help :(

[smashrt]

lol nope it sure isnt my tank lol but it is in our home... so its kind of hard to watch the chaos without helping out. lol ive tried to do as much reading as i can , theres just so much
.. i did about 6 gallon change.. and my ammonia is still at .3 is this okay? i added some cycle to the tank.. im not really sure what else to do

 

[contraband629]

Well ammonia at .3 isnt really ok in the long run but if its temporary you'll be ok. You already did a water change. The only thing you can do is wait it out. If it gets worst by tonight or tomorrow you need to do another water change. I forgot, did you already cycle this tank? I know we said that the ammonia might be from the decaying body of the fish but didnt you say you could not find the fish? Well, if you found the dead body and removed it then the ammonia is temporary and water changes will help.

 

[smashrt]

Originally Posted by Contraband629
http:///forum/post/3135619
Well ammonia at .3 isnt really ok in the long run but if its temporary you'll be ok. You already did a water change. The only thing you can do is wait it out. If it gets worst by tonight or tomorrow you need to do another water change. I forgot, did you already cycle this tank? I know we said that the ammonia might be from the decaying body of the fish but didnt you say you could not find the fish? Well, if you found the dead body and removed it then the ammonia is temporary and water changes will help.
the tank was cycled yes. I tried to find the dead body.. its nowhere to be found.. i pulled apart the rock and throughly looked for it.. he was only a little small guy.. so it was said it on here that it wasnt unreasonable to think he got cleaned up by my small cleaner crew.
i feel a bit worried that my ammonia didnt come down with my water change..woudlnt that mean the source of decay is still present? we also started feeding our cardinal mysis shrimp.. that didnt all get eaten the first time we fed him.. fed it TOO much not realizing how much was in the cube.. lesson learned.. can that increase my ammonia too?
is funny how i keep saying my..lol looks like im in this for the long haul now.

 

[contraband629]

Sounds like its your tank now

. Anyways, yes overfeeding can raise the ammonia levels. I'd skip feeding for a day or two and see if it goes down. I'm sure once this is all over with you'll consider it to be your tank as well. Also, when you said that the water change didnt lower your ammonia, did you test it right after the water change? How big is your tank? You said you changed out 6 gallons?

 

[smashrt]

Originally Posted by Contraband629
http:///forum/post/3135632
Sounds like its your tank now

. Anyways, yes overfeeding can raise the ammonia levels. I'd skip feeding for a day or two and see if it goes down. I'm sure once this is all over with you'll consider it to be your tank as well. Also, when you said that the water change didnt lower your ammonia, did you test it right after the water change? How big is your tank? You said you changed out 6 gallons?
i tested it .. maybe 40 min or so after? our tank is 46 or 48 gallons
i just tested it again.. and i got some result that doesnt look like any on the chart.. its the nutrafin test.. now its cloudy white.. with a tint of blue

 

[contraband629]

I'm not familiar with that test kit. I use API and am not familiar with which brands of test kits are good and which are bad. Are you using test strips? You could always bring a sample of your water to the LFS but it seems like the place you go to isnt exactly trustworthy. Do multiple tests and see if you continue to get the same results.

 

[flower]

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[smashrt]

ok so i took my water into a different fish store and they tested it for me
as everytime i tested it i got something different
ph 8.1 ammonia 0, nitrite .1, nitrate 10 ,sg 1.026 (our arm reader reads 1.023) temp is at 80 degrees
he told me to do a 30 percent water change and that should clear things up.
i told him that i already changed about 6 gal in our 46 gal tank today.. and he said it should be okay to do 30 percent and i could wait til tomorrow if it made me feel more comfortable. does that seem ok

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by smashrt
http:///forum/post/3135707
ok so i took my water into a different fish store and they tested it for me
as everytime i tested it i got something different
ph 8.1 ammonia 0, nitrite .1, nitrate 10 ,sg 1.026 (our arm reader reads 1.023) temp is at 80 degrees
he told me to do a 30 percent water change and that should clear things up.
i told him that i already changed about 6 gal in our 46 gal tank today.. and he said it should be okay to do 30 percent and i could wait til tomorrow if it made me feel more comfortable. does that seem ok

If the ammonia reads 0, why do another water change so soon?

 

[smashrt]

lol i dunno.. cause he said the nitrite and nitrate were high?

 

[contraband629]

Well your nitrite should be 0 but its not very high. I bet you by tommorow morning it'll ready 0. Nitrates at 10 arnt too high. Mine is usually 10 to 20. Everything else seems fine to me. Get a refractometer in the future instead of using the hydrometer.

 

[smashrt]

so.. after moving around our rock, water change and a new powerhead installation.. our normally active bengai cardinal .. is hanging out in the bottom corner of our tank.. his breathing doesnt seem to be heavy.. you think hes just freaked from all the action today? or maybe something is wrong with him too..
is there a way to private message ppl on here or instant message?

 

[matth2181]

may i ask where you are getting your water from to fill the tank and do water changes? when i started i was using tap water and conditioning for chlorine and had a lot of problems, it wasnt until i did a bunch of DI water changes with some new higher quality salt (than instant ocean) that i saw better results.