Easy green, on my 29G as an example, I feed and my nitrates are in the 10-20 range. I try to keep them low these days, so I haven't been dosing as much (plants are still trying to grow in, low load for sure).  But, if I dose, my nitrate is low for instance, 3 pumps, I'm in the 30-40 range.  I don' t know if this is what caused the nitrate spike, but the best way to find out is just to test daily, to see if it climbs and if it keeps climbing or if it stabilizes.

I just figured the nitrates I had came from the East Green. All fish are accounted for. I do have some spots with decaying food laying around around that I missed when I did a water change yesterday but that doesn’t seem like it would cause that big of an issue because they are small things. 
 

I'm just trying to keep these fish alive and the Seachem Prime gets expensive lol

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2022 at 9:17 PM, Mark C. said:

It’s 29 gallon with plants. I have only doses it once and I used three squirts. I wanted to start at the lower dose. 
 

I may have been leaving the lights on too much. Not sure if that will affect Nitrites. I know if affects algae growth. 

You might only need one or two pumps once a week. If you get algae, basically turn the lights down (or be consistent) and then potentially less ferts because the plants in the tank aren't necessarily needing that much.

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2022 at 10:21 PM, Mark C. said:

I'm just trying to keep these fish alive and the Seachem Prime gets expensive lol

Definitely!  I don't think you need to be dosing it daily or anything.

I would track it, if you have something above 40, just do a water change that day. As long as you're done treating meds and stuff.

Keep an eye out for ich, also.  Just to make sure it's gone and you don't accidentally bring it from one tank to another.

[Mark C.]

I’m dosing the Prime for the Nitrites being so high. When I did the water change yesterday it brought it down pretty decent. I’ll have to see what it looks like tomorrow. I haven’t been dosing prime for a little while until I noticed the nitrites through the roof. I don’t have any concerns about the level of nitrates right now. It’s only between 10 and 20 ppm right now. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2022 at 10:41 PM, Mark C. said:

It’s only between 10 and 20 ppm right now. 

yeah, even at 40 you should be ok without needing to dose prime.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/pages/water-changes

This is the nifty tool the co-op has to help out. 🙂

[Mark C.]

We are talking about the same thing right? I’m talking about dosing prime because my nitrItes are off the chart, not nitrAtes. There should be an easier way to say those to cut down on confusion. Like just Trites and Trates. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2022 at 10:48 PM, Mark C. said:

We are talking about the same thing right? I’m talking about dosing prime because my nitrItes are off the chart, not nitrAtes. There should be an easier way to say those to cut down on confusion. Like just Trites and Trates. 

Oh..... sorry.  Totally missed that. Yeah, I would still do water changes. Try to get it to 0 but you need the cycle to finish. I'd dose bacteria (stability or something) instead of prime.

 

[Mark C.]

On 5/28/2022 at 1:50 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Oh..... sorry.  Totally missed that. Yeah, I would still do water changes. Try to get it to 0 but you need the cycle to finish. I'd dose bacteria (stability or something) instead of prime.

 

I did dose some stability today as well as prime. I figured I needed the prime to neutralize the Trites? Does it only help with ammonia? I thought it helped with Trites as well? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/27/2022 at 11:11 PM, Mark C. said:

I did dose some stability today as well as prime. I figured I needed the prime to neutralize the Trites? Does it only help with ammonia? I thought it helped with Trites as well? 

It works for Nitrites and Nitrates as well.  Found this.
 

Quote

A: The detoxification of nitrite and nitrate by Prime® (when used at elevated levels) is not well understood from a mechanistic standpoint. The most likely explanation is that the nitrite and nitrate is removed in a manner similar to the way ammonia is removed; i.e. it is bound and held in a inert state until such time that bacteria in the biological filter are able to take a hold of it, break it apart and use it. Two other possible scenarios are reduction to nitrogen (N₂) gas or conversion into a benign organic nitrogen compound.

I wish we had some more "concrete" explanation, but the end result is the same, it does actually detoxify nitrite and nitrate. This was unexpected chemically and thus initially we were not even aware of this, however we received numerous reports from customers stating that when they overdosed with Prime® they were able to reduce or eliminate the high death rates they experienced when their nitrite and nitrate levels were high. We have received enough reports to date to ensure that this is no fluke and is in fact a verifiable function of the product.

But.  Ammonia, I can totally understand dosing prime.
Nitrites, I'd dose bacteria, time, and 25-50% wc daily
Nitrates, I'd just track it and do water changes.

Edited May 28, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Mark C.]

So my Trites have stayed the same since I did the water change yesterday morning. They are fairly low. Should I water change it again or just leave that little bit to help the cycle?

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/28/2022 at 10:05 AM, Mark C. said:

They are fairly low. Should I water change it again or just leave that little bit to help the cycle?

I would still do a WC.  Even at 50%, you'll get the nitrites to 10-15 ppm, plenty for the bacteria to digest.

Is ammonia 0?

[Mark C.]

On 5/28/2022 at 4:22 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would still do a WC.  Even at 50%, you'll get the nitrites to 10-15 ppm, plenty for the bacteria to digest.

Is ammonia 0?

I did one but I only did around 20%. Yes, ammonia at zero. We will see if I need to do more tomorrow 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/28/2022 at 1:31 PM, Mark C. said:

I did one but I only did around 20%. Yes, ammonia at zero. We will see if I need to do more tomorrow 

Sweet!  Hopefully you start to see more nitrates soon!