New Tank Blues

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Guyin
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 2:26 pm

New Tank Blues

Post by Guyin » Tue Jan 22, 2013 5:32 pm

I have 2-75 gallon tanks, as to be expected ammonia spiked off the chart, then nitrites went off the chart. I tested my tap water and 2.0 ammonia is present, my ph is 7.6.

Immediately I panicked and used ammonia-lock, sounded good at the time, until the product converted all the ammonia to nitrites! Then my tank turned cloudy to the point of visibility at 1", everything went downhill quickly.

Algae fix, Prime, a UV filter and 50% water change with 20% water change every other day for week finally got this under control. Ammonia is now at 0 and nitrites dropping from 5.0 to 2.0, nitrates at 40 - the UV is off now and tanks bio is starting to work correctly. After 5 weeks of panic and only 3 dead fish, I am grateful to the experienced people I spoke with and followed the majorities comments.

Where I went wrong: 1) added fish to quickly, like 48 fish into a 75 gal tank (2 Emperor 400 filters); 2) listening to a pet store employee recommendation; 3) I did not wait til my tank was cycled!!! and probably more I failed to mention. I owe alot to SeaChem Prime and Stability, API for their AlgaeFix, and my UV filter (not on all the time, it kills all bacteria, good and bad). Regular water exchanges are a must. The 2 MarineLand Emperor filters do a great job, I also added API Ammo-Carb medium to my filter to help remove the ammonia.

This has been my solution to a problem that nearly everyone experiences, learning by mistakes.

George
Guyin
2-75 Gallon Freshwater Tanks
Loach, Gourami, Angel, Rainbow
20 Gallon for our Puffer

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Jim Powers
Posts: 5208
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:15 pm
Location: Bloomington, Indiana

Re: New Tank Blues

Post by Jim Powers » Fri Jan 25, 2013 12:08 am

Have you used a good starter bacteria like Biospira or one of the other good ones on the market now? That might really help cycle the tanks quicker. Good luck!!
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