# Water condition problems



## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

I had a post a week or so back, i switched my fish from a perfectly cycled 30 gal to a 55 gallon and it somehow uncycled itself. I am getting very high ammonia readings everyday, so i have been doing water changes everynight to keep it down, using amquel also. Ammonia was .0138 pph tonight and i just did a change last night. I get no nitrites on the test, ph 7.0 sconstantly, and nitrates pretty low under 10. what is the deal am i going to have to keep changing water everynight, it wastest a lot of water conditioner, salt, and ph buffer, not to mention the pain in the ass to change it everynight. I also put some bio spira in 5 days ago and nothing. Is it going to fix itself? Whatta you guys think? Thanks


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## SnowCichlid (Jan 10, 2003)

you probally didn't let it completly cycle prior to all of this excitement ... Just let it finish cycling, is the old tank still ready?
...and slow down on the WC's let the tank finish cycling while the P's are back in their origonal home


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## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

SnowCichlid said:


> you probally didn't let it completly cycle prior to all of this excitement ... Just let it finish cycling, is the old tank still ready?
> ...and slow down on the WC's let the tank finish cycling while the P's are back in their origonal home


 That tank isnt setup anymore, i used the water and gravel from it for this tank. I would slow down on changes but im worried about my expensive babies getting harmed.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Bio spira is most likely dead because the use of other chemicals. 
Whenever i used it i filled the tank. Initially used biosafe run for a day then used the biospira it has worked like a charm.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Sounds like the bio load is too much for the current bacteria colony. Give it time, it will catch up.


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## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

grosse gurke said:


> Sounds like the bio load is too much for the current bacteria colony. Give it time, it will catch up.


 Ok thanks! Should i keep changing water so frequently? Should i keep using amquel?


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

The use of salt will keep the toxicidy down. I'd only do waterchanges if an emergency.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

nycvr6 said:


> grosse gurke said:
> 
> 
> > Sounds like the bio load is too much for the current bacteria colony. Give it time, it will catch up.
> ...


 I have no idea what amquel is, I have never used any chemical in my tanks besides conditioner. I would cut back on the water changes and let the cycle work it self out. Should the ammonia get too high, then I would do small water changes to dilute it.


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## GARGOYLE (Feb 12, 2003)

Let us know what happens.


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## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

Todays update:
Tonights tests show ammonia very high again, now i have a .25 nitrite reading which i didnt have before, and the nitrate is at like 10. PH is solid at 7.0. I am not going to do a water change as you guys recommended, hopefully my fish will be ok.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Did you add some salt?


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## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

Raptor said:


> Did you add some salt?


 yep.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

The increase in nitrIte is good, it means the bacteria that turns ammonia to nitrite is catching up. Your ammonia should begin to drop pretty fast and nitrItes will go up pretty high. Now you just have to wait for the bacteria that changes nitrIte to nitrAte to catch up and you are set.


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## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

grosse gurke said:


> The increase in nitrIte is good, it means the bacteria that turns ammonia to nitrite is catching up. Your ammonia should begin to drop pretty fast and nitrItes will go up pretty high. Now you just have to wait for the bacteria that changes nitrIte to nitrAte to catch up and you are set.


 Yea that's what i figured. Hopefully it doesnt take long and the fish are ok. But from my experience with them, piranha are very hardy fish.


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## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

Todays update:
Ammonia very high .0345 ppm, nitrite very high 5 ppm, nitrate pretty high 20 ppm, and ph still solid at 7.0. Fish seem to be doing ok, they seem a little stressed, i did a very small 10% water change today to dilute things a little bit. When cycling shouldnt the nitrate be 0 at this point? seems weird i am getting all high readings. Shouldnt the nitrite get high, then the ammonia go down, then the nitrate go up and the nitrite go down? Thanks


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

nycvr6 said:


> Shouldnt the nitrite get high, then the ammonia go down, then the nitrate go up and the nitrite go down?  Thanks


 That's how a proper cycling works: it looks like your tank starts to recycle again for some reason (judging by the new increase in nitrItes...)


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## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

Todays update:
Ammonia came down drastically, it is .001725 ppm this afternoon. Nitrites still very high at 5 ppm. Nitrates on the rise from yesterday, today tested at 30 ppm. PH still sits at 7.0. 
Question, according to the cycling i should have no nitrates at this point, could it be that the tank was partially cycled from before so the cycling process is going a lot faster than illustrated at this link : Tank Cycling? Thanks


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

grosse gurke said:


> Sounds like the bio load is too much for the current bacteria colony. Give it time, it will catch up.


 That is what I ment by this statement. You tank was cycled for a much smaller bio-load.


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## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

grosse gurke said:


> grosse gurke said:
> 
> 
> > Sounds like the bio load is too much for the current bacteria colony. Give it time, it will catch up.
> ...


 Ok thanks. So hopefully the tank should be fully recycled within a few days.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I would say another few days and you will be fine.


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

Would you guys recommend using Bio-Spira while Ps are present in the tank??


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

Well?? Does anyone care to answer my question or should I make a new thread..


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## nycvr6 (Apr 30, 2003)

RhomZilla said:


> Well?? Does anyone care to answer my question or should I make a new thread..


 I used it with my P's in the tank, and it didnt seem like it worked. BUT, i was using chemicals at the time like amquel ammonia remover, so that probably didnt help. I think it can be used if there are fish in the tank though, someone correct me if im wrong.


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