Levels Rising... Please help!!

Tristan wrote:
Until you get your water parameters under control you would be better
off not feeding as much. Cut it back to once a day or so every other
day. Those fish are ot goping to starve, and at the same time yur not
introducing more nutrients to decay and turn into nitrites and
ammonia. This period of time will help your bacteria catch up with any
accumulating levels in addition to water changes and you shoul dbe
able to get yur levels back under control. Its better to keep fish
hungry than over fed. I maintain my fish,. I do not provide a all you
can eat buffet. I just seemtothink that yur main problem after
reading these additonal posts is from feeding practices, which is easy
to do. So cut back on amount of food fed and the amount of times you
feed and see what happens. Odds are yu will see a difference.

Good that yur kits have not expired. There is a heap of places that
sell kits without any regard to shelf life date. Usually they still
check good, but there is always that rare occurance its not right.
On 14 Jan 2007 11:15:52 -0800, "JB" wrote:


JB wrote:
Tristan wrote:
The rotten egg smell is more than likely hydrogen sulphide which is a
build up of decaying matter in the gravel. It smells like rotten eggs.
Do you give your gravel a routine vac cleaning?

Amquel Plus other than doing what Amquel does also locks up those
nitrates and nitrites, and makes them safe, but they will still show
them as present on a test. A water change wil dilute that reading, and
after 2 or three changes with proper feeding routine and vac of gravel
they all should be within limits.



I did a 100% Water change just over a week ago, and when I did, I
rinsed off my gravel thoroughly, and all my plants, and cleaned out my
filter housing & changed my filter, plus removed a ton of algae from my
tank just over a week ago...

I added Cycle to my tank to get the beneficial bacteria going, and am
due for more soon.. So should I do as the previous poster suggested
and change 75% of my water even though I just changed and cleaned
everything just over a week ago??


PS...... I just purchased my test kit about 2 weeks ago, and they do
not expire until 2008.. Also
I feed my fish 2x a day, sometimes 3x a day as suggested by PetCo..



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!



I just did a 25% Water change, and while doing so I noticed my filter
was pretty dirty but not clogged, so changed that as well.. Now I've
noticed the I guess dust balls randonly in my tank that are wrapped
around bits of food... What should I do about that??.. I appreciate
all of your advice...

JB wrote:


I just did a 25% Water change, and while doing so I noticed my filter
was pretty dirty but not clogged, so changed that as well..

This is the second or third time I've noticed you mention that you have
changed your filter....are you putting in new sponges? If yes, then this
is absolutely the worst thing that you could be doing.....the bacteria
that make up the nitrogen cycle live in your filter medium....now if it
gets clogged all you should be doing is gently rinsing the sponges in
water removed from your tank (tap water is a big no, no as the chlorine
can/will kill off the bacteria).....

Please read the following link on cycling a tank:-

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html


Now I've
noticed the I guess dust balls randonly in my tank that are wrapped
around bits of food... What should I do about that??.. I appreciate
all of your advice...


This is decaying food (I agree with the other bloke).....your fish are
being overfed and it is this that is giving you the issues with trapped
gunk turning into Hydrogen Sulphide in your gravel and your rise in
ammonia/nitrites......I would stop feeding for a day or two....then just
feed a small amount every other day until things settle....

Products such as Cycle or also Amquel may allieviate things but the key
is to get to the root cause of the problem - it could be plainly that
the tank hasn't cycled yet, overfeeding, or over zealous cleaning that
is killing off your beneficial bacteria....

Gill

On Sun, 14 Jan 2007 20:59:46 +0000, Gill Passman
wrote:

snip
(I agree with the other bloke)
snip

Gill

Ok clue me in on this one Gill is being a "Bloke".... good or bad or
just different! I am slowly getting used to the various UK terms ;-)





-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

Tristan wrote:

Ok clue me in on this one Gill is being a "Bloke".... good or bad or
just different! I am slowly getting used to the various UK terms ;-)


Oh dear yet another American needing lessons on the finer use of the
English language by it's true owner - lol

OK - in the way I used it in the post it means what the other
guy/fella/dude/person said....it can be a bit derogatory in certain
contexts but not the one I used it in....if I said that you were display
"blokish behaviour" this would be equal to saying "laddish behaviour" -
again I'm sure another English phrase - but one that has also made it to
other English speaking countries - which basically would mean acting
like a lout or if a more gentle interpretation was put on it it would be
acting like "one of the lads/boys".....if I said you were just being a
bloke then again it could be taken as either a soft jibe/poke, a female
humouring a male or in worst case scenario (but rarely) as an insult/put
down....like all slang it is pretty much down to the context that it is
used in that gives the connatation and whether it would be construed as
an insult or compliment or merely a description of someones
gender.....Oh dear it all gets very complex....the context I used it in
means guy/fella/dude/person and nothing more or less.....I only
included the others just in case someone went did a google and construed
as an insult - which it wasn't....

Now I hope that is all clear as mud for you now :-) Further lessons on
English slang available on request - he, he

Gill

JB wrote:


I meant tyo type AmQuel Plus is supposed to treat Nitrate, Nitrite &
Ammonia.. I listed Nitrate twice for those who noticed.. Also after
washing my hands 2-3 times there's still a slight rotten egg or so
smell on my hands after dealing with my aquarium if this helps point
the way to diagnosis and treatment...


Amquel can have a strong sulfur smell. Could that be the source of your
rotten egg smell?

kietz

kietz wrote:
JB wrote:


I meant tyo type AmQuel Plus is supposed to treat Nitrate, Nitrite &
Ammonia.. I listed Nitrate twice for those who noticed.. Also after
washing my hands 2-3 times there's still a slight rotten egg or so
smell on my hands after dealing with my aquarium if this helps point
the way to diagnosis and treatment...


Amquel can have a strong sulfur smell. Could that be the source of your
rotten egg smell?

kietz

no, because this was going on days before I started treatment.. I
haven't smelled regular AmQuel, but the new AmQuel Plus doesn't have an
odor to me..

JB wrote:
kietz wrote:
JB wrote:

I meant tyo type AmQuel Plus is supposed to treat Nitrate, Nitrite &
Ammonia.. I listed Nitrate twice for those who noticed.. Also after
washing my hands 2-3 times there's still a slight rotten egg or so
smell on my hands after dealing with my aquarium if this helps point
the way to diagnosis and treatment...

Amquel can have a strong sulfur smell. Could that be the source of your
rotten egg smell?

kietz

no, because this was going on days before I started treatment.. I
haven't smelled regular AmQuel, but the new AmQuel Plus doesn't have an
odor to me..


In that case you probably should follow Gill's advice...

good luck,

kietz

kietz wrote:
JB wrote:
kietz wrote:
JB wrote:

I meant tyo type AmQuel Plus is supposed to treat Nitrate, Nitrite &
Ammonia.. I listed Nitrate twice for those who noticed.. Also after
washing my hands 2-3 times there's still a slight rotten egg or so
smell on my hands after dealing with my aquarium if this helps point
the way to diagnosis and treatment...

Amquel can have a strong sulfur smell. Could that be the source of your
rotten egg smell?

kietz

no, because this was going on days before I started treatment.. I
haven't smelled regular AmQuel, but the new AmQuel Plus doesn't have an
odor to me..


In that case you probably should follow Gill's advice...

good luck,

kietz

As stated by kietz Amquel may be a source of rotten egg smell, Amquel,
Prime and similar products are made of Hydrosulfite salts. Also as
stated already never totally clean all your filter media, rinse in used
tank water or de-chlorinated tap water.
As you remove the decaying food by vacuuming this also may address your
kH problem. Decay will produce nitric acids which will deplete kH.
Check you tap water to make sure there is 80 ppm in the water you are
adding back. Driftwood or Mango wood can contribute to kH depletion
too.
Here is an article about kH:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html

Carl

carlrs wrote:
kietz wrote:
JB wrote:
kietz wrote:
JB wrote:

I meant tyo type AmQuel Plus is supposed to treat Nitrate, Nitrite &
Ammonia.. I listed Nitrate twice for those who noticed.. Also after
washing my hands 2-3 times there's still a slight rotten egg or so
smell on my hands after dealing with my aquarium if this helps point
the way to diagnosis and treatment...

Amquel can have a strong sulfur smell. Could that be the source of your
rotten egg smell?

kietz

no, because this was going on days before I started treatment.. I
haven't smelled regular AmQuel, but the new AmQuel Plus doesn't have an
odor to me..


In that case you probably should follow Gill's advice...

good luck,

kietz

As stated by kietz Amquel may be a source of rotten egg smell, Amquel,
Prime and similar products are made of Hydrosulfite salts. Also as
stated already never totally clean all your filter media, rinse in used
tank water or de-chlorinated tap water.
As you remove the decaying food by vacuuming this also may address your
kH problem. Decay will produce nitric acids which will deplete kH.
Check you tap water to make sure there is 80 ppm in the water you are
adding back. Driftwood or Mango wood can contribute to kH depletion
too.
Here is an article about kH:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html

Carl

Yeah, my AmQuel Plus™ has no smell, and the problem lied in my tank
"before" any addition of the product.. My tap water has a KH of 40ppm
at most....... I do not have anything more than plastic plants, one
small 5" coral, and around 1" thick of gravel..

I have a bubble stone trying to help out with aeration, and in the past
3 days have done 2x 25% water changes to try to drop my levels..

My Nitrites went from 10.0ppm to 3.0ppm, and still lingering..

My Nitrates went from around 80ppm to 40ppm and linger... My KH has
been dropping from around 80ppm, to 40ppm and staying...

My GH is staying around 75ppm, and my ph dropped from 7.2ppm to
6.8ppm......

I do not have a kit that can test ammonia but assume that's probably
not normal either..

So to date I have tried several days of AmQuel Plus™, 2x 25% water
changes in 3 days, Stopped my fish feeding to reduce waste for a few
days, tried adding Tetra EasyBalance™ to help neutralize all
advertised levels, and have ben adding Cycle™ to my water weekly as
directed to regain my beneficial bacteria...

I have no idea of what to do now while my tank is re-cycling besides
maybe change 25% of the water every other day until the cycle
stabilizes..

Any potential tips, additives, etc from this most recent post??..
Also to re-mention I have 3x 2" SwordTail fish, and they have given
birth to about 16 fry which took place about 3 weeks ago, and the fry
reside in a net in the corner of my 10 Gallon tank...

JB wrote:
carlrs wrote:
kietz wrote:
JB wrote:
kietz wrote:
JB wrote:

I meant tyo type AmQuel Plus is supposed to treat Nitrate, Nitrite &
Ammonia.. I listed Nitrate twice for those who noticed.. Also after
washing my hands 2-3 times there's still a slight rotten egg or so
smell on my hands after dealing with my aquarium if this helps point
the way to diagnosis and treatment...

Amquel can have a strong sulfur smell. Could that be the source of your
rotten egg smell?

kietz

no, because this was going on days before I started treatment.. I
haven't smelled regular AmQuel, but the new AmQuel Plus doesn't have an
odor to me..


In that case you probably should follow Gill's advice...

good luck,

kietz

As stated by kietz Amquel may be a source of rotten egg smell, Amquel,
Prime and similar products are made of Hydrosulfite salts. Also as
stated already never totally clean all your filter media, rinse in used
tank water or de-chlorinated tap water.
As you remove the decaying food by vacuuming this also may address your
kH problem. Decay will produce nitric acids which will deplete kH.
Check you tap water to make sure there is 80 ppm in the water you are
adding back. Driftwood or Mango wood can contribute to kH depletion
too.
Here is an article about kH:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html

Carl

Yeah, my AmQuel Plusâ„¢ has no smell, and the problem lied in my tank
"before" any addition of the product.. My tap water has a KH of 40ppm
at most....... I do not have anything more than plastic plants, one
small 5" coral, and around 1" thick of gravel..

I have a bubble stone trying to help out with aeration, and in the past
3 days have done 2x 25% water changes to try to drop my levels..

My Nitrites went from 10.0ppm to 3.0ppm, and still lingering..

My Nitrates went from around 80ppm to 40ppm and linger... My KH has
been dropping from around 80ppm, to 40ppm and staying...

My GH is staying around 75ppm, and my ph dropped from 7.2ppm to
6.8ppm......

I do not have a kit that can test ammonia but assume that's probably
not normal either..

So to date I have tried several days of AmQuel Plusâ„¢, 2x 25% water
changes in 3 days, Stopped my fish feeding to reduce waste for a few
days, tried adding Tetra EasyBalanceâ„¢ to help neutralize all
advertised levels, and have ben adding Cycleâ„¢ to my water weekly as
directed to regain my beneficial bacteria...

I have no idea of what to do now while my tank is re-cycling besides
maybe change 25% of the water every other day until the cycle
stabilizes..

Any potential tips, additives, etc from this most recent post??..
Also to re-mention I have 3x 2" SwordTail fish, and they have given
birth to about 16 fry which took place about 3 weeks ago, and the fry
reside in a net in the corner of my 10 Gallon tank...

Currently you seem to be taking appropriate steps, but the dropping kH
still indicates to me you either have too much acid production
somewhere or your tap is very acid with 0 kH. Based on your high
nitrite and nitrate levels I would guess that you still have decay and
waste breakdown going on somewhere.

*Make sure to test your water that you are performing water changes
with to verify this is helping your problem.

*Make sure you vacuum in all areas of your aquarium during your water
changes, in particular under rocks and decor to make sure ALL decaying
mulm is removed. Also make sure ALL filters do not have a mulm buildup
somewhere, canister and wet-dry filters are notorious for this.

*Note that the Amquel is not a solution to your problem, just a band
aid until your cycle improves or you find the cause of this such as
wastes build up.

*When you clean filters, rinse your media in used tank water or
de-chlorinated tap water, never in straight tap water. Also never
change all media at once.

*Consider an additional filter, such as a sponge filter to increase
your bio capacity.

*Besides cutting back on feeding, consider if your tank is over
crowded. And back to feeding, make sure you feed a food that is highly
digestible such as Spirulina based flakes, and not ones loaded in
animal proteins and cereal that will add to the bio load.

Carl
http://www.americanaquariumproducts....formation.html