I got an aquarium 2 months ago. I did a 7 day hard cycle and everything came out neutral. I got my fish (10 Guppies and 10 Neons) and everything was going well. 2 weeks later there was a severe case of Ick, I caught the outbreak on a Saturday night and wasn't able to get meds till Monday (stores are closed on Sunday out here) and by then I had lost 7 of my 10 Guppies. We were able to succesfully treat the Ick and then did a 75% water change. Everything was fine for about 2 weeks, now we have a green hue to the water and our test kit is saying our nitrates and nitrites are to high. How can I fix this?
Answers:
75% water change in one day was already too much. This will create spikes for the fishes and you would not be helping them much. The two most easiest and tension free ways are:
1. Change 25% water every alternative day while checking the nitrite and nitrate level every day.
2. Use Nitrate lowering liquids for the tank, this will slowly bring down the level of both nitrate and nitrites without hurting the fishes.
Water changes, 50 percent every day(until the levels go down)
and for future reference, dont introduce more than 4 fish a time
Buy a chemical, biological filtration for the tank that has carbon or charcoal, as carbon removes the nitrates, also keep your tank planted.Plants absorb nitrates. Partial water changes are also necessary for your tank.
Do not overfeed or overcrowd the tank, obey the thumb rule 'a gallon of water for an inch of fish'.
There is no such thing as a "7 day hard cycle". The only way to cycle a tank before adding fish is to add ammonia and wait for the levels to rise and drop. The ich and other problems were all result of an uncycled tank and stress caused by high levels of ammonia and nitrite.
The green water is common to cycling tanks and isn't really a problem other than it looks bad and prevents you from being able to see your fish well. Other than buying a UV Sterilizer, there isn't really anything you can do to get rid of it except wait. However, if the tank is in direct sunlight, moving it ma help and that will cause problems with algae later on.
What size tank do you have? For 10 guppies and 10 neons, you need a minimum of 40 gallons. To reduce the nitrite %26 nitrate, do water changes. As long as their is nitrite present, there are problems. What is your reading for ammonia? That is much more toxic than nitrite. Any reading other than 0 for ammonia and nitrite is bad. If you are using strips to test, throw them away and get a good liquid master kit that can test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
Edit: Carbon will not remove nitrates. It is a chemical filter primarily for use in removing medications from the water after treatment. Nitrates can only be removed by water changes or with filter media like zeolite or nitro-zorb. Carbon becomes completely saturated in a short time (have read a study that said in as little as 24 hours) and is doing nothing from that point on. Most people that have been in the hobby for a while (me included) do not use carbon at all.
#1 More frequent water changes.
Add a sponge filter. This will take care of the nitrites in a few days. Its a large surfface area for bacteria to colonize on %26 they're cheap (like 5 dollars). Its just a glass tube %26 a sponge that you hook up to your air line. They work wonders when nitrites are high.
Nitrates are the end point of fish waste and organic waste decomposition. Its a sign that your bacterial filter is doing its job, but there's too much waste in the water. Its your responsability as fish owner to remove nitrates via water changes. As far as chemistry goes, that's your main job... remove nitrates via water changes. That's the only way they are removed from the typical aquarium since its an enclosed system %26 its the end point of decomposition.
Check your tap water for high nitrates, if this is the case, use spring water.
feed your fish less quanity,
do more frequent water changes until things are under control.
When you get the nitrates down to below 15 ppm or so, the algae will start to go away. To help clear the algae, run your lights a few hours less a day, or give them a break in the middle of the day.
You can add some aquarium salt to help your fish from getting nitrite poisoning in the meantime. 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons is the average dose.
Well the main reason your tank got ich, was adding too many fish at one time. This not only stresses the biofilter but also the fish.
You didn't have to do a 75% water change since ich is a free swimming parasite found in all water.
The green hue is an algae bloom starting and it is normal. To help keepthe water from remaining green, be sure to only run your lights less than 12 hours a day, 8 would be best.
Nitrates will fed the algae and it doesn't really matter to the fish if they are even as high as 140 unfortunately this is why you are having the algae problem. nitrites however need to be kept in check. Water changes are the best way to rid your tank of a higher nitrite.
Also, if the nitrites are elevated, the ammonia should be as well since they work together to give you nitrates. Are you testing for ammonia?
Again 25% water change every other day until your water clears. Also remember to rinse your filter pads out as well.
Do not start to dump chemicals into your tank. This is never a good idea for your fish. Stay with the water changes and try to control nitrites and nitrates this way.
Good luck an dfeel free to email me
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