# hi.



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

hi ive signed up to ask a question,is it ok to do a 100percent water change and then wash the tank with warm water before putting the fish back in,


----------



## luciferzone (Feb 14, 2006)

no no no you have to cycle the water


----------



## blackeye (Mar 9, 2006)

The max I would do is 25%, if you do anymore then that you may stress or even kill your fish.


----------



## bobz (Mar 9, 2006)

Welcome...

You should not totally empty the tank and wash it, it is bad on your benificial bacteria. If you don't know about cycling i'd reccommend researching it

The best thing to do is empty about 40 % of the tank, do a gravel vac and re-fil with fresh water treated with aquarium water conditioner. The water should also be as near to tank temperature as possible.

Hope that helps,

Bobz


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

ok thanks,how long does water condinor take to treat the water,i put it in the bucket stir it for about 10 secs the pour it in,how can you tell if the fish is stressed and i did cycle my tank but i recently put in a new filter media,so it might have to cycle again becuse the nitrites are a bit high.

Thanks for the quick responses


----------



## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

If you have enough filtration (biomedia), then a 100% water change wouldn't be a real problem as long as you keep the filter media wet and don't leave them disconnected too long. (assuming the tank was already properly cycledà)

But a 100% water change is pretty stressful for the fish, so I wouldn't do it.

Why do you want to wash the tank?

Why did you change filter media btw? You shouldn't change the media (certainly not the biomedia).

If you have high nitrite readigns, add 1 teaspoon of salt (pre-dissolved).


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

ok,i will do that but my ammonia is a bit high,i am moving them into a bigger tank soo with a canister filter but would they be ok in a bear bottom tank for now,i mean so it is easeir to collect waste


----------



## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

g rossi said:


> ok,i will do that but my ammonia is a bit high,i am moving them into a bigger tank soo with a canister filter but would they be ok in a bear bottom tank for now,i mean so it is easeir to collect waste


A bare bottom tank is ok as long as you dont stress them out and send them flying all over the place ramming onto the bare bottom.


----------



## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

For now it would be ok. High ammonia means that you have too many fish or not enough bio-media. I suggest Ammo-lock, a chemical bought at you local fish store to remove the ammonia.


----------



## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

g rossi said:


> ok,i will do that but my ammonia is a bit high,i am moving them into a bigger tank soo with a canister filter but would they be ok in a bear bottom tank for now,i mean so it is easeir to collect waste


bare bottom is fine as long as you have sufficient filtration and biological filter media


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

my 5 2 inch reds always go crashing around the place,i have them in a 50 litre tank for now.but im upgrading isit ok to have the light on for more than and hour becuse it ussally gets them really stressed like keep opening there mouths all the time,up and down when other fish just keep there mouth shut


----------



## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

g rossi said:


> my 5 2 inch reds always go crashing around the place,i have them in a 50 litre tank for now.but im upgrading isit ok to have the light on for more than and hour becuse it ussally gets them really stressed like keep opening there mouths all the time,up and down when other fish just keep there mouth shut


It's not the light that is stressing your fish, but the bad water quality.


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

i also gave them a live oyster and it made the water all cloudy,is this bad for them i did a 30 percent water change

how would you know if they are stressed


----------



## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

You can see if they're stress by the color (pale), heavy breathing, very skittish.

Personally I don't think it's a very good idea to start experimenting with foods at this moment. You have a really really small tank and it's not cycled. So the last thing you want is to create an even higher bioload. Stick to white fish , krill, etc. And keep the quantity you feed to a minimum.


----------



## thebluyak (Apr 14, 2006)

no color at all, freaking out, you can just tell when something is wrong with your fish. Prime will lock the ammonia and nitrite. it is also the best water conditioner you can get IMO.


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

what are the signs of heavy breathing


----------



## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

well how does heavy breathing look like to a human? same thing. Look at the gills and the mouth it should be rapidly opening as if its having toruble breathing.

20 percent water changes is good weekly.

check out feeding and nutiriton for more info regarding feeding.


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

well it just open and close normally,but most other fish dont do it but all mine do,its no really fast or anything


----------



## thebluyak (Apr 14, 2006)

if they breath once every two seconds thats not heavy, if its once every second or more than its heavy. If you look at their gills you should see them barely moving. If they are moving fast and alot then they are rapidly breathing


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

ok thanks,are piranhas hardy fish or do they die easilly


----------



## thebluyak (Apr 14, 2006)

mannys have been known to die randomly and RBP have been having a bad streak lately around here. Generally they are hardy fish and if you keep doing water changes everyday to keep your levels safe they should make it. Do you have a test kit? not a strip, those are utter crap but get a liquid reagent test kit like AP master freshwater test kit. and report your levels.


----------



## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

i think the serrasalmus species are more sensative. Less hardier than pygos


----------



## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

red bellies are pretty hardy fish, but then other species like the manuelli are very sensitive.


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

i just checked and all of my ps gills are moving very fast but they are always like that,what should i do or what is causing it,i do a water change every four days,i have a 50 litre ant the moment,with 3 3 inch reds in,i moved my other 2 who r the smallest about 2 inches to a smaller tank,i might sell them,do i need to upgrade quickly


----------



## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

plz read before u ask anyhting else and see if u can find an answer

http://www.piranha-fury.com/information/in...hp?Act=articles
http://www.piranha-fury.com/faq/


----------



## thebluyak (Apr 14, 2006)

what is 50 liters in g? Do a 25% water change everyday to keep the levels safe. To put it bluntly, if you dont keep your water within safe levels your fish will die. Do water changes as much as you can to keep the levels safe.
How long has this tank been set up? What filtration do you have?


----------



## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

thebluyak said:


> what is 50 liters in g? Do a 25% water change everyday to keep the levels safe. To put it bluntly, if you dont keep your water within safe levels your fish will die. Do water changes as much as you can to keep the levels safe.
> How long has this tank been set up? What filtration do you have?


y?
thatll stress the fish out so much

25 weekly is good

i would only do daly water changes if my fish is deasesed or injured


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

thanks alot rocker,but i couldent find anything about breathing 2 fast,i just cant see the problem i do water changes every 4 days and add continor but they still breat reall rapidly,what might be the causes

i have a crappy rena intrenal filter that came with the tank,im going to upgrade soon and sell my other two.

what husbendray technuies for piranhas should i know about thanks,i have read some books but you can learn alot more on here....

thanks


----------



## thebluyak (Apr 14, 2006)

rocker said:


> what is 50 liters in g? Do a 25% water change everyday to keep the levels safe. To put it bluntly, if you dont keep your water within safe levels your fish will die. Do water changes as much as you can to keep the levels safe.
> How long has this tank been set up? What filtration do you have?


y?
thatll stress the fish out so much

25 weekly is good

i would only do daly water changes if my fish is deasesed or injured
[/quote]

If his tank has ammonia in it and Nitrite which it sounds like it does he needs to do small water changs everyday. That will drastically drop the levels of ammonia by replenshing it with fresh water. I cycled a tank with fish before and did wc everyday and didnt lose a fish. I mean he can take that advice or ignore it but doing small waterchanges like that will not stress a fish. If he did like 50 and 70% water changes everyday then yeah cause he is dropping the levels of water a ton but small changes like that can only help.


----------



## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

what are your parameters?


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

ok thanks mate,i will start doing that but why are they breating so rapidly they our my first fish apart from goldfish and have had them for about 2 months,so i hope im doing ok


----------



## thebluyak (Apr 14, 2006)

g rossi said:


> thanks alot rocker,but i couldent find anything about breathing 2 fast,i just cant see the problem i do water changes every 4 days and add continor but they still breat reall rapidly,what might be the causes
> 
> i have a crappy rena intrenal filter that came with the tank,im going to upgrade soon and sell my other two.
> 
> ...


The problem is your tank is not cycled. The ammonia from crap breaks down in to nitrite and then is converted to Nitrate and then removed by plants or WC. But in your tank that doesnt happen. The ammonia stays or the nitrite stays and that is what kills fish.
They are beathing heavy cause the ammonia is burning their gills or the nitrite is getting in their blood stream and slowly poisoning them. its like if you where in a room with co2 and couldnt get oxygen, you would start breathing heavy too as your blood was poisened with co2


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

my water prams are.
amonia 0.50
nitrate 5.0

ph 7.8

i have had them for 2 months now and havent had many problems..
how should i reduce the ammonia and how much does it need to be to kill them

would the be in pain


----------



## thebluyak (Apr 14, 2006)

g rossi said:


> my water prams are.
> amonia 0.50
> nitrate 5.0
> 
> ...


Alright your ammonia is not lethal. under 1 ppm is not deadly. Nitrates are showing which means you have some bacteria that is converting the amm but what are your NITRITES?

What are you using to test?


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

fresh water master test,,its liquid are my piranhas in pain i dont want there gills to be burning


----------



## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

thebluyak said:


> what is 50 liters in g? Do a 25% water change everyday to keep the levels safe. To put it bluntly, if you dont keep your water within safe levels your fish will die. Do water changes as much as you can to keep the levels safe.
> How long has this tank been set up? What filtration do you have?


y?
thatll stress the fish out so much

25 weekly is good

i would only do daly water changes if my fish is deasesed or injured
[/quote]

If his tank has ammonia in it and Nitrite which it sounds like it does he needs to do small water changs everyday. That will drastically drop the levels of ammonia by replenshing it with fresh water. I cycled a tank with fish before and did wc everyday and didnt lose a fish. I mean he can take that advice or ignore it but doing small waterchanges like that will not stress a fish. If he did like 50 and 70% water changes everyday then yeah cause he is dropping the levels of water a ton but small changes like that can only help.
[/quote]
I agree, if the tank is not cycled, small daily water changes will help.


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

fresh water master test,,its liquid are my piranhas in pain i dont want there gills to be burning


----------



## boontje (Mar 27, 2005)

g rossi said:


> fresh water master test,,its liquid are my piranhas in pain i dont want there gills to be burning


but what's the nitrIte reading?


----------



## thebluyak (Apr 14, 2006)

the ammonia is not too bad
what is your nitrite!


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

i dno i lost the nitrate test but it was something lol

so shall i just do 10 percent water changes daily,im using a medication at the moment called marcyn,the water changes wont get rid of it will they


----------



## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

g rossi said:


> ok thanks,are piranhas hardy fish or do they die easilly


this is surely the last straw...anyone who answers a question after this,guess what.......

gullible has been removed from the dictionary


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

what r u on about the last straw,,,s


----------



## luciferzone (Feb 14, 2006)

~await's next question ! ! ! ! !


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

so should i just keep doing 10 percent water changes each day untill the ammonia is down,,,i will be moving them soon but i am worried about the heavy breathin becuse they are always fdoing it,,,i also read on a psot about someone had piranha and dident cycle his tank and someobne said they might have long term affects,what does this meand and what kind of affects could they have


----------



## luciferzone (Feb 14, 2006)

yes

dont know

death


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

ok thanks for the reply,,,how did u get the creeping skeleton i want it for my website


----------



## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

from his dead nan


----------



## locust (Aug 2, 2005)

stop feedin em the pies!


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

where did u get it from l zone,i wouldent say that what if his nan had passed away,it could be upsetting


----------



## luciferzone (Feb 14, 2006)

~RUNS FAR FAR AWAY AND HIDES


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

no hoestly where di u get it from


----------



## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

g rossi said:


> no hoestly where di u get it from


joke mate......


----------



## luciferzone (Feb 14, 2006)

alan said:


> no hoestly where di u get it from


joke mate......
[/quote]
I really dont remember


----------



## g rossi (Sep 24, 2006)

can u send it 2 me cheers

its ok,i found it lol


----------



## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

i thought u needed it for a site? Why are you copying other peoples avatars...


----------



## thebluyak (Apr 14, 2006)

Dude get rid of your fish or get a bigger tank, those 3 3inch fish are going to die in that 13g tank!


----------



## rocker (Aug 12, 2005)

this guy is weird

me thinking its that bomb bronx guy


----------



## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

bobz said:


> Welcome...
> 
> You should not totally empty the tank and wash it, it is bad on your benificial bacteria. If you don't know about cycling i'd reccommend researching it
> 
> ...


----------



## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

moved to water chemisrty forum..


----------



## pottsburg (Aug 30, 2006)

Move it to the retard forum.


----------



## raymond999 (Jun 19, 2006)

why would you need to wash the tank? if you must need to clean the inside, drain about one quarter of the water out scrubb the glass adn vac about another quarter out and refill


----------



## sh0ckerturb0 (May 14, 2006)

pottsburg said:


> Move it to the retard forum.


----------

