update!

hi guys...
I haven't been posting much anymore because i can't get onto the
groups from work! :-\

anyway, my cycle STILL isn't complete, and my tank has been set up for
almost 3 months. so i added some cycle to my tank, now my ammonia is
at a good level, but my pH is low, the alkalinity is low, and nitrate
and nitrite are high. another 1 of my neon tetras died and my oldest
fish, Hal, died. ACK! i guess i'm just going to let the cycle take
its course... i really don't want to mess around with the levels
anymore (i.e. adding more chemicals to try and balance things out).
so far, i have 3 corydoras left, 3 neons, 1 female gourami, 1
swordtail, 2 guppies, and my rainbow shark.

wish me luck

Danya <danyaea RemoveThis @aol.com> wrote:

> hi guys...
> I haven't been posting much anymore because i can't get onto the
> groups from work! :-\
>
> anyway, my cycle STILL isn't complete, and my tank has been set up for
> almost 3 months. so i added some cycle to my tank, now my ammonia is
> at a good level, but my pH is low, the alkalinity is low, and nitrate
> and nitrite are high. another 1 of my neon tetras died and my oldest
> fish, Hal, died. ACK! i guess i'm just going to let the cycle take
> its course... i really don't want to mess around with the levels
> anymore (i.e. adding more chemicals to try and balance things out).
> so far, i have 3 corydoras left, 3 neons, 1 female gourami, 1
> swordtail, 2 guppies, and my rainbow shark.

The fact that your tank produces nitrites and nitrates from the ammonia
your fish produce says you have a cycle. The question is why you are
still seeing the ammonia and nitrites. It seems to me that there are two
possibiilities, inadequate numbers/functioning of nitrifying bacteria or
inadequate filtering. The latter you can fix by putting in another
filter or getting a bigger one, but why after 3months you are still
getting ammonia and nitrites if your filter is adequate for your load I
don't know except that maybe there is something in your gravel that is
causing a problem, poisoning the bacteria or something living in the
gravel producing waste.

Is it possible you are over feeding and have a planarian explosion in
your gravel for eg? You could test for this by not feeding your fish for
a week and seeing if the ammonia and nitrite levels rise to normal
levels that they would achieve in a week. Your fish will be ok for a
week, and will clean your tank of any edibles.

So, either increase output (more filtration) or decrease input.

Peter

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