Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 17, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 17, 2010 (edited) I think I'm about Day 25 and mid-cycle right now, and using an API test kit, I got 1.0ppm Nitrites last night. First time it's ever been that high, and Ammonia was .5ppm, with NitrAtes at about 10. I changed 10 gallons of the 45 this tank actually holds (it's supposed to be a 55) and gave it a dose of Amquel Pro. Just tested the water again, about 12hrs later, and have 1.0ppm Nitrites, .25ppm Ammonia and 5+ NitrAtes. I'm probably running about .1% salt now, down from the .3% I had it at, say, a week ago. Questions: -Is 1.0ppm Nitrites enough to worry about right now? -Should I do a water change and if so, how much? -If I do a PWC, will that hamper the tank becoming cycled? -Should I not do a water change and just dose with Amquel Pro? Edited February 17, 2010 by austinado16 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted February 17, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 17, 2010 I would do a water change any time my nitrites got to 0.5 or higher. I'm assuming there are fish in the tank? I would do a 50% water change at least. I wouldn't worry so much about hampering the cycle as I would the nitrites harming your fish. Good luck and hang in there! PS Why are your dropping the salt in the tank? It would benefit the fish now with the nitrites on the rise . . . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 17, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 17, 2010 (edited) Thanks for the quick response. Was running the salt at .3% along with a Praziquental treatment, and 5 days of Maracyn Two prior to that because my big Comet had blood in his tail, a little white bump on his lower lip that sort of popped and became an area of sluffing skin, like a popped blister on your hand, and blood streaks in his tail, a couple of veins in the tail that were red, shaking his head back and for once in a while, and even flashing against the bottom occationally. So all that's a distant memory now, and the salt has been slowly coming out with the water changes and the upgrade from a 25gal tank to this vintage 55 gallon Metaframe tank. (see my thread over in the tank section: http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/forum/index.php?/topic/81967-new-to-me-vintage-pemco-tank/) I know the salt will help them with the higher nitrites, but wanted to see if I should do a PWC at 1.0ppm, or hold off and just dose with Amquel Pro. Edited February 17, 2010 by austinado16 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member mardaokansi Posted February 18, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 18, 2010 what is PWC? using amquel in the tank does not replace needing to do water changes imo. I think it's better to always do a water change then rely on chemicals. amquel and prime are good dechlorinators as well as good for removing ammonia temporarily. my advice is to stick with the water changes while you are still cycling. water changes won't hurt the cycle really, the fish will still continue to produce waste so your bb's are still going to be fed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Lupin Posted February 18, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 18, 2010 PWC - partial water change 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 18, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 18, 2010 Thanks for the info. Did the 50% change and will test again in the morning and see where I'm at. Until I came here, PWC always meant Personal Water Craft......like my 1977 Dynafoil! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 18, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 18, 2010 12hrs later, water is testing at .25 Ammonia, .25 Nitrite, and 5 or so for Nitrate 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted February 19, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 19, 2010 Those water parameters look good. Keep your eye on them and keep on doing those water changes accordingly. You're getting there. It seems like whenever I cycle a tank (fishless or with fish), the nitrites spike for what seems like forever then all of a sudden they are disappear. Good luck. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 19, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 19, 2010 Wound up doing another 50% change late last night because the Nitrites were up to .5ppm and I new they'd only be worse by morning. Just tested and it's at .25A/.25N /5 or so NitrAtes. Looks like I'll be doing another PWC tonight. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted February 20, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 20, 2010 Fun, huh? It'll get better!! Your fish are worth it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 20, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 20, 2010 Well, I didn't test or water change last night, and the test this morning showed the same result: .25/.25/5+ So I'm going to test again later today. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted February 21, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 21, 2010 Excellent! You are close! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 21, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 21, 2010 8hrs later, same readings for ammonia and nitrites, but the nitrAtes have definately come up, as the color of that test vial is more toward the 10ppm color. This morning and yesterday, it was more in the 5ppm range. I'm going to celebrate by buying some more fish! Kidding. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 22, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 22, 2010 Another day with the params holding a .25/.25/10. Hopefully the .25's will drop to zero over the next couple of days. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 22, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 22, 2010 I continue to ride the cycling curve. This morning I had less than .25ppm ammonia, but not quite that nice yellow color of zero.....and definately zero nitrites, but nitrates not showing more than 5ish. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted February 22, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 22, 2010 Woo hoo!! How exciting. You'll be there in no time! It's nice not having to do daily water changes, huh? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 24, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 24, 2010 I think I'm there. This morning I showed just barely some ammonia color and the nitrites were also slighty showing. Not enough color in the test to indicate .25ppm for either. But the nitrAtes were nicely at 10ppm again. Just tested again, and ammonia and nitrites were back to zero. Didn't test nitrAtes, but will again in the morning. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member RanchuDressing Posted February 24, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 24, 2010 Congratulations! Sounds like you made it. Your fish will thank you for it, believe me. Good job! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 24, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 24, 2010 Thanks! I sure appreciate all the help and support you folks have given me! Hard to believe that just a month ago to the day, I had just come home from having an LFS test a water sample and amonia/nitrites/nitrates were off the scale of the dip strips. I've learned a lot, and still have a long way to go, but it feels good to have things under control. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted February 24, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 24, 2010 Excellent! Congrats on all your new fish knowledge too! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 24, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 24, 2010 Thanks! Params were still good this morning. Ammonia just barely off the pale yellow, Nitrites zero and NitrAtes 10ish. I'll probably do a 25% water change this evening to help with the ammonia. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member austinado16 Posted February 25, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 25, 2010 Held off on the water change and this morning had 20ppm of NitrAtes!! Ammonia was still slightly showing and Nitrites were zero. Celebrated by doing a 50% water change and a 50% vacuum. So about 33 days total time, and the first 5 of that were spent on Maracyn Two. Not to bad I guess, considering that halfway through I upgraded from a 25G to this 55G vintage tank (but I used the same gravel, plants and fluval 405 filter). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fantailfan1 Posted February 26, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2010 Yep, 33 days is great. And I love how you celebrated--a water change and a vacuum. You are WILD!!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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