Tank went crazy nitrite need some help. No clue what to do. - Page 2

inkyy · 11-10-2009, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peanutbowl

For the cycyle to work, there must be a source of food (ammonia) for the beneficial bacteria to consume. Those colonies of bacteria will only grow to match the amount of ammonia present in the tank. If all you did was fill the tank with treated water and let it run for a few weeks without a source of ammonia, there was no cycle that took place. Once you added the pleco and began feeding, the cycle finally started. And yes, the nitrite portion of the cycle is the really bad part. Probably the best thing for your pleco would be to have him spend some time in a well established tank while you complete a solid cycle in your tank. There is an excellent video tutorial here that will walk you through the process of fishless cycling. If the smaller tank you have him in now is not cycled, you will go through the same thing soon in there.

Keep us updated. We'll try our best to help you through this stressfull time.

This is weird to me tho, I have never used ammonia in any of my tanks in all my life, this is the first time I have ever heard of adding it to a tank! Iv never had this issue before with my tanks and they were bigger than this 14gallon tank. Im going to ask the LFS why they never told me anything about this in all my years of tanks and fish keeping.

inkyy · 11-10-2009, 10:23 AM

And I guess what your saying is my pleco fred is gonna die basically cus of the tank and theres nothing to do about it. This sucks.

peanutbowl · 11-10-2009, 12:25 PM

Fishless cycling is relatively new on the scene and wasn't something you really heard about even say 5 to 10 years ago. Even today, you can expect not to hear about it too much in a LFS. True, it may seem counter intuitive to add ammonia to the tank, however, with no fish in the tank to suffer you can maintain a high amount of ammonia and provide for robust development of the beneficial bacteria colonies. A basic understanding of the nitrogen cycle is key. I did in a fish in cycle with my 29 gallon and lost many fish along the way. In my 12 gallon, I went the fishless route and lost nothing.

I am by no means telling you that your pleco will die. What I am saying is that you must take action now in an effort to save the fish. You have options.

1 Consider taking the fish back to the store and asking them to keep it while you get your tank cycled. A good LFS will understand what you are going through. Or, if you know someone with an established compatible tank, ask them for some room and board while you get things together. Watch the video tutorials and get an understanding of what to do and what to look for to tell you that the tank has cycled.

2 Deal with the fish in cycle by doing large(50 to 75 percent) water changes every one to two days. This approach will take a much longer time to cycle. Get yourself a couple bunches of plants, something like Hygrophila Difformis (wisteria), to float in the top of the tank to help absort NH3/4 and NO2 as they present themselves in the water column. Again, watch the video tutorials on cycling.

In either case, you're gonna want to get liquid test kits for ammonia and nitrite so you can watch the cycle happen. Dip tests will only provide inaccurate info. And do your own testing. It seems that LFS only ever have one thing to say, "everything looks ok". You can speed up the process by getting some gravel or old filter media from an established tank, either from the LFS or a friend. Use this material to seed the tank with the bacteria needed to cycle.

keep us posted.

inkyy · 11-10-2009, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peanutbowl

Fishless cycling is relatively new on the scene and wasn't something you really heard about even say 5 to 10 years ago. Even today, you can expect not to hear about it too much in a LFS. True, it may seem counter intuitive to add ammonia to the tank, however, with no fish in the tank to suffer you can maintain a high amount of ammonia and provide for robust development of the beneficial bacteria colonies. A basic understanding of the nitrogen cycle is key. I did in a fish in cycle with my 29 gallon and lost many fish along the way. In my 12 gallon, I went the fishless route and lost nothing.

I am by no means telling you that your pleco will die. What I am saying is that you must take action now in an effort to save the fish. You have options.

1 Consider taking the fish back to the store and asking them to keep it while you get your tank cycled. A good LFS will understand what you are going through. Or, if you know someone with an established compatible tank, ask them for some room and board while you get things together. Watch the video tutorials and get an understanding of what to do and what to look for to tell you that the tank has cycled.

2 Deal with the fish in cycle by doing large(50 to 75 percent) water changes every one to two days. This approach will take a much longer time to cycle. Get yourself a couple bunches of plants, something like Hygrophila Difformis (wisteria), to float in the top of the tank to help absort NH3/4 and NO2 as they present themselves in the water column. Again, watch the video tutorials on cycling.

In either case, you're gonna want to get liquid test kits for ammonia and nitrite so you can watch the cycle happen. Dip tests will only provide inaccurate info. And do your own testing. It seems that LFS only ever have one thing to say, "everything looks ok". You can speed up the process by getting some gravel or old filter media from an established tank, either from the LFS or a friend. Use this material to seed the tank with the bacteria needed to cycle.

keep us posted.

well LFS wont take the fish back unless they keep it, they wont hold it for me and none of my friends here have fish tanks so I cant lend him to someone for a while.

Is adding the cycle not going to help? Iv always used it for my tanks, Ill look into the plants .. they just float ? not sit in the rocks in the water? never had live plants in my tanks before.

Currently the water is crystal clear and still testing at .5 nitrite. The liquid test kit is 50$ at the LFS which I cant aford right now.

Doing some research I read that when doing water changes I should not disturb the rocks at the bottom because the bacteria wont be able to work properly that way if i keep cleaning it out. Is this correct? I have always cleaned the rocks using the syphon never just taken the water out an replaced it.

My other tank has glass beads for gravel, they have been established for quite a while, If i drop thos into the tank will they help or would only the gravel work?
- The current gravel in my tank was a new bag but it has the beneficial bacteria stuff according to the bag and store.

Frustrating that this is news to me after 8 years of never encountering this issue. Going to check out the videos, any other ideas and help is apreciated. Thanks for the help so far.

peanutbowl · 11-10-2009, 04:53 PM

If you have an established tank, then that is where you need the pleco to be. Yes, a few glass beeds from the established tank( one that has been up and running with fish for at least a year) will help seed the new tank. Floating plants in a tank helps remove unwanted nutrients from the water column because the roots are more exposed to the water, rather than being buried in the substrate. It's a technique used in planted aquariums to help control algae but will serve a purpose to your needs.
Cycle has shown minimal effectiveness. There are more modern products on the market that might be worth a try. I actually just listened to a presentation last night by a man at my local aquatic society meeting that has a series of products available to cycle tanks. Whether it works better than other products on the market remains to be seen but it has been getting alot of buzz lately, both with aquariums and outdoor ponds. Let me know if you are interested and I can pm you the info on the product. A good place to look for ammonia to do the fishless cycle is Ace Hardware. They carry ammonia that doesn't have any surfactants or perfumes and this is what you want to cycle with.
Keep in touch.

Judge · 11-10-2009, 05:28 PM

Sorry it took me a few to get back to you. I am not sure what has happened to your tank Inkyy. Sounds like it cycled alright and everything was fine for a while. If nothing was added then we come back to your water source. I would not give up on Fred. Sounds like you have two tanks so start cycling from scratch I suppose. I would monitor the water daily, test strips are much cheaper and really ok for cycling. They will show the progress of the main stages.