no ammonia but kinda high nitrites

[wicked1]

I dont know what this means.I used Fritzyme and Bio-Spira to start my tank
up and its been doing fine.I check the water daily and today the nitrites
were up but no ammonia and few nitrates.Anyone have any ideas why?I am going
to do a water chage tonight but I would like to know what casued it.Oh yeah
I also used gravel from my established tanks.This tank has been going for
about 1 month.Its a 125 with 4 Oscars 1Bloody parrot 3 Catfish.
Thanks

[NetMax]

"wicked1" <jb at ccrtc.com> wrote in message
...
> I dont know what this means.I used Fritzyme and Bio-Spira to start my
tank
> up and its been doing fine.I check the water daily and today the
nitrites
> were up but no ammonia and few nitrates.Anyone have any ideas why?I am
going
> to do a water chage tonight but I would like to know what casued it.Oh
yeah
> I also used gravel from my established tanks.This tank has been going
for
> about 1 month.Its a 125 with 4 Oscars 1Bloody parrot 3 Catfish.
> Thanks

What were you expecting? Did you have an ammonia reading yet, or is your
question because you never had an ammonia reading. The bacteria which
consume ammonia establish themselves faster than those which consume
nitrites. Your tank is not cycled and things will settle down with time.
It's not unusual to skip the ammonia spike in some situations. Watch the
NO2 does not get too high.
hth
NetMax

[Monkey4you]

You cant just chuck in 4 Oscars and expect everything to be fine, you
have too many fish in there too soon.

You also can just chuck in 4 Oscars because they will kill each other
when they get bigger, you can only keep 1 on its own or a mated pair
(or 9 in a 600 gal tank).

You would know all this if you did any research on how to keep Oscars
properly.

Also the Parrot is a hybrid fish and is very delicate so wont live
through the cycle.

[NetMax]

"Monkey4you" > wrote in message
om...
> You cant just chuck in 4 Oscars and expect everything to be fine, you
> have too many fish in there too soon.

It would depend on the size of these Oscars.

> You also can just chuck in 4 Oscars because they will kill each other
> when they get bigger, you can only keep 1 on its own or a mated pair
> (or 9 in a 600 gal tank).

I've had much better luck that than keeping Oscars together.
Occasionally I get one which is intolerant, but I can generally keep a
small group of them together for a good part of their lives. I don't
feed live foods (makes them too agressive) and when they get too
rambuncious, I might turn the temperature down a degree or 2.

> You would know all this if you did any research on how to keep Oscars
> properly.
>
> Also the Parrot is a hybrid fish and is very delicate so wont live
> through the cycle.

Mixing a Parrot with Oscars is an obvious problem in regards to keeping
everyone fed. I've never observed any special susceptibilities with the
Parrots in regards to water parameters though. Perhaps others can share
their observations.

NetMax

[Monkey4you]

> I've had much better luck that than keeping Oscars together.
> Occasionally I get one which is intolerant, but I can generally keep a
> small group of them together for a good part of their lives. I don't
> feed live foods (makes them too agressive) and when they get too
> rambuncious, I might turn the temperature down a degree or 2.

The key word there being "luck".

[NetMax]

"Monkey4you" > wrote in message
m...
> > I've had much better luck that than keeping Oscars together.
> > Occasionally I get one which is intolerant, but I can generally keep
a
> > small group of them together for a good part of their lives. I don't
> > feed live foods (makes them too agressive) and when they get too
> > rambuncious, I might turn the temperature down a degree or 2.
>
> The key word there being "luck".

LOL, you can do everything by the book, and then realize later, fish
can't read.

I find the biggest governing variable (beside diet & temperature) to
keeping Oscars happy is raising them from juveniles together, with a mix
of other fish in the tank. Moving fish around will often upset the
equilibrium. Even removing one Oscar for a week and then putting him
back in will often upset everything. Otherwise, tank volume is also key.
My recommendations are : (as minimum tank), 1 in a 55g, 2 in a 70g, 3 in
a 90g. Better would be 1 in a 70g, 2 in a 90g and 3 in a 110g. At these
volumes, you can keep the other fish in there as well, which helps keep
the equilibrium. Part of the problem IMHO, is that Oscars are smart, and
smart creatures get bored and irritated by the constant presence of only
one other creature. There needs to be other 'stuff' for stimulation,
including dither, bottom-feeders, rocks to re-arrange, a changing
panoramic view from the tank etc etc. JMO

NetMax