# Changing water TOO much?



## MrRob (Oct 20, 2003)

Back in the day I had a fish tank that I changed the water only once a month & of course after a while the ammonia built up & my fish died. So now with my new tank, I do water changes once a week & take my water up wo the LFS for them to test to see how its going. For the last month the nitrites & nitrates have been REALLY high, like in the stress level. So I have been using "Stress Zyme" & "Amquel" that the LFS recommended & iot hasnt gottten any better in over a weeek. I am afraid with that high of nitrites & nitrates my fish will start to suffer.

They also said that my weekly water changes & bi monthly washing out of my filter may be getting rid of too much benefical bacteria???

help!


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

Have you fully cycled your tank??

If you have and your nitrates are still high I would suggest only a minimal water change ....By takeing more water out you are only slowing the process down..
Just give it alittle time...
Also I know amquel is good but putiing that stuff in ther may not be helping the problem....but I may be wrong...


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## MrRob (Oct 20, 2003)

yes the tank is cylcled, it has been up for 4 months


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## sccavee (Feb 11, 2003)

First sounds to me like you dont have enough filtration in the tank. Since the tank is established water changes should cause no problem. I clean my filter material weekly in tank water and never had a issue.

What size tank and what filter(s). How many fish in the tank?


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## MrRob (Oct 20, 2003)

20 GAL
3 3" rbp
TOPFIN 20 FILTER
POWERHEAD 402 WITH FILTER ATTACHMENT.


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## MR HARLEY (Aug 12, 2003)

MrRob said:


> 20 GAL
> 3 3" rbp
> TOPFIN 20 FILTER
> POWERHEAD 402 WITH FILTER ATTACHMENT.


 there is too many fish in there and it is affecting the water parameters...The water cannot handle all the bacteria fast enough to bring down to spec's...It being overloaded because of the amount of fish you have in your 20 gallon


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

First of all, doing water changes will NOT get rid of the beneficial bacteria. Nitrifiers reside mostly in filter material, gravel, and attach itself to whatever surface is in the tank (plants, decor, driftwood, etc.). Doing a water change has no affect on their population since they are not found in the water in high numbers. Many professional breeders spend most of their day doing massive water changes in their tanks to induce spawning in species that are more difficult to breed. Sometimes turning over almost 100% of the water per day on the grow-tanks to achieve phenomenol growth in their fry. That being said, I do not recommend such practice for the hobbiest because these pros know EXACTLY the water parameters going into the tank to avoid shock from fluctuating water parameters. 10-20% per week is fine.

For the time being, add a couple of tablespoons of salt to relieve nitrite poisoning and reduce feeding until your water parameters improve. Continue with weekly water changes and buy your own test kit. It's better to test your water while it's "fresh" from the tank for more accurate readings.

I am not familiar with your brand of filter, but under-filtration might be a problem. The rule of thumb is that the flow rate of the filter should turn-over about 10 times the volume of the tank. So you are looking at a filter that should filter at least 200 gph. If it doesn't, invest in an additional filter (while running your current one).


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## Noe (Aug 22, 2003)

You need to get a bigger tank.
It sound like You need to cycle your tank first. 
When you have no ammonia and no nitrite and some nitrate that is when you know that your tank is cycle.

Good Luck


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

HOW DOES SALT RELIEVE NITRITE AND I HAVE 5 2" RBPS IN A 30g TANK BUT AM PUTTING THEM IN A 200g TANK BEGINING OF NEXT YEAR.


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

rbP NUT said:


> HOW DOES SALT RELIEVE NITRITE AND I HAVE 5 2" RBPS IN A 30g TANK BUT AM PUTTING THEM IN A 200g TANK BEGINING OF NEXT YEAR.


 Salt (NaCL) dissociates into sodium (Na+) and chlorine (Cl-) ions in solution. The chlorine ions displace the nitrite ions throughout the gill filaments, preventing nitrites from entering the bloodstream, and thus preventing nitrite poisoning.


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