EMERGENCY! Red Devils Calling Dr. Solo

Hi Ingrid and all,
I know this is not the place to post but I need your advice.
(yes it's me again, btw, Oscar and Felix are doing great thank you!)

I have a 220 gallon tank with 6 red devils about
4" long each. Unfortunately the tank was new when
I started (Jan 4th) so I used Biozyme to jumpstart the
bio filter. The Ammonia spike was not so bad i never
hit above 2ppm and just for a few days and i did a few
25% water changes just to be safe.

Unfortuanately the Biozyme dosen't seem to be working
on Nitrite as well as it did on the Ammo. I think I'm
between 2 and 3ppm but it could be way more, i can't tell
because that's where my test kit tops out. The fish were
fine untill today so i did a 30% water change today ( last
water change was about 3 days ago) and the reading is still the
same, topped out on the Nitrite scale, it's as if I did nothing!

I don't have access to Biospira, but i wonder if it's better than
Biozyme? Has anyone out there tried "Cycle" ?
The fish are now sitting on the bottom of the tank, not moving is that bad?
They are not at the surface gasping for air, is this a good sign?
Am I gonna lose my fish? Is the Nitrite spike just as bad on the fish
as the Ammo spike? Will there be permanant damage or brown blood disease
etc? I have a 0.1% salt solution, and a Huge 6" airstone with a big air
pump,
will this help oxygenation? I understand that nitrite competes with oxygen
to get
absorbed in the bloodstream, but is there permanent damage? I'm gonna do
another 30% water tomorrow, is there anything else i should do?

PS: filtration is 2 Aquaclear 500.

....Kodiak

there is something by fritzyme that is said to work as well as biospira. the rest of
the stuff just doesnt work. dont you have an established filter you can take 1/2
from to help this tank????
otherwise, nitrites are the worst part of the cycle. if you dont keep the nitrites
down it will kill the bacteria already established.
fish that are normally moving and then sitting is not a good sign. the nitrite spike
is just as bad. as long as they are alive there isnt permanent, but why not change
water??????? I dont know if red devils tolerate salt or not. what are they?
Ingrid


"Kodiak" wrote:
Unfortuanately the Biozyme dosen't seem to be working
on Nitrite as well as it did on the Ammo. I think I'm
between 2 and 3ppm but it could be way more, i can't tell
because that's where my test kit tops out. The fish were
fine untill today so i did a 30% water change today ( last
water change was about 3 days ago) and the reading is still the
same, topped out on the Nitrite scale, it's as if I did nothing!

I don't have access to Biospira, but i wonder if it's better than
Biozyme? Has anyone out there tried "Cycle" ?
The fish are now sitting on the bottom of the tank, not moving is that bad?
They are not at the surface gasping for air, is this a good sign?
Am I gonna lose my fish? Is the Nitrite spike just as bad on the fish
as the Ammo spike? Will there be permanant damage or brown blood disease
etc? I have a 0.1% salt solution, and a Huge 6" airstone with a big air
pump,
will this help oxygenation? I understand that nitrite competes with oxygen
to get
absorbed in the bloodstream, but is there permanent damage? I'm gonna do
another 30% water tomorrow, is there anything else i should do?

PS: filtration is 2 Aquaclear 500.

...Kodiak




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

Red Devils are Central American Cichlids... How many fish did you stick in
there again? Perhaps it might be best for a while to cut back on the feeding
for a few days.. ( I am certain these fellows would be alright without food
for a few days..) Feed them once a day until the cycling is complete and
the filters catch up.. On my over stocked 55 I was running two AC 300's and
assited by an AC 402 power head with the changeable filter cartridges.. It
kept the water fine, but took a while to get it there in a safe maner..

Tim..


wrote in message
...
there is something by fritzyme that is said to work as well as biospira.
the rest of
the stuff just doesnt work. dont you have an established filter you can
take 1/2
from to help this tank????
otherwise, nitrites are the worst part of the cycle. if you dont keep the
nitrites
down it will kill the bacteria already established.
fish that are normally moving and then sitting is not a good sign. the
nitrite spike
is just as bad. as long as they are alive there isnt permanent, but why
not change
water??????? I dont know if red devils tolerate salt or not. what are
they?
Ingrid


"Kodiak" wrote:
Unfortuanately the Biozyme dosen't seem to be working
on Nitrite as well as it did on the Ammo. I think I'm
between 2 and 3ppm but it could be way more, i can't tell
because that's where my test kit tops out. The fish were
fine untill today so i did a 30% water change today ( last
water change was about 3 days ago) and the reading is still the
same, topped out on the Nitrite scale, it's as if I did nothing!

I don't have access to Biospira, but i wonder if it's better than
Biozyme? Has anyone out there tried "Cycle" ?
The fish are now sitting on the bottom of the tank, not moving is that
bad?
They are not at the surface gasping for air, is this a good sign?
Am I gonna lose my fish? Is the Nitrite spike just as bad on the fish
as the Ammo spike? Will there be permanant damage or brown blood disease
etc? I have a 0.1% salt solution, and a Huge 6" airstone with a big air
pump,
will this help oxygenation? I understand that nitrite competes with
oxygen
to get
absorbed in the bloodstream, but is there permanent damage? I'm gonna do
another 30% water tomorrow, is there anything else i should do?

PS: filtration is 2 Aquaclear 500.

...Kodiak




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

Hi Ingrid, Hi Tim, et al,
There are six 4" RD's in the 220gal. I was afraid
to use my goldfish filter media, in case there were
parasites in there that the RD's really wouldn't like.
My kit seems to top out on low levels of Nitrite,
full scale is 3.3ppm. Judging from the shade of the reactant,
i guess I was somewhere between 2-3ppm. After the 25%
water change last night they were swimming about this morning
and this evening. I did another 50% water this evening and they
seem to be doing even better.

I'm really dissapointed in that Biozyme stuff, i paid alot and I injected
it straight into the filter intake, it should have worked. I'll know better
next time.
--
....Kodiak
wrote in message
...
there is something by fritzyme that is said to work as well as biospira.
the rest of
the stuff just doesnt work. dont you have an established filter you can
take 1/2
from to help this tank????
otherwise, nitrites are the worst part of the cycle. if you dont keep the
nitrites
down it will kill the bacteria already established.
fish that are normally moving and then sitting is not a good sign. the
nitrite spike
is just as bad. as long as they are alive there isnt permanent, but why
not change
water??????? I dont know if red devils tolerate salt or not. what are
they?
Ingrid


"Kodiak" wrote:
Unfortuanately the Biozyme dosen't seem to be working
on Nitrite as well as it did on the Ammo. I think I'm
between 2 and 3ppm but it could be way more, i can't tell
because that's where my test kit tops out. The fish were
fine untill today so i did a 30% water change today ( last
water change was about 3 days ago) and the reading is still the
same, topped out on the Nitrite scale, it's as if I did nothing!

I don't have access to Biospira, but i wonder if it's better than
Biozyme? Has anyone out there tried "Cycle" ?
The fish are now sitting on the bottom of the tank, not moving is that
bad?
They are not at the surface gasping for air, is this a good sign?
Am I gonna lose my fish? Is the Nitrite spike just as bad on the fish
as the Ammo spike? Will there be permanant damage or brown blood disease
etc? I have a 0.1% salt solution, and a Huge 6" airstone with a big air
pump,
will this help oxygenation? I understand that nitrite competes with
oxygen
to get
absorbed in the bloodstream, but is there permanent damage? I'm gonna do
another 30% water tomorrow, is there anything else i should do?

PS: filtration is 2 Aquaclear 500.

...Kodiak




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.