VBS was expensive this year

-=jd=- wrote:

Apologies for the long-windedness...

So my little girl went to Vacation Bible School this year. Apparently,
one of the theme's going round the circuits this year for VBS was
something like, "Dive Deep for Jesus" or something like that...

SCUBA, Super Cool Underwater Bible Adventure.

(4 yo daughter.)

This was about 5 weeks ago.

Tank should be well out of the ammonia phase and mostly done with
nitrite phase by now. Something's wrong.

People without kids may have a hard
time understanding the intricate forces of nature at work on a father
that, being wrapped around his little-girls finger, is compelled to
ensure that two little goldfish survive and thrive...

No worries at all, been there done that, bought the t-shirt.
(BTW we get about 2 dad/moms a year in your exact position...

I can't afford to allow them to expire due to carelessness now.

Gotcher back.

I learned about the nitrogen cycle (Oh boy, did I) , water changes,
feeding, temp, PH, alkalinity, etc.

OK good.

In the meantime, I am about gobsmacked at keeping the water quality
somewhat tolerable. I'm having to do 75%-90% water changes daily
(sometimes twice a day) to get the ammonia down to about 1ppm. The
next *morning*, it's back over 4ppm! Since late in week-2, NitrAte's
barely register, while nitrItes have never registered at all. Ammonia
has been bad since day 3.

I try to maintain the following params:
PH : about 8.0
KH : about 120
Temp: 75f

I have about 1/4" of gravel that I'm thinking of removing (over time)
if the tank will ever cycle.

Give it a really good vacuuming. It could be that early over feeding is
sitting in there rotting.


The HOB filter is a Penguin 125 with the bio-wheel.

Good stuff.

I've got the test kits for PH, ammonia, nitrate and some dip-sticks
that do a 5-in-one test. I'm checking things twice a day (minimum)
since the ammonia wants to skyrocket every day.

Might want to get another ammonia test kit. I'd recommend the Aquarium
Pharm Fresh/Salt water kit with the 2 chemicals (not just the
Freshwater kit with only one.)

There's a 75-watt heater.

Tap water (dechlored with Stress-Coat) tests absolutely negative for
ammonia and nitrXtes. Ph is 7.2. I buffer that with a PH leveler that
brings it to 8.0.

Um did you do the ammonia test, before or after treating with Stress
Coat? If your water company is using chloramine, you'll get NH3 after
treating for chlorine.

pH 7.2 is perfect for goldies, I'd taper off the buffer.

One thing I have not been able to find on the web is the
characteristic behavior to look for when the tank actually begins to
cycle for the better.

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-...w-much-ammonia

I have a real numbers graph too that I can email you... Or look in
alt.binaries.aquaria (posting now)

In other words, is the growth of the beneficial
bacteria something that occurs gradually over a 30 day period, or does
it just blossom over-night unexpectedly?

As I said before, if at 5 weeks you're still into the ammonia phase
something is wrong. Particularly with the high levels of ammonia you're
seeing. Frankly at those temps & pH I'd expect your fish to be dead.

So, crack down on overfeeding. (which you've done)
Give the gravel a good cleaning. (so that nothing is rotting)
Retest your tap water, AFTER treatment, to see if the NH3 is creeping in
that way.
Keep up water changes.
Investigate AmQuel (another water treatment that also hammers ammonia,
but keeps it available for growing the bio-filter) and perhaps
BioSpira.

If it's the former, I'm
thinking I'm in for another month (or two) of daily (sometimes twice a
day) "ammonia management" water changes to get a stinkin' 10 gallon
tank cycled... which would suck...

Do a google search on "python water changer"

It's enough to jar one's tolerance for organized religion.

tee hee. Ah, so THAT'S what religious tolerance means.

I can
imagine (in my twisted mind) that the VBS committee thought long and
hard about which theme would cause doting, child-spoiling parents the
most grief - and then it hit them: "Goldfish!"

They spared you the "watch the chicks hatch and send the cute little
guys home with the parents" trick.

I'd write more, but I'm late for a gig. Send email if you'd like.

-Donald
--
"There is nothing so strong as gentleness, and there is nothing so
gentle as real strength." St. Francis de Sales