steelerfan's 30 Gallon Breeder Journal/Build

[steelerfan1]

another 25% water change this morning as well as adding more prime.

ammonia still 0 but nitrite still at .25.

little guy did not eat mysis or formula algae pellet.

still seems very stressed and probably going on 4 days without eating :-(

 

[john miller]

If ammonia still at zero, why the water changes? Are you testing for nitrate too?

 

[steelerfan1]

If ammonia still at zero, why the water changes? Are you testing for nitrate too?

was changing water john in hopes to get the nitrIte down to 0 from .25 as that is still toxic, no?

nitrates were at 5 the night before fish arrived and i had done a 50% wc so i am assuming they were low.

have not tested them since the fish arrived and i had the ammonia nitrite readings.

should i just let the nitrIte be until the biofilter catches up?

 

[john miller]

I would double check in the chemistry forum but I believe by adding the Prime you can let things run it coarse. Since it detoxifies no need to remove. Unfortunately I can't remember how long it lasts. I'm thinking 24 hours but don't hold me to that.

 

[steelerfan1]

thanks bud. will see if i can get an answer there.

 

[steelerfan1]

blenny was dead when i got home tonight. :-(

looks like he broke his neck as it is all contourted.

really bummed.

i feel like if you take something on you are responsible for them.

let the little guy down.

 

[ange062]

Sorry to hear about your loss, it's always pretty sad to loose a fish.

Let the tank settle down a bit, and I am sure you will have much better luck next time.

 

[steelerfan1]

Sorry to hear about your loss, it's always pretty sad to loose a fish.

Let the tank settle down a bit, and I am sure you will have much better luck next time.

thanks ange,

pretty sure stress did him in as he never stopped breathing heavy.

not sure now if i have to drain all the qt water, change media and start fresh with another 8 week cycle or just put next fish in?

 

[john miller]

Sorry about the Blenny. I know how you feel.

First thing you need to figure out is why you had an ammonia spike and fix that. Since we both know it wasn't enough bacteria present go ahead and start redosing your tank. Take it up to about 4ppm and see how long it takes to get down to zero on ammonia & nitrite. Once it's at zero start dosing again but drop down to 2ppm. Shouldn't take long, I'm guessing a few days, so start looking for another fish.

 

[steelerfan1]

Sorry about the Blenny. I know how you feel.

First thing you need to figure out is why you had an ammonia spike and fix that. Since we both know it wasn't enough bacteria present go ahead and start redosing your tank. Take it up to about 4ppm and see how long it takes to get down to zero on ammonia & nitrite. Once it's at zero start dosing again but drop down to 2ppm. Shouldn't take long, I'm guessing a few days, so start looking for another fish.

thanks bud,

going to start that process tomorrow.

i have an ac 70 foam pad as well as a filter stuffed with the ceramic rings so i think i have enough area, but like you said, just need to build the colony up again .

i am going to gamble and keep the same water and media as i am gonna get this next fish from DD as well, so they will hav eboth came from their qt system, meaning same water.

 

[john miller]

Do you have any live rock rubble in your DT you could pitch in there to speed things along?

 

[steelerfan1]

Do you have any live rock rubble in your DT you could pitch in there to speed things along?

nothing to throw in there bud.

since you never know until that day what DD has i just will let it run it's course again.

maybe i will have a fish i don't kill in the main tank by 2012

 

[john miller]

I know how frustrating it is. Remember that nightmare I went through?

After the initial 4ppm dose that will get enough in there. I would get it to where it can process 2 ppm of ammonia/nitrite in 24 hours and keep dosing it until 48 hours before the fish arrives. The day of I would do a big water change to clear out nitrates and you'll be ready for anything you want to put in there.

 

[steelerfan1]

yes, i do remember the mess you went through too.

hope i don't have that bad of luck.

how many drops of ammonia did you add to get it that high?

i think it said to add 1 drop per 10 gallons or something like that, so maybe i will double that and add 20 and see what i get for a reading.

like i said, i know i have something of a filter as i got to nitrite quick.

 

[steelerfan1]

added 15 drops ammonia to qt tank at midnight.

12 hours later, ammonia only at 1 PPM.

just added 10 more drops now.

thinking out loud here, but i wonder if ammonia dosing would kill ich and other parasites and pathogens?

i know everyone talks about die off on liverock when ammonia spikes.

what if you were to bring your qt tank to extreme ammonia levels after you are done using it?

do you think that would kil l everything in the tank off if there were bad in there?

 

[john miller]

What was the reading right after you dosed it?, so we know how much it processed in those 12 hours.

 

[steelerfan1]

What was the reading right after you dosed it?, so we know how much it processed in those 12 hours.

DOH! didn't take it john.

went to bed as i figured it would take a while to hit a reading.

i dosed the next 10 drops right around 1230 or so , so i will take reading now being about 1.5 hours to see where i am at. it was 1 at the time of second dosing.

BTW those little ammonia alert things don't work well at all.

 

[steelerfan1]

at 215 pm ammonia is at 2 PPM and nitrIte is .50

 

[john miller]

You can test it a few minutes after dosing it to get the reading. Going back through my notes when I was curing that live rock in a 20 gallon container it was taking 2ml (approx 40 drops) to get it to 2ppm.

Once it hits zero I would dose 1ml, take reading, dose another 1ml and take another reading until you get it where you want it. I was using API liquid test kits.

Just so you know I took it to 2ppm+ several times over the coarse of a few months and dosed it for several days in a row and still had sponges, bristle worms, mantis shrimp, slugs, unknowm worms and all kind of life still on it when I finally put it in the tank.

 

[steelerfan1]

ok bud, thanks man.