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Don't trust the nitrate reading, the high nitrite level can be giving a false reading.

!!Test your TAP water for ammonia before doing and water changes!!

!!!Stop feeding the fish immediately!!!

Remove anything rotting.

add the cycle after wc and you don't need to refridgerate it. You can also use some zeolite in the filter to help with ammonia.

Increase aeration to the max. Add some some salt according to the box, this will help with the high nitrite. Pre-dissolve in a jar or jug of tank water before adding.

Use the gravel vac but just hover over the gravel to pick up fish waste. Don't distrub the gravel as nitrifying bac. live on it.

Are you using a waterconditioner?
What kind of filter is being used?

Did the power go out in the filter? Did you unplug the filter during the waterchanged and left for hours this way?

Do the water change suggest above and retest after the water has circulated a while.
MAKE SURE THE WATER IS THE EXACT TEMPATURE!! Many people do large scale water changes when having a mini-cycle and then end with ich cause of a bad water change. A lot illness can be related to poor water conditions.

If you can move the snails and cories.

Did you just add a bunch of fish?
I would not reccomend adding anything for a while.


Last edited by openwater at 13-Feb-2005 22:51

second edit was to say test tap water for ammonia

Last edited by openwater at 14-Feb-2005 16:59

well.. normaly the gravel vac wouldnt be a bad thing.. but when ur trying to re-establish your nitrifing bacteria its best not to. When i gravel vac i usually only vac 1/4 of the total gravel(even less in my well planted tanks).. and none if i mess with the filter at all.


Also.. since it sounds like you have some plants in this tank.. fish mulm isnt all that bad. expecially since those apple snails prolly take care of all the excess food. when this happens their are bacteria that break down the digested food into nutrients for your plants.. ofcourse im not suggesting that you let fish poop cover the bottom of your tank.. but some is actually good for your plants

I agree with openwater.. stop feeding the fish.. if u feel you have to feed as sparingly as you dare, and they can survive on very little..

Keep us posted..
good luck!!!
-CJ

Last edited by Wompa at 14-Feb-2005 01:41

thanks for all the help guys but still no improvement! this time i did a waterchange with bottled water instead of tap water thinking there might have been something in my tap water.... i havent added new fish to the tank, i didnt do anything wrong with my normal water changes except 3 weeks ago... i turned off the filter because i sucked too much water out and the filter was going to break.... i think that is why things have gone wrong.. plz help me guys and when you write back make it easy to understand, give me step by step instructions as i do not get some of the things you guys recommended.....

PH: 7.2
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 5.0
Nitrate: 20

plz help!
]:|:#(

Last edited by BabyBlueEyes at 14-Feb-2005 18:20

The ammonia is not overly concerning. .25 is not that much, although is should be zero.

Nitrite- i can't believe is 5.0ppm, that's pushing fatal levels.

How many water changes have you done?

Do another 50% water change. EXACT WATER TEMPATURE! It would be nice to see the nitrite halved.

i did a waterchange with bottled water instead of tap water thinking there might have been something in my tap water

Did you test your tap water for nitrite, ammonia and try for nitrates?

Did you add any salt? IT WILL HELP for the high nitrite. If you did, also remember to compensate for the water changes as well. Don't over do the salt.

Get some biological starter such as NEW AND IMPROVED CYCLE, Biospira or etc. you can even double dose it.

i turned off the filter because i sucked too much water out and the filter was going to break...

Was this during a waterchange?

What kind of filter?

Never run filter dry

If the filter gets empty during waterchanges, make sure you fill up the water to cover the media even if the filter is stopped. Never let the media dry out. Or when cleaning the filter housing, waterchanges or etc you can get a jug and put the media in it with tank water. An airstone can be run under and this will allow for bacterial to ensure health during maintenance.

Even with one filter you should run two media, so when one media is changed the other continues the biological filtration.


Perform another WC and retest after a couple hours(this will allow the tank's water to mix around). If the nitrite gets halved you can hold off the water changes for a while to allow the bacterial colony to grow and convert the nitrite. However, if the nitrite is still at 5.0pmm another wc should be considered.
Increase aeration to the max.

What kind of filter is it?

get Cycle or Stress Zyme, it will work quicker

I highly suggest a biowheel filter. Your current filter is definitely too small for that tank. I would suggest at least a penguin 100 and a penguin 150 would probably be even better. I have dosed biospira once and had a tank cycle instantly with no ammonia or nitrites present when I tested for the next week. NIC got rid of 2ppm of ammonia within a few hours but I still had nitrites show up for a few days untill I dosed the tank again. If you can get ahold of either of those products it might completely solve your problem. Otherwise keep changing the water and don't change your filter media or gravel vac. When you get a new filter run both filters or move the curent filter media to the new one until the biowheel starts to turn colors. Mine went from grey to brownish when the bacteria was colonized.

ok i will do as you say.. lol im going to keep doing those water changes and hope for the best... to keep the thread going, what would you all stock your 20gal with? ive been debating on this subject for weeks now!

Bristlenose catfish, Dwarf Otos, Dwarf Gouramis, most livebearers (except large Mollys and Swordtails), most kinds of tetra, many kinds of danio and rasbora...


Although not all at once ;-)

If I had an empty 20g: School of tetras, I prefer emperors or black neons for small tetras. With no snails in the tank a group of loaches, yoyos or kuhli probably. With snails a school of panda cory. Maybe dwarf gourami depending how heavily planted the tank is. Finally a group of 3-5 otos for algae cleanup.
with the stocking you have: add 2 more of your tetras. 4 does not make a school. More cory, again you need 6 and then I would call your tank stocked.

IM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPPPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYY

I tested my water today and everythin is back to normal!!!

WOOT FOR ME BABY!

PH: 7.2
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5.0

Text book perfect readings - congratultions :-)

Last edited by geesloper at 15-Feb-2005 19:15

WOOT!!!
Nice save BBB!!!!

nice to see someone do the extra work and have the desired reward!!!!

GRatz!!!!
-CJ

Last edited by Wompa at 16-Feb-2005 17:57