This gal needs help!!!

[Fish_are_friends]

Back from Thanksgiving. Got in last night so they only went one day without food. Which everyone said they were supposed to. Shark bait was NOT happy about it... But he came out of hiding as soon as the food hit the water. They ripped apart the live plants in the tank while I was gone... Is this normal?

They got their WCs every day except Thursday. No one came by that day. But I did a WC last night when I got in and this morning when I got up. Headed to do another one now then I will post the parameters. My guy forgot to test the water when he did the WCs but he assured me he did them and has them written down in the log. Just forgot to do the parameters. :/


Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

[Pufferpunk]

Your puffers were probably looking for snails in the plants, where they'd find them in the wild.

[Fish_are_friends]

nitrate-08
nitrite-10
hardness-80
alkalinity-110
PH-7.2
Ammonia-.5

[Pufferpunk]

BIG WC!

[Fish_are_friends]

How big? 100%? 75%?

[Pufferpunk]

You really should be doing about 75% daily or 50% 2x/day, to keep those parameters close to 0 as possible. Any news about permission for a larger tank? Or maybe 3 10g?

[Fish_are_friends]

I just got back and no one has been in their offices yet.


And I have been doing 50% twice a day.

[Pufferpunk]

You may need to up that to 75% then. It is obvious the bioload is exceeding the tank's capacity to handle the waste produced by the fish in there. Are you sure there is no uneaten food stuck anywhere?

[Fish_are_friends]

I don't think so. They eat everything and I vacuum the rocks out....

[Pufferpunk]

Under the rocks & all decor too?

[Fish_are_friends]

Yes all decor is cleaned and under the rocks.


Parameters for the afternoon WC:
Nitrate- 1.0
Nitrite- 10
Hardness- 50
Alkalinity- 50
PH- 7.5
Ammonia- .25

Are these starting to look better? I did about a 85% change because I will not have time to do another change tonight unless the studio closes early. I have a 3D design project due tomorrow (I made a sculpture of a puffer and am making a tank reliquary for him).

[Pufferpunk]

No, they do not look good. Your fish are consistently suffering from toxic poisoning. This will cause chronic problems & shorten their lifespan greatly.

[Fish_are_friends]

OK please explain why they are suffering now. I see that there is a tiny bit of ammonia in their water.. But it POINT 25. That is way better than the 1 POINT 5 originally found in the water... At least I would think. The levels are as close to 0 as they have ever been... So what am I not doing right?!?!?

[jus85411]

any type of ammonia or nitrite in the water is dangerous and poisonous. nitrate is a much less toxic version of nitrite. that is why a fully cycled healthy fish tank will have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and <10 nitrate. and you remove the nitrates by water changes. when your fish poops it is now ammonia in the water, (good)bacteria then converts the ammonia to nitrite and then more (good)bacteria converts the nitrite to nitrate. nitrate then stays in the water until it gets removed with water changes. but the fish you have in the tank are producing too much ammonia for the bacteria to convert at an efficient rate which is why your having any type of levels of ammonia and nitrite

[Flutter]

But that's the point. They exist and therefore your fish are suffering.

That's like pouring acid on yourself and saying that a lower concentration that still dissolves your skin is OK when compared to a very strong concentration that will dissolve right into your muscle tissues. Both are horrible.

What you aren't doing right is housing them properly. You know that serious changes need to be made. You know what you aren't doing right!