FishProfiles.com Message Forums

here is the prob. i set up a 10 gal tank about a month ago and did a fishless cycle with ammonia, (took about 2 weeks) but i continued for about a month to establish what i thought was a decent size colony of bact. i used substrate from my well established 30 gal and filter drippings and filter media all from my 30 gal and i have a bio wheel so i figured i have it covered. so time to get the fish. i did a 25% h2o change to get rid of nitrates and i finally go and get my fish, a green spottted puffer, and a silver tip cat fish, yes i know they r 2 big for a 10 but in 2 months i am moving my 2 clown loaches, red tailed black shark, gold gourami, and african clawed frog into a 125 gal tank and the puffer and silver tip r going into the 30. anyway the day after i move them in (this is a brackish tank by the way, instant ocean, 1 tsp per gal, ph 7.6 -7.8), i got a significant NH3 spike, so i did an 25% h2o change. next day same thing. i tried a bunch of stuff, bio spira, NH3 locking chems., h2o changes nothing worked. finally i did a 50- 75 % h2o exchange from my 30 gal and instantly cleared up the NH3 prob. and now for the rub, i have a low level nitrite reading. between 0 and .025 ppm for the last 2 days. it has gone down from .025 ppm 2 days ago but seems to be hovering just above 0. now i know that salt lessens the effect of nitrites, and my fish don't seem to be affected, they r both eating and swimming normally, respirating without any obvious distress, as a matter of fact, i seem to be the only 1 affected by the nitrites in this case as i have not been able to string together more than 1 or 2 hrs of sleep at a time without checking on them. anyways should i just ride this out and see what happens over the next couple of days or should i continue with h2o changes?? i realize that this is quite possibly just the tank equalizing but i just tend to get a bit worried about the long term affects of the nitrites thanks to all the crap i have been reading and the fact that i am still fairly new at this. plus i tend to guilt trip when i kill a snail. i imagine i may have a full blown break down if i kill my puffer lol.

Last edited by jonsnow13 at 28-Sep-2005 11:53

Last edited by jonsnow13 at 29-Sep-2005 01:45

That's interesting. I have to use 1/2c. salt per 10gal to reach 1.005. Catfish aren't brackish.


Kim

Since as you say everyone's looking fine I'd continue to watch it and ride it out.

Do water changes as necessary and increase surface agitation as much as possible (toss in an airstone or bubble wand for now even if you're not planning on keeping it later).

I'm surprised you got a minicycle what with all the steps you took :%).
Welcome to the FP family .

^_^[hr width='40%']"Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by
Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes
EVERY NOW AND THEN I FALL APART.
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever..."

thanks bablefish for ur reply, and for ur welcome to fp.
i already have a long air stone thingy in the tank since i don't have any live plants in this 1 as it is a temp home for these 2. i will be moving them into a new 30 long (fully cycled, *crosses fingers* in a couple of weeks. anyways i seem to have solved the h2o chem issues, rather the little bacteria managed to do there job in spite of me, and i am going to back off for a bit other than regular daily puffer, after meal clean up duties, and tank care. although my puffer eats most of her/his meals from the end of a plastic syringe now and the silver tip has learned to swim just underneath the puffer and catch most of what he/she misses it is quite entertaining actually. by the way your site is quite amazing. thanks again.