June 4th 05, 12:26 AM
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Junior Member
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First recorded activity by FishkeepingBanter: Jun 2005
Location: Oxford
Posts: 8
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Billy
"Klane" wrote in message
oups.com...
Okay, the SpongeBob tank is about 4 weeks old and the Danios are
doing
fine. I feed the fish once a day and change the water about every 5
days (50%).
Sounds like you're doing things right. 50% every 5 days seems a bit
extreme though.
Testing the water the pH is fine, the amonia is very low (almost at
0)
but my Nitrites are very high, over 50, and the Nitrates are very
low.
Do I do anything different or do I just wait because it's normal
for a
new tank.
A fully cycled tank shouldn't have more than a TRACE of ammonia and
nitrite, and that's only on a high quality test kit. What kind of
filter does the spongebob tank have? Are you doing anything to it? My
advice would be to leave all filter media alone, do small water
changes as needed every couple days to keep nitrite down. Until that
nitrite goes down, the tank isn't cycled. How much are you feeding?
Are there any other inhabitants other than a pair of danios? What
size is the spongebob tank? 50 nitrite seems darn high for a small
tank to build up with 50% water changes.
We are also going to break down and get a bigger tank, either 10 or
20
gallons, I have a corner that it will fit with a little moving
around.
Do I transfer the gravel into that tank to help it cycle? If so do
I do
that right away or wait until I add the fish. Will I have to cycle
all
over again? Should I make up the tank and let it run for a few days
first before I transfer Boo and Yah?
Whatever filter you decide to put on the new tank, remove the media
from that filter and stuff it in the Spongebob filter(with the
spongebob media), or the tank itself, or as much of the media as you
can fit in there. Set up the new tank as you wish, then after the new
media has been 'aging' for a couple days, switch things over. Moving
as much of the old tank's contents ensures you're getting a good
amount of the bacteria you need to keep the tank cycled.
However, I wouldn't do any of this until you get that Spongebob
tank cycled.
billy |
The bacteria needed to convert Ammonia to nitrite will kick in first, (the reading for ammonia will deminish and nitrite will rise) next the bacteria (bacterium?) needed to convert the nitite to less harmfull nitrate will take over at this point (Ammonia levels zero and nitrite levels reduce, nitrate levels increase) this should be starting to happen by the third week. Keep nitrite levels below 10 during this period by changing 20/30% water. Nitrates are generally safe upto 40ppm so less frequent water changes are needed once the cycle has completed. Remember to clean filter media in the water you remove from the tank not under the tap.
Good luck
Steve
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