# I messed up bigtime



## NJJustin (Jul 3, 2003)

I made a serious mistake....while my 125g was cycling i had only a ac500 on it, after it completed cycling and my levels were good, the water was crystal clear. so i thought i could get away with just the one ac500 for a couple weeks till i got my new filter. So last week i added 6 3" super reds...and i have been feeding them daily ( i think a little too much)....my nitrites have risen to a deadly level..well over 4ppm. Two of the super reds died before i realized what was happening. I Moved the rest to a small 40 gallon i have established. Now 4 days after moving them and adding another ac500, and having only one small feeder in my 125gallon and doing a 50% water change...my nitrites are still super high. So right now i have 2 ac500's and one 402 powerhead creating bubbles and flow. When are the nitrites goin to go down????....i realize now that ac500's lack good bio-filtration...what do you guys suggest i do to get my 125 back to normal.??


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

What was used to cycle your 125 + the AC500 in the first place? An established AC500 should be able to hold enough nitrifiers to support the bioload of 6 3" fish. You need to increase the bioload of the tank so it's comparable to the load that you plan on putting in there. So if you were planning to put 6 3" fish in the tank, you need to cycle with enough ammonia or dithers that will put out that much waste. Putting a small feeder in a 125 to cycle it will only cause an ammonia/nitrite spike once the true inhabitants are placed in there.


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## NJJustin (Jul 3, 2003)

i used a whole bunch of feeders..like 20..plus i used BIO SPIRA...waited a few weeks, threw in a 10" oscar and 7" rhom...they were fine for 2 weeks until i sold them. THe parameters were good until i added the 6 super reds right after i got rid of the oscar and the rhom.


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