I Need Help!!

cajamajo

cajamajo

Member
I was just fininshed with my cycle. I did not have the money at first to add all of the live rock. I had 15lbs and just added 30lbs. I was told it was cured. I washed it good in saltwater, and added it to my tank. When I checked the levels today they were all high.
yeserday
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
ph 8.0
trates 20
today
ammonia 4.0
nitrites 2.0
ph 7.8
trates 80
Will I go through a cycle again?? WIll these levels drop fast?
I have a fluval 404 I added the crushed lr to one of the baskets. PLEASE help I have a few damsels, a coral banded shrimp, blue leg crabs, a starfish.
I dont want to loose my fish. I dont have anywhere to take them. I need advice.
 
teviesfish

teviesfish

Member
Do a water change. You should do at least a 20% of your tank with fresh salt water. Wait a few hours and the retest. This has helped me when i added rock. Do you have a quarteen tank? you should get one when you can if you dont already have one. I would just keep testing and water changing to keep the levels down Good luck and keep us posted
 
cajamajo

cajamajo

Member
I did the water change. My fish seem to be acting normal with the high levels. I will check them again in a few hours. Anyone know if the levels will drop fast, or will it be like my first cycle?
 
mcsd22

mcsd22

Member
They won't drop fast, You will need to keep up with water changes probably daily. 4.0 Am is pretty high and fish will not last long in it.
 
cajamajo

cajamajo

Member
Will doing 20% water change everyday do more harm? Will we also loose the good bacteria that was estabilished when the cycle ended last week? Is this just like starting over?
 
cajamajo

cajamajo

Member
Here are my numbers after the 20% change
ammonia 4.0
nitrites 2.0
ph 7.8
trates 80
They stayed the same. Do I need to do 20% change every day until it is corrected? Anything more I could be doing? :thinking:
 
sleasia

sleasia

Active Member
I think the rock wasn't properly cycled, and your tank is going into a cycle again. How many fish do you have? I would move them into a qt...you may have to do daily water changes since the qt is not or will not also be cycled.
get some biospira marine and put it into the qt (liquid live beneficial bacteria sold in lfs usually in fridge) the stuff is great.
 
dut

dut

Member
I would keep doing daily water changes. Is there anyway your lfs will hold your fish for you until you get your tank sorted back out?
 
cajamajo

cajamajo

Member
Will this cycle last as long as the first? Will it just be a few days to catch up? The unknown is frightning Please everyone share your knowledge!!
the lfs will not sit the fish. I have to get these levels down now. I dis a 20% change today and the levels stayed the same. ideas ideas ideas please
 
dut

dut

Member
It very well could last as long as the first, 4.0 is fairly high. As sleasia stated earlier, it sounds as if your tank never properly cycled. How long did the first cycle take? Also, maybe there was just a extreme amount of dieoff on the 30lbs of rock, hard to say. At this point adding the live bacteria and doing water changes are the only things you can do to help the situation. There is chemicals that neutrilize ammonia by turning it into ammonium, though its mainly used for preparing your home water, it might be of use with this as well. I dont know that from experience, just trying to think of something that might be useful.
 
cajamajo

cajamajo

Member
the first cycle took 3 weeks. I used shrimp to start it ammonia spiked at 2 them came down as well as trites and trates. I wat thinking I was home clear. I will do another 20% change today, and hope for the best. The feed store will not take my animals, they said they dont have the room. I will let you know the levels afterwhile. Thanks everyone...
 
cajamajo

cajamajo

Member
I did a water change today at 9:00 and checked levels at 11:00 the ammonia dropped to 1.0 from 4.0 should I do another 20% in the morning? The trites, and trates have not dropped after 2-20% water changes. One damsel had popeye, but some of the swelling has gone down. The damsels are breathing faster. The mandrin is acting normal. LTA still looks normal. CBS acting normal. Any further advice, greatly appreciated.
New levels
Ammonia 1.0
nitrites 2.0
nitrates 80
ph 7.8
 
nick76

nick76

Active Member
Originally Posted by cajamajo
I was just fininshed with my cycle. I did not have the money at first to add all of the live rock. I had 15lbs and just added 30lbs. I was told it was cured. I washed it good in saltwater, and added it to my tank. When I checked the levels today they were all high.
I think perhaps because you already cycled your tank and then added the large amount of LR caused the shift, I was also wondering about that bc currently I have 10lbs that already cycled my tank and im going to buy more today, because I have more money to buy. Ill probably only add only another 10lbs so it dosnt cause a shock to the enviorment. But ur probably gonna be ok if the levels are dropping now. Good Luck.
 
cajamajo

cajamajo

Member
The ammonia is dropping fast it is now, .50 and yesterday morning it was 4.0 the nitrates are still 80, and nitrites 2.0, ph 7.8 I hope to see a drop in nitrites next. Do you think I should still do 20% water change in the morning.
 
cajamajo

cajamajo

Member
can someone please tell me if I need to continue the 20% water changes. Just dont want to make another mistake. Thanks
 
sleasia

sleasia

Active Member
cajamajo...I would do another water change, because you really want the ammonia and nitrites down to 0 if at all possible...but before you do, can you get a bag of biospira marine ($25-30) at any of you lfs nearby? this stuff is great. the problem with multiple water changes is it may decrease your bio load, which you also need to keep the ammonia and nitrites down...this is why these problems are a "catch22". you have to change water to get ammonia and nitrites out, but as you do that, since the tank is new and the beneficial bacteria may not be well established in the rockwork, you also take some of the good stuff out with the water changes. the best supplemental beneficial bacteria product I know is biospira marine...made by marineland. they sell it in packs for 30gall and 90 gallon tanks...I would throw in a pack for a 90 gallon to be sure. It won't hurt the fish, it will just add a ton of bacteria. one pack of this stuff brought my nitrites down over night in my 200 gallon tank. put a pack in now and in 3 or 4 days boost it again with another pack it you can. be sure with each water change you are mixing the water well enough ahead of time too and matching salinity, ph, alkalinity, and temp with that of your main tank so as not to further stress the weakened fish....water should be mixed at least 24 hours ahead of time preferably 3 or 4 days and keep it mixing and aerating with a powerhead in the bucket you mix it in. salt mixes which have not been sufficiently "seasoned" (given a few days to really dissolve and blend) can also cause big time problems with the fish
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top