Regular Member Alexx Posted December 27, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 27, 2013 Every week I test my water to see if there's any problems. Well this week the results were Ammonia: 0ppm Nitrite: 4pmm Nitrate: 40-80 ppm All the other weeks before were perfect. Is it a cycle crash? Do I need to take out my fish? How much water should I change? My tank is a 40 gallon with 3 fish. Water changes done twice a week of 50%. Help Guys!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted December 27, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 27, 2013 Yes you need to do a WC ASAP. What are your tap and tank pHs? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member motherredcap Posted December 27, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 27, 2013 Test the tap, Alexx, before you do the change. If the tap water doesn't show the ammonia and nitrites, do a 100% ASAP and then post the ph numbers for Fantail. If the tap water has high nitrites, post that back here and someone will think of a solution. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member DawnMichele Posted December 27, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 27, 2013 I hope everything works out for you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member DieselPlower Posted December 27, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 27, 2013 That is not a cycle crash. If it was ammonia would be high and nitrates low. No? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member shakaho Posted December 27, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 27, 2013 What are you using to test your water? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member DieselPlower Posted December 27, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 27, 2013 Also, what do you mean by "perfect" before. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Alexx Posted December 28, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 By perfect I mean 0 on ammonia nitrite an nitrate. I'm using the API test kit. The weird thing is my tap water has no nitrites and nitrates o.o my tap PH is 8.4 but my tank PH is around 6.8. Idk how's that's working?? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member DieselPlower Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 Thats too big of a ph swing for a huge water change. It is also very unlikely that all other readings have always been zero. That would mean the fish are not eating, breathing, or excreting any waste at all. Has your test kit or test procedure changed? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Alexx Posted December 28, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 so what should i do as of now? and idk what you mean by has my test kit or test procedure changed? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GoldenSpoiledRotten Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 (edited) Have you used a different test kit prior to this test? Is this kit new? Have you changed how you test? I could see your values being zeros before if you've had the cycle for a long time. How old is the tank? How often do you test your water? Are you adding a buffer or PH-adjuster to your tank of any kind? Edited December 28, 2013 by ChelseaM 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member DieselPlower Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 Chelsea where would the nitrate go though? Can't always be zero...? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member DieselPlower Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 I would change half the water today and retest. Probably half again tomorrow and retest. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member DieselPlower Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 By the way... 3 fish in a 40 gallon may be a heavy load. How big are the fish, not including the tail? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Alexx Posted December 28, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 i have two 7inch orandas and one 4inch oranda. i did recently get a new test kit from amazon. i dont use any buffers or such. the tank is about a year old. the nitrates would jump from 0~20 at times. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Alexx Posted December 28, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 the two orandas are about 4inchs long without tail the smaller oranda is 2.5inchs without tail apox. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member DieselPlower Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 (edited) Ok I have a couple thoughts... Your old test kit may have been giving bad results The numbers you posted dont surprise me because you only have 13.3 gallons per fish. I would try to do 50% water changes twice a week and see if that works. Also, I'm not an expert so wait to see what others say. Edited December 28, 2013 by DieselPlower 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GoldenSpoiledRotten Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 (edited) Chelsea where would the nitrate go though? Can't always be zero...? Mine are always so low they're unreadable, if not a clear zero. I'd be careful about even doing 50% with that PH difference. It's massive. Is there a way you could set up a couple of containers and do an experiment for the mod team, Alexx? I'd get a couple of Tupperware bowls or buckets that hold at least 1gal of water, fill them and test the PH. Add an air stone to one container running on low. Let both containers sit out for 12hours then retest the ph. We need to see how fast it is dropping. Edited December 28, 2013 by ChelseaM 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 I would do a 40% WC ASAP. That will be a big pH change but its going from low to high so they should tolerate it just fine. The amount of nitrites is toxic and needs to be lowered. Also add 1 tsp aquarium salt per 10 gallons. After you've done that please retest pH and nitrite and report back. Once you've done that we will decide what to do next. We need to find out your KH but I can only guess its low. Do you have baking soda around? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Alexx Posted December 28, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 ill do a 50% water change right now. no i dont have baking soda. and i dont have an airstone 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 Do you have aquarium salt or canning and picking salt? If not, you can get both baking soda and Morton's canning & pickling salt at just about any grocery store. Both are typically in the baking aisle and should cost $5 or less total. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Alexx Posted December 28, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 I have aquarium salt. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 OK good. Once you've done the WC please retest nitrite and pH so we can see what the numbers are post WC. Then add 1 tsp per 10 gallons to help offset the toxicity of the high nitrites. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Alexx Posted December 28, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 i tested my water again and the nitrites are almost still the same. maybe a little less then before 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted December 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2013 pH? I think you'll need to do another WC if you can. Nitrites that high are toxic and more harmful than a pH shift. Please test your tank pH again and we'll see how big of a WC we can do. Hang in there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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