Nitrite/Nitrate

[courtnee]

nitrites are 10,0 nitrates are just tracing now so those went down from before. Water is very hard, almost acidic but still in neautral. Alk is low but almost in the good range.

10 gallon tank, two way air filter with a good 6" stone and a decoration ship with air to it. Running about a month now, to house 1 apple snail and goldfish. runs about 75F

Snail is really active and growing like a weed. Gitmo has always been active too.

I did notice Gitmo is keeping his fins against his body though. He is still alive this afternoon in the 1gl so I am hoping I pulled him out in time. Gary is still in the tank, I will get him out soon too and put him in the gallon.

[Tommy Gun]

You are right Loman, it gets hard to keep track of all these numbers after a while.

So, you are basically right in the middle of the cycle. You need to wait for the nitrites to get lower until you really see what the nitrate levels will be. Nitrites in your tank right now are toxic to fish and this is likely the cause of death. It is just going to take time. There is no time limit or way of predicting when a tank will be safe for fish. There are too many variables right to think about to get any exacting type of answer.

I also think you will be ok with the fish and snail in a one gallon for the time being. Is this an established one gallon tank or is it also new? (I dont remember what you had said about that, sorry). If it is new, just do lots of good water changes until your 10 gallon is up to snuff.

Your snail is going to end up pretty large so it doesnt suprise me that it is growing well. Gitmo keeping his fins against his body is a sign of poor health so keep an eye on him/her so that you can fix things the right way.

[courtnee]

Thanks Tom for keeping with me here.

Here is an update. Gary the snail was taken over to my sisters house who has an established 10 gallon tank with two catfishes and two small Chinease alge eaters.

Gitmo will stay here in the one gallon as my sister's tank is way to warm for him. Gary was pretty upset in that 1 gallon. He would just sit in the same spot and seemed to be bummed out. Right away at my sisters he made a complete lap of the tank. The catfish kept going up and checking him out and taking off. I checked and several sites said castfish are okay with apple snails. Only thing I should worry about is them maybe nipping at his tenticles. They seemed to leave him alone after 30 minutes of them being curious. The catfish are very small right now as well. Gary is bigger LOL

Gitmo is hanging in there. He is still in the 1 gallon tank. He is eating and swimming. He seems to be gasping less now which I feel he is breathing better. His fins are still tucked to his body but I noticed something new tonight.

His back tail fins seem to be disolving? The bottom part you see the cartlidge (spelling is probably bad and I am not sure the correct term for it) but the skin of the fin is gone.

Could that be due to the toxins? Should I go get something?

Tonight I got a huge scoop of my sister's gravel and put in a tablespoon of aquarium salt in the 10gl tank. I also put some flakes of fish food in the tank as well today as well so the baceria has something to eat.

I put a few pieces in the 1 gallon for Gitmo. Didnt want to do to much in that little tank. What a little fighter he is. I really didnt think he would make it yesterday but he is still here hanging on. I can tell he is miserable and I wish I could just make him better. (can you tell I am an animal lover? LOL)

Gitmo and Gary will not go back to the tank until it is cycled that I know for sure!!!!

Also how long should I wait after it cycles to vac the gravel? Also how often should I do it to maintain the tank?

Sorry for the bomb of questions but I am a newbie.

Also in a year or so I plan to put Gary and Gitmo in at least a 20gl+ tank that I hope will serve as a large enough home for them for years to come. That tank will be cyled fishless for sure. I cant even go get feeder fish to cycle it. That is a miserable death!

Are larger tanks easier to deal with? since there is so much more water to dilute the toxins? A larger tank to me just seems like yes it is more work, but with a lot more water I seem to think it gives you more room so to say to deal with problems.

[courtnee]

Forgot to answer one of your questions. The 1 gallon tank housed a Betta for 8mo. He passed away about a month ago and the tank has been sitting empty since. I just drained it and never washed it out with tap water. I just rinsed it out with treated water before filling it for Gitmo and Gary.

We had a very healthy thriving Betta in there, I got the 10 gallon tank and moved the Betta in the 1 gallon to another room. next day he was dead. I was heartbroken and that is why I wont go get another Betta right now. Mr. Moo was fun to watch and we got attached. I put him in my bedroom where it is warmer compared to out here. I know Betta's like warm water. It would sit about 80F in there. Well the nights here are cool and like a retard I forgot to shut the window and it got pretty cool. I am sure the cold snap in the room made his tank way to cold and killed him. I am sure it got to atleast 55F in there. It was in the low 40s that night. I got home at 7am and he was gone. I kick myself in the butt cause if I would of just left him in the living room he would stil be here!

I am not having a good success rate am I? Betta and a Goldfish dead within a month.

[Tuffcents]

geez...

You can probably calm down now, If I were you I would get a 20 gallon tank or larger and let it start to cycle asap. The bigger the tank the less work it is going to be on you because the water parameters won't change so quickly. If gary or gizmo is a goldfish Im sure he will be fine because goldfish can handle a lot even near freezing temps. Wish you the best.

And I really like the stories of your snail racing around the tank

[Loman]

Coutnee,
Your success rate is fine - so long as you keep working to understand and improve (we all need to do that no matter where we are in this hobby) You did not include the tank parameters from the 10 gal which would help us see where it is progressing. Specifically the exact readings for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. It sounds like you may be encountering a bit of fin rot based on the explanation. It is not uncommon when water conditions are less than needed. I would keep changing out the water in the 1 gallon frequently to prevent any build up and hope for the best. There are some meds you can use but it does not sound real bad and there are enough other things going on I would not suggest them. I think the big thing is too see the Nitrites come down and probably the Nitrate come up in the 10 gallon tank.

[courtnee]

Tuffcents - I am calming down now as Gitmo is hanging in there. Gitmo is a 1 1/2" or so Goldfish and Gary is the apple snail. I want to wait on the larger tank. Since I already have the 10 gallon that is almost cycled I want to get that going so they have a place to be while we cycle a larger tank in a few months to a year WITHOUT them in it. The 1 gallon is just not good for them to go through another waiting period for another tank. The 10 gallon is almost done and that would be a good place for them. I am looking forward to playing with a much larger tank though!

Loman - I stopped at a fish place this morning since Gitmo's back fin is getting bad in a hurry. I see red streaks in it today. I followed her words of wisdom for me. I told her the entire situation. I told her Gitmo was due for a water change in his 1 gallon today and that he is eating and hanging in there. She had me give him a very small dose of Melafix just to be on top of the game since his fin is going down hill so fast and add just a little more salt with the water change. I came right home and did that. He seems to be perking up and his fins are not near as tight to his body as they have been. She also warned me to really watch his body for more signs of a bacteria infection since he is in a tough spot right now.

I tested the 10 gallon again today since I added a handful of established gravel from my sister's tank last night. I wanted it for when I test in another two days to see where we are at.

My nitrates are going up at least! Good news from what I understand means the Nitrites are being converted.

Today

Nitrates - between 20-40 strip was a little past 20 but not 40 color yet this is up.
Nitrites- still 10. but not as heavy of a pink as it was a few days ago. YAY!
Hardness - 120 this is down from 250 to very hard it usually sits at 250 range - I know I need to keep it hard for the snail and his shell.
Alk - 80 this is down from 120
PH - 6.8ish this is down as well from 7.2

[courtnee]

Here is a picture of Gitmo showing his back fin and the red streaks starting which show more on the pic by his body. That wasn't there before. Bad pic lol I laugh cause I am a pro photographer but umm I cant photograph fish obviously!

[Loman]

Cortnee,
The fins are certainly clamped to the body and he looks distressed although I have seen fish that look much worse make it. It was probably a good cal to use the melfix (if I recall correctly it is a broad spectrum antibiotic)I would keep changing the water in the 1 gallon a lot. It looks like things are slowly progressing in the 10 gallon too . You are correct that the nitrates coming up is actually a good sign. Hopefully in a few days we will see the nitrites decrease. Do you know where the ammonia level is?

[courtnee]

No I dont know the amonia, that is the next test thing I need to go grab. They didnt have any I gotta run and get that.