# HELP FAST!!!



## JReezelle (May 18, 2003)

I've had my baby caribas for about a week now and when I tested the water today the parameters I got were ammonia .25ppm, nitrites .5ppm, and nitrates 20 ppm so I decided to do my first water change. I vacuumed the gravel and cleaned the filter & powerhead with the old tank water then I refilled it also using 6 capfuls of PRIME detoxifier. It's been about 2 hours now since I've done the water change and when I retested the water I got the same parameters as above stated. Now should I wait and test the water again later or should I do another water change? Help me out fellas I don't want my p's getting all sick and sh*t. Thanks!!! Oh yeah and I did about 25-35% water change.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

was the tank cycled before the fish were put into the tank ???????????


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## JReezelle (May 18, 2003)

Yeah it was, I used bio-spira and waited a week and a half for the ammonia to drop to 0 then i put the p's in.


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## JReezelle (May 18, 2003)

I did a 25-35% water change and slight gravel vac yesterday and my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates all went up a little bit. My baby caribas ain't looking too happy right now!







What should I do? Do another water change or put some detoxifier? Holler at me fellas they ain't looking too great right now


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## readingbabelfish (Jan 16, 2003)

We need a little more info... like tank size, temp, filter set-up, how long the tank has been up and running. If it were me, I would let it sit for a day or two after doing the change and measure again. Maybe put in some aquarium salt at one tbsp per five gallon. It is supposed to relieve stress. Good Luck!


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## readingbabelfish (Jan 16, 2003)

Just sit tight and let the tank do the work. It will all even out. The last thing that you need to do is a water change every day. Just sit back and relax. Check measurements every other day. You will see a decline. Also limit the feeding you do.


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

Sit for a day or 2 bro and let the bacteria rebuild itself. How long has this tank been cycling?


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## InSinUAsian (Jan 3, 2003)

If you just set the tank up, and its less the two weeks or so old, then it is normal to have fluctuations in the water chemistry. Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? If you didnt, then the fluctuations may be enough to kill your caribe. I personally dont know how effective bio-spira is. I would, from this point, just sit tight. Not much you can do. Doing so many water changes will adversely affect your fish as well. Good luck, and im sure that everything will turn out okay. Keep us informed.

~Dj


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

I'd suggest you chill, do a water change if the water gets real bad or the fish show signs of distress, but they should be OK - your bacteria needs to build up a little, it will help if you can add an old filter or some old gravel.

do not feed very much, and remove all uneaten food as soon as possible


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

JReezelle said:


> Yeah it was, I used bio-spira and waited a week and a half for the ammonia to drop to 0 then i put the p's in.


 Did you have anything as a food source for the week and a half after you added Bio-spira? (feeder fish, household ammonia) If not, adding Bio-spira would have been a waste of money because the nitrifiers would have died by the time your fish were added.

Also, I'm not sure about Prime, but other water conditioners that detoxifies ammonia into ammonium (like AmQuel and Ammo-Lock) will interfere with many ammonia test kits and show a positive reading. Your fish might be stressed due to the spike in nitrite. The added salt should help displace the nitrite ions from the gills and help relieve them of nitrite poisoning.

Just keep the lights off, add salt, and keep testing for nitrite and nitrate. As soon as you see the nitrite drop off and the nitrates increase, do a water change.

What is your pH? Piranhas are very resilient and unless you have high pH, they should be able to ride it out without too many problems.


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## JReezelle (May 18, 2003)

GOOD LOOKIN OUT FELLAS!!! My bad for the caps, but yeah my fish are actually lookin hella better today than last night and this morning. Right when I got home from work I turned on the lights to the tank and they all came out swimming and sh*t. I think their hungry!!! Last night and this morning they were just chillin in their claimed spots and barely moving, but now as i'm typing I could see them swimming all around the tank chasing each other. I think i'll do as yall say and just chill for a couple days and keep checking the water and not feed them too much. Oh and about the salt can I use household salt or do I have to buy some of the aquarium salt? Thanks again folks I highly appreciate the help!!!


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## JReezelle (May 18, 2003)

Damn I just did a water check and ammonia was at about .25-.50 ppm, nitrites at about 3.0 ppm, nitrates at about 20-30 ppm, hardness 90 ppm, alkalinity 80 ppm, and pH 6.4. It ain't lookin too good, but i'll stick it out. My fish are still lookin alot better then last night and this morning they were barely swimming off the gravel. So i'm going to put some salt and also I was planning on getting a canister filter would that help filter out all the bad sh*t in the water quicker? If so i'll get it sooner then planned.


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