Co2 disaster???
- Thread starter lauraf
- Start date
Make sure you are feeding really small quantities than the usual, Guess bacteria colony took huge hit in the filter media and sand and water. No Idea how to deal with this now. Guess you will have to let it cycle through. Humm.
keep doing those water changes every 2-3 days is my guess. I actually put my goldies in brand new tank with no cycle and I had epic month taking care of them not letting them die. there is a thread here about it.
Edit: You can try to get a old used filter-sponge from someone else and also get some 2-3 pounds of sand in the tank (cycled tank) and some 5-6 gallons of water from this same cycled tank, this i guess will save you weeks of cycling. This is my pure guess btw, never done anything like this, I will let super-fish users reply here.
keep doing those water changes every 2-3 days is my guess. I actually put my goldies in brand new tank with no cycle and I had epic month taking care of them not letting them die. there is a thread here about it.
Edit: You can try to get a old used filter-sponge from someone else and also get some 2-3 pounds of sand in the tank (cycled tank) and some 5-6 gallons of water from this same cycled tank, this i guess will save you weeks of cycling. This is my pure guess btw, never done anything like this, I will let super-fish users reply here.
Just keep in mind that when using Prime, it will bind the ammonia in the water but that the ammonia will still show on the test kit results.
Still keep an eye on all parameters as you are doing, but be at ease somewhat that the small amount of ammonia you are seeing is likely not the toxic type. Observe your fish for signs of distress like you have been doing.
If you want to monitor this 24/7, you might want to invest in an Ammonia Alert, made by the same manufacturer as Prime. If the ammonia is the non-toxic type, it doesn't show up on the indicator. I use them in all my fry tanks now, so that I know if I need to do more frequent water changes (you know how you need to feed the babies!).
Still keep an eye on all parameters as you are doing, but be at ease somewhat that the small amount of ammonia you are seeing is likely not the toxic type. Observe your fish for signs of distress like you have been doing.
If you want to monitor this 24/7, you might want to invest in an Ammonia Alert, made by the same manufacturer as Prime. If the ammonia is the non-toxic type, it doesn't show up on the indicator. I use them in all my fry tanks now, so that I know if I need to do more frequent water changes (you know how you need to feed the babies!).
I took care of a HUGE aquarium in a doctor's office many years ago, that had a continious water-change system set up. It was 1200 gallons if I remember right (maybe 1500). It had a 100% water change every 10 hours or so. The doctor was a plastic surgeon and it was overkill to take care of a tank that way, but he wanted 'the best' in all he did! Paid me well as a teenager to come in on the weekend for a few hours and clean algae off the glass and make sure nothing was amiss...but anyway....
I don't think there is any danger of hurting your bacteria by changing as much water as you want to change. Just do what you KNOW to do, match the temperature, dechlorinate first, etc. There is very little bacteria free-swimming. Its in the gravel, the filter, the decorations, etc.
The only thing is don't stress the fish too much. If it freaks out the fish to have the water at 25% until its filled back up again, then use your own judgement on if you should do that.
I don't think there is any danger of hurting your bacteria by changing as much water as you want to change. Just do what you KNOW to do, match the temperature, dechlorinate first, etc. There is very little bacteria free-swimming. Its in the gravel, the filter, the decorations, etc.
The only thing is don't stress the fish too much. If it freaks out the fish to have the water at 25% until its filled back up again, then use your own judgement on if you should do that.
Thanks OC. I am doing what I know to do, plus the great advice I've been getting from this forum. Mostly, in this case and others, I just observe my fish to judge whether they are struggling. They sure didn't like that 75% water change, but I felt like I had to do it, plus the mini-changes I've done following up. Up 'til this, I've had a pretty good read on my tank - for the fish, at least; it was the dang plants that started this mess!
BTW, I did a 20% water change late this afternoon, and my fish - including my angels who were looking quite distressed twelve hours ago - are all looking really perky. Water reading tonight (after a wee trip downtown to celebrate Canada's hockey and bobsleigh victories
): Ammonia a little bit lower - definitely no higher than 0.5mg/l, nitrates 10mg/l, pH 6.8ish
I'll see if I still get a higher reading on ammonia tomorrow - if so, I'll invest in that Ammonia Alert to make sure we're all okay.
Fingers crossed for my lovelies, and thanks to all for your advice and concern. Please keep it coming!
BTW, I did a 20% water change late this afternoon, and my fish - including my angels who were looking quite distressed twelve hours ago - are all looking really perky. Water reading tonight (after a wee trip downtown to celebrate Canada's hockey and bobsleigh victories
): Ammonia a little bit lower - definitely no higher than 0.5mg/l, nitrates 10mg/l, pH 6.8ishI'll see if I still get a higher reading on ammonia tomorrow - if so, I'll invest in that Ammonia Alert to make sure we're all okay.
Fingers crossed for my lovelies, and thanks to all for your advice and concern. Please keep it coming!
okay on this kinda good news, let me Hijack this thread jusst a little bit, I am Team Slovakia in ice-hockey , they kicked out russia to enter next round (today russia was beaten by canada out of olympics i read, sad i couldnt see) and today Slovakia kicked out sweden , I was so pumped watching it today, i was punching pillows on every check by slovakia (specially the human wrecking ball chara) (yea dont sit besides me.. when ice hockey is on).
And back to fishtank topic, I just got my Co2 kit delivary from singapore, its not a full Co2 kit,but parts as follows
CO2 Drop Checker SI#Live Aquarium Indicator pH Test Kit - eBay (item 250445476745 end time Mar-12-10 18:30:36 PST)
Check Valve x 5 # Fish Tank Live Aquarium Plant WS - eBay (item 250446942612 end time Mar-15-10 00:53:30 PDT)
Wood Air Stone #CO2 Diffuser Regulator Aquarium Tank - eBay (item 250475108323 end time Feb-25-10 21:49:19 PST)
Nano CO2 diffuser Live Aquarium Fish Tank Special Deal - eBay (item 250390610925 end time Mar-11-10 00:02:19 PST)
So I will start my new thread this weekend as my Co2 setup goes live. ok stopping the hijack.
Edit: no idea why the links dont work when clicked from this post. I hope posting ebay links are not against some rules or something.
Let us know laura how this goes. Good luck to your fishies.
(yea dont sit besides me.. when ice hockey is on).And back to fishtank topic, I just got my Co2 kit delivary from singapore, its not a full Co2 kit,but parts as follows
CO2 Drop Checker SI#Live Aquarium Indicator pH Test Kit - eBay (item 250445476745 end time Mar-12-10 18:30:36 PST)
Check Valve x 5 # Fish Tank Live Aquarium Plant WS - eBay (item 250446942612 end time Mar-15-10 00:53:30 PDT)
Wood Air Stone #CO2 Diffuser Regulator Aquarium Tank - eBay (item 250475108323 end time Feb-25-10 21:49:19 PST)
Nano CO2 diffuser Live Aquarium Fish Tank Special Deal - eBay (item 250390610925 end time Mar-11-10 00:02:19 PST)
So I will start my new thread this weekend as my Co2 setup goes live. ok stopping the hijack.
Edit: no idea why the links dont work when clicked from this post. I hope posting ebay links are not against some rules or something.
Let us know laura how this goes. Good luck to your fishies.
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