[EMJAY]

i am having so much water problems!
one tank there is too much nitrate
the other has too much ammonia and they are both foggy! what do i do, i did water changes but still no difference, my p's aren't eating for 7 days now... im really concerned, please can i have some real advice

 

[Bcollins111900]

alright man well the deal is this, what size tank and filtration do you have? size of fish and how many, water temp? Give us that info and I will pinpoint it some more when u reply

 

[Sir Nathan XXI]

I am willing to bet both tanks are cycling and that they were both just setup. Water changes during the cycling process just make it take longer, so if the tanks have only been running for 3 weeks or less you need to give it more time without water changes. However if the have been running for a long time you need to do larger water changes more frequently

 

[Innes]

Can I please direct you to my last post on this thread of yours, it has my advice for you.

http://www.piranha-fury.com/forum/pfury/in...=ST&f=10&t=1687

Also I think that your other tank is also cycling (as Nate said) and I would reccomend you treat that in the same way as the large one.

Here is another copy of that post

QUOTE (Judazzz @ Mar 5 2003, 01:29 PM)
Actually, you don't add the fish as soon as the ammonia level drops... In a cycling tank, a decreasing ammonia level should be followed by a nitrite spike (this is the moment the nitrite-"consuming" bacteria come into play). I would add the fish as soon as the nitrite spike has passed by, because from then, nitraite will be quickly converted into nitrates (by the bacteria mentioned earlier), which in turn you can remove by doing water changes.
As soon as both spikes have passed by, the tank is cycled...

as far as I am aware the fish are already in the tank and the alternative tank has some much smaller piranhas, they are 1.5" where the larger ones are 4-5"
I think that EMJAY is looking for what he should do, and in my opinion this is not what would be the "reccomended method".
I think that he should leave the tank to cycle, and then he should start to do water changes, if the fish are looking distressed, ill or behaiving in a strange way I would suggest to do small water changes (around 10%)
I read on another post that his piranhas are not eating, I think that he should not attempt to feed them any more McDonalds and he should add a goldfish or two and let the piranhas eat them as they want, but I wouldn't add many goldfish as they will cause more tank pollution.
I think that this would not cause any of the piranhas to die, because piranhas are hardy fish, and I have never seen or heard of them dyeing due to cycling, I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I have never seen or heard of it.

This is not usually what I would reccomend (having fish in the tank during a cycle) but I think that the alternatives in this case are more undesiarable.
I think that the fish need to settle and not be moved back and forth, also they will eat the baby piranhas in the smaller tank.

 

[rosecityrhom]

If the tank was still cycling the nitrates wouldn't even be evident and either ammonia or nitrite would be spiking.

 

[SnowCichlid.]

... I think they jsut about covered it except... Good Luck

 

[EMJAY]

i have a 90 gal with 9 RBP's 4-5" and a 15 with 5rbp's 1-1.5"

temp is 75 in both, in the safe zone

 

[Innes]

you might want to raise the temp to 78-82 and my advice is still the same

 

[Sir Nathan XXI]

you might want to raise the temp to 78-82 and my advice is still the same

Ill 2nd that notion

 

[DonH]

Water changes during the cycling process just make it take longer, so if the tanks have only been running for 3 weeks or less you need to give it more time without water changes.

Question...

What is more important? Making sure that the fish (which are already in the tank) get through the cycle as safely as possible...or Making sure that you get through the cycle as quickly as possible.

I see a lot of advice given to NOT do water changes simply because it will prolong the cycling process, while at the same time he is mentioning that his ammonia/nitrite level is high and his fish are stressed.

What difference does it make if the cycle took 5-6 weeks as opposed to 4-5 weeks as long as the fish get through it as safely as possible?

My advice, since you are keeping track of your water parameters, do your water changes to avoid extreme spikes in ammonia/nitrite. The cycle will happen, just make sure your fish get through it with as little stress as possible.

If this was a fishless cycle, than that's a different story. Then water changes are not necessary until you start to see nitrate accumulate. You can keep pouring away on the ammonia and speed up the cycle...because you are not endangering your fish.

Just my opinion.

 

[bobme]

You also have to many fish in one tank, geezes H christ.