need help with some test results.

dont know what im doing wrong
but tank conditions are less than optimal
cuasing the gf to sometimes appear sluggish.
so far no deaths since last christmas when i lost the two gf at the
start of the hobby.

55 galon tank
three plants: 1onion, 1anubias bartarai, anubias nana.
1.5" of florite instead of gravel.
heater 200wts set to 81 deg.
tank temp is 81 deg.
two air defusers/ rena 400 air pump.
two aquaclear 110(500)

8 goldfish (temporarily overstocked).
feed combination of medicarp,progold,& sho_koi impact
{very little every 24 hrs soaked in tank water until completely
saturated then mashed} also green peas
amonia is at 0
nitrate is [40] right be low unsafe
nitrite is .5 ppm
GH: 25 (very soft)
KH: 40 (low)
ph 6.2 (acidic)

For some reason ph level is very low. 6.2 (acidic)
from the tap its ph 7.2
total alkalinity is 0
GH (i guess this means total hardnes) is 25 which indicates very soft.
help help help!!!
advise

"r" wrote in message
news
dont know what im doing wrong
but tank conditions are less than optimal
cuasing the gf to sometimes appear sluggish.
.... snip
55 galon tank
.... snip
8 goldfish (temporarily overstocked).
.... snip
amonia is at 0
nitrate is [40] right be low unsafe
nitrite is .5 ppm
.... snip
For some reason ph level is very low. 6.2 (acidic)
from the tap its ph 7.2
total alkalinity is 0
GH (i guess this means total hardnes) is 25 which indicates very soft.
help help help!!!
advise

r,
Any nitrite is really bad for gf & IMHO even "safe" levels recommended on
test kits are too high.
Presence of nitrite in 1 year-old tank means biofilter is not keeping up
with fish load.
There may have been a recent ammonia spike too, indicated by current
presence of nitrite.
Tank has never cycled or is re-cycling now... was it cycled? Low pH may have
killed biofilter?

Either way, your fish are in danger now - from here it's all about water
quality.
The first day I'd do multiple water changes, till nitrite zero or just
detectable on test strip.
Then use Amquel-plus or equivalent water conditioner to neutralize ammonia &
nitrite
(almost all water conditioners treat ammonia but not all treat for nitrite -
treat for both).
Then keep up daily tests & WC until tanks cycles = no ammonia or nitrite are
indicated for several days.
Then test & continue large/frequent WCs "as indicated" by test kits.
("as indicated" = change enough water to keep nitrate 20ppm).

Low pH may be overload of crud in substrate. Planted tanks really accumulate
stuff.
Substrate not regularly cleaned may load up with toxic stuff.
Cleaning will stir it all up & harm fish, so be sure to remove fish during
big gravel clean.
If substrate is cruddy, remove plants ornaments & fish, stir & vacuum till
only clear water comes up.

Avoid temptation to add any other meds, pH conditioners, etc. for now. Just
clean, clean water!

Sorry but that'll be a lot of buckets. As you indicate, 8 gf in a 55gal tank
is over recommended limit.
Thus the min. 10gal/gf rule of thumb, for an "easily" maintained tank.

Good luck,
~MattO

this tank was completely cycled, right?
something is toxic killing the biobugs. start doing 50% per day water changes for 5
- 7 days until water parameters are back where they should be.
quite feeding for a couple days. it could be the 1.5" of florite accumulating
rotting debris.
you have a bell siphon?
http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/...g%20techniques
Ingrid

r wrote:
1.5" of florite instead of gravel.
8 goldfish (temporarily overstocked).
nitrate is [40] right be low unsafe
nitrite is .5 ppm
GH: 25 (very soft)
KH: 40 (low)
ph 6.2 (acidic)

For some reason ph level is very low. 6.2 (acidic)
from the tap its ph 7.2
total alkalinity is 0
GH (i guess this means total hardnes) is 25 which indicates very soft.
help help help!!!
advise



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 12:47:53 GMT, wrote:

this tank was completely cycled, right?
yes
something is toxic killing the biobugs. start doing 50% per day water changes for 5
- 7 days until water parameters are back where they should be.
quite feeding for a couple days. it could be the 1.5" of florite accumulating
rotting debris.
you have a bell siphon?
Is a bell siphon a trade mark No Spill Gravel vacum? if so then yes.
I use it for every water change.
will do 50% wc and keep monitoring.
thanks.
http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/...g%20techniques
Ingrid

r wrote:
1.5" of florite instead of gravel.
8 goldfish (temporarily overstocked).
nitrate is [40] right be low unsafe
nitrite is .5 ppm
GH: 25 (very soft)
KH: 40 (low)
ph 6.2 (acidic)

For some reason ph level is very low. 6.2 (acidic)
from the tap its ph 7.2
total alkalinity is 0
GH (i guess this means total hardnes) is 25 which indicates very soft.
help help help!!!
advise



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.


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