# Amonia , No2 and NO3 test results (EMERGENCY)



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

Hello All,

Atlast I got the test Kits and checked the amonia , Nitrate and Nitrite levels, FOllowing was the result

amonia level is 0.25 mg / Liter




No2 is 1.6 mg / l





no3 is 12.5 mg per liter



What should I do.. Kindly Suggest Fast. I m very worried.

Regards

Mubjaved


----------



## Nave (May 28, 2013)

Water changes water changes water change. You don't have enough bacteria to keep up with you bio load. Did you just put more fish in the tank? Did you recently clean the filter?


----------



## Nave (May 28, 2013)

What size is your tank? what kind of filtration are you using?


----------



## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Perhaps there was another post that I missed. Can you give details about the tank ? Size, what filter/light and how long it has been since you started it.
Also how many of what kind of fish etc.
With none of these details and just looking at the pictures...I would say that the tank is not cycled yet. I would also say that it is important to check the
water supply with the test kit on a gallon of it placed in some other container, glass being preferred but a plastic bucket that is clean is good. You need
to establish what the water is testing before using in the tank to see if it's not adding something bad to the tank.
Safe Start is effective for speeding up the cycle. Without it the cycle can take 6-8 weeks. With it the cycle only takes 2 weeks. But it starts lowering the
ammonia just hrs after you add it. Since I don't have that other info I gave you that info about the Safe Start.
If the water you are using does not show any bad levels then a water change will lower those levels that are showing in the tank. But the other info would 
help the other members and me to understand what the problem might be much better.


----------



## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

to get your ammonia down water changes will lower it.how long has the tank been set up?


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

My tank is 4ft width X 1.5 ft Depth X 2 ft hight. Its a 75 Gallon tank. It has been 2 -3 weeks since I stated this aquarium. Its my first time. I got the glass container made from a glass merchant. the hood and table are not ready yet are being made by the carpenter. The Glass used is 12mm one. As there is no hood yet so no aquarium lights but there are many windows and room lights. FIshes in the tank are

2 X angels
4 X baloon Mollies
3 X simple molles
4 X Tetras
10 X guppies
1 X pleco
2 X shrimps
4 X sharks
6 X platy
2 X black ghost

1 X live plant anubia nana ( which is not doing well as the leaves were dark green when i bought it but its getting lighter now)

I did not cycle the tank just added 2 X gold fish in the start for a week now they are removed.

Filtration running on the tank are 

1 X Poewer head interner filter with sponge underneath it speed 1500 liter per hour

1 X under gravel fiter 500 Liter per hour

1 X HOB filter 600 Liter per hour

1 X Resun Canister filter EF 1600 with speed 1600 liter per hour

from the above list of fishes Yesterday following fishes were added

2 X Angel
6 X platy
4 X sharks
2 X black ghost

also the risen Filter was setuped yesteraday.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

You're cycling" fish in" with way too many fish!You need to do a 50% water change.You need to keep up on testing daily and change water possibly daily.Your ammonia is reasonable considering and your nitrAtes are getting there,but your nitrItes are too high.
You also have too many fish of which MANY(I'M MEAN MANY) are incommpatable.Even if you get our water quality in order you have a disaster of a set up and more trouble comming to you.
I'll briefly elaborate that the black ghost will not get along with each other in such a small tank(ya, small tank).The other problems are too numerous to mention but you need to do alot of homework and rehoming or start counting how much money you wasted on DEAD fish.


----------



## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor this is your stocking list take a look


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

dalfed said:


> AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor this is your stocking list take a look


Didn't even check or think this advice would help ,but WOW!Thanks D!


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

I just changed 30 - 35 % OF THE WATER.. (Man i m tired now). I changed water using gravel cleaner. Will do it again in the night also. 

What do u suggest I stop feeding Fishes?

Also I cleaned the Power head filter sponge and the HOB filter sponge. Was the good or bad. I ask cause ppl says good bacteria are in filter? so cleaning kills them?

Tonight after water change I m going to test again.

Coralbandit u r right. I just counted my first dead fish my new platy DEAD and was eaten from sides and i think empty from inside no head. REason of DEATh unknwn.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Don't just randomly change water(you can never change too much,but keep up on testing so you know how much tooo change.The % of water you change is how much the nutrient will be reduced.Right now your high on nitrItes,but really comming close to looking cycled.
If you must clean filter pads and sponges do so in tank water removed during water change(vac tank into bucket then clean;swish squeeze out pads sponges in the bucket).This will not kill BB(beneficail bacteria) and will help keep your water quality up.
You need to decide what kind of fish you want?I would send the sharks back to where they came from and search more suitable tankmates.
New fish will not do well or be happy being introduced to such a heavily stocked "cycling " tank.STRESS+POORWATER QUALITY = DEATH.Don't add any more fish ,and pick one black ghost you like and do the other a favor(offer it life) and return it also.
dalfed link to AQ is (should be) a REAL EYE OPENER.MAKE SURE YOU READ IT!


----------



## Nave (May 28, 2013)

coralbandit said:


> You're cycling" fish in" with way too many fish!You need to do a 50% water change.You need to keep up on testing daily and change water possibly daily.Your ammonia is reasonable considering and your nitrAtes are getting there,but your nitrItes are too high.
> You also have too many fish of which MANY(I'M MEAN MANY) are incommpatable.Even if you get our water quality in order you have a disaster of a set up and more trouble comming to you.
> I'll briefly elaborate that the black ghost will not get along with each other in such a small tank(ya, small tank).The other problems are too numerous to mention but you need to do alot of homework and rehoming or start counting how much money you wasted on DEAD fish.


Fully agree here your bio load was over whelmed by the adding of yesterday's fish. Most pet stores will take back fish within X amount of days. I'm sure they will understand if you tell them that some are incomparable with each. They will most likely give your money back or some kind of store credit. I would wait to get more fish till your cycle has completed 3 weeks is typically not long enough. Like coral said water changes will help and homework will save you a headache and money. Don't hesitate to ask any questions here not matter if you feel it be stupid or not the people here are more then willing to help you succeed and have a happy healthy tank :fish-in-bowl: another thing you can do is use some Prime it won't take the ammonia and nitrites out but will make them less harmful to the fish hope this helps and good luck


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

Thx for the guidance... also to share with u all I forgot to metion the tank water temperature keeps aroung 30 - 33 Cecius. I Put little Ice every day so the water temperature keeps a bit cold. What do u ppl say about that should I make more effort on temperature or this is ok. I nitially when I stated that tank the temperature was 26 - 28 and gradually it has risen. 

Corel: I think second fish is dead (found more parts may be of first fish or a second) sob*


----------



## Nave (May 28, 2013)

That's really warm its over 90F for us here in the states I would put a fan on the surface of the water. What kind of lights are you using they my be emitting too much heat ice helps but you need to be VERY careful doing that as it can change temp too fast I have had to do that in desperate measures I keep a couple bottles of frozen water in the freezer that way I don't have to worry about chlorine. A bottle an hour helps me slowly bring it to a safer temp. I'm dealing with that here too with the heat wave I hit 89F.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Change same amount of water again tommorow or at night as you mentioned ,it will help get your tank in better condition.Changing 35% like you said should still leave you with 1.1 nitrites(not the end of the world but far from helpful for new fish).
Your temp is fairly high(probly warm over ther huh?)try to use a fan blowing across the surface of your tank.It will cause eveporation which will cool the tank.You could probly add cold water to replace for eveporation but be careful not to lower your temp too much quickly.


----------



## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Guess I should mention this as it seems to have been overlooked. If the Pleco is a "common Pleco" it will get anywhere from 18" to about 3' depending on who wrote
the article that you read about it. They also require driftwood to chew on. Not that you couldn't keep it till it gets too big.
The other thing I'd like to mention(which should wait till you get some light) is that floating water plants use nutrients directly from the water as opposed to from
the gravel. What nutrients ? Ammonia and nitrates are included in what they use...so. No they can't replace a filter but do help keep down ammonia and nitrates.
Florida Aquatic Nurseries - Aquarium Plant - Rotala macrandra var. 'Narrow Leaf' ( Rotala Magenta ) There are several kinds of these.
aquarium_plant_cabomba_caroliniana There are two or three kinds of these.
aquarium_plant_ceratophyllum_demersum There are two kinds of these...one that generally has one stem growing from
a root in the gravel straight up and another which divides the stems, has no roots and floats. These and a few more are good background plants which grow tall.
Most people don't like the whole top of the tank covered by floating plants as it cuts off the light. But if you have any of the above plants and after they get even 
close to the top you can place floating plants behind them and the roots of the floating plants will stop them from drifting around the tank because of being caught
behind the bottom plants. Then they can just be around the back edges. At least that is how I keep those type in my tank without them being all over blocking
the light. BTW I am fairly overstocked in one of my tanks which has such plants and the nitrite/ammonia/nitrate levels are fine. It has about(I don't actually know)
14-16 fish in a ten gallon only two of then are over 1.5", a Betta and a Khuli Loach. All the rest are 1.5" or less. Hope this directs you to the correct picture.
Aquarium Gallery - new_aqu_12-25-12_003
Rotala in center, phillipine Java fern on left, dwarf sagitaria in front right. Not a very clear picture but I have yet to get many with point and shoot camera.


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

Okay so Now I have changed 50 % of the water didnt added any medice or salt or water cleaners. 

The test result came out to be
Amonia 0 mg/l



Nitrites No2 i think 1.6 mg/liter


and Nitrates No3 i think 25 mg/liter or 50 mg/liter or in between


PH level is 7


Temperature now is 32 celcius

what is the suggesstion guys... what should be done.

Another Bad news My Betta ( Fighter fish) has also died. That the third fish to die today. 2 platys and 1 fighter .. Sob*


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Nitrites are toxic to fish much like ammonia.1.5 is uaully high enough to cause stress or death i exposure is not short.
The good news(maybe) is I would say by the picture your nitrite is the first red(third down from top which I think is .8?)
If you changed 30% yesterday and 50% today(a lot of work I know) then the math says you should be around .6-.9 depending.
Having nitrates is good(a good sign) as it means the bacteria you need are present and growing.They just need to become strong enough to handle the ammonia and nitrites.You'll have to keep up on water changes, but wait till tomorrow(or 24 hrs from 50% change).Keep doing 50% as that amount will cut the nutrients in half evry time.Even after cycling is done you will have to do water changes to remove the nitrates(need to 40 or less) so maybe a aqueon waterchanger or python would help out.
Remeber to dechlorinate and I don't think any of your fish need or appreciate salt so don't bother with it.What medicine have you been using and why?And what are the water cleaners?


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

Ok, 

By water cleaner I meant de-clorinate. The one I usually put after water change is "FIRST ADD+" removes harmful chlorine, fiorine and harm ful metals.


Then when I add new fish I also add a medicine by the name "CURE-ALL". written on the bottle " A series of Highly concentrated Remedies for the effective control and cure of all aquarium fish diseases". recommended dosage one drop per gallon directly to aquarium


Then After every water change i add salt by the name "OXY-CURE". Written on bottle is " For the prevention and treatment of Fungus infection in fresh and salt water fish. For the treatment of ciliata infection and the control of skin obnubilation caused by protozoa. OXY_CURE enriches the aquarium water with oxygen by a combination of several oxygen salts. Other combinations of active agents with activating and preservating qualities for fish and plants."
dosage: one table spoon per gallon



I havent put any of those this time after 50% water change. what is the recommendation?

To do water changes I use Gravel Cleaner to take the water out and the use my Garden pipe to fill it back. before filling I usually let the water run for a while so the old water in pipes goes out and temperature become fresh and then fill the tank with it.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Alway use the dechlorinator.
The cure all seems safe but treating a tank for disease that is not present is not good.I wouldn't use it.
And the salt seems very srong and is unnecessary for your fish.For those who use salt (for fish that will appreciate it) 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons is common.I would skip the salt.


----------



## sivakv (Aug 6, 2010)

Higher temp, ammonia, nitrate, nitrate etc will get more lethal. So you should bring down temp as well, either you can pour a bottle of cold water, or place a bunch of ice cubes in a plastic cover and float it. Please check your input water temp. Water pipes might get hot during day time, so you can change water early morning or let water cool in a bucket/large tub or so. 
Also you are mixing too many things in the water, you can have chlorine remover added in water separately, wait for an hour, and then fill the tank. You should not be filling the tank tap-water and then add chlorine remover. Rest of the stuff like salt etc, you can wait for things to settle and your tank is over crowded.


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

Okay so Now I have again changed 50 % of the water 

I did test after 1 Hr of the water change. he results are as follows

Amonia 0 mg/l



Nitrites No2 i think 0.8 mg/liter




and Nitrates No3 i think 25 mg/liter



PH level is 7 to 7.5 i guess


Temperature now is 33 celcius

The result is same... No improvement ... What do u think is happening.

what is the suggesstion guys... what should be done.

Another Bad news My 2 X Angel fishes has also died. That the fourth and fifth fish to die today. 2 ange1s , 2 platys and 1 fighter .., I have lost ... Sob*
This time I think they died because of water temperature . When I came back from office the water temperature wa 36-37 celcius. So i put Ice and and it came down to 32 Celcius.


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

I Have tested The tap water and the result are as follows

Amonia 0


Nitrites 0


Nitrates 25 mg/L


Hmm whats the opinion regarding these results ....


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

OK your levels are getting better even if they seem the same.See if seachem purigen is available to you.It will remove nitrates from your tank(not fast but consistently).
Your temp is very high as mentioned before so if it is possible you should look into aquarium chiller as adding ice will become one more labor of love that never ends.If none are available you should freeze water in containers(several,like 6) so you can keep one or a couple in tank to help keep temp to no more than 84(still high but better than 93!).
Sorry about all your fish,it may be do to temp or cycle so lets get your tank cycled(you're getting there),and then work on your temp or finding fish that do better in higher temps.Let your tank go for one day without waterchange and then post test results before you do any changes.
Good luck!


----------



## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I agree to many fish to start off with.your tank is still cycling.the above post is correct on what to do.thay did say how to get your temp down.its take around4 to 6 week to cycle.good luck


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

Ok so no water change for more than 24 Hours. The tst result now is as follows

Amonia 0mg/l


Nitrites 0.8 - 1.6 mg/l


Nitrates 25 mg/l


Bad news again ... One of my red sword tail shark also died today.

When I came back today from office the water temperature was 35celcius. I put Ice in It and the water went down to 32 Celcius. Now I have installed a fan on the aquarium which is blowing air on the surface for last 2 hours. Now when I was testing the water the teperature was still at 32 celcius. Its night now 10:00 pm here.


----------



## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Might I ask...what is the temperature of the room where the aquarium is ? Because in the room where one of my tanks is, the heater wall thermostat
says 79F, and the thermometer in the tank which is in there says 79.5F
I presume that the .5 degree comes from the lights in that tank as there are 2x15W fluorescent bulbs over a glass top which covers about 75% of that
tank's top. I get just a plain glass cut to fit but allow 4" less in length to allow room(of 1" on one end) for the heater cord and air line and 3" on the other
end for access by tweezers. I use "under-the-counter" 18" strip lights and have 2 on that tank. Those 2 bulbs only raise the temp. by .5 degree F.
That tank does have a heater but it only comes on when the temp goes under 75F.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Ok,change water when you have time,50%.Then just change 50% again as soon as you can(tomorrow).Make sure you use dechlorinator but don't use any of the other stuff.You only have one plant if I read correctly so leave your lights off to see if it helps with the temp.Your water will be straigthened out soon but the tempature is going to be a problem it would seem.
Chillers aren't cheap but unless it is really the hot season now for you and it will cool down,I think your going to need one.If you look for one (search net) make sure it can cool your 75 g 12 degrees celsius or 20 F.
Hopefully for now the fan will help but I don't think it will cool your tank to reasonable levels.
What do other people in your country do with their fish?Do they have central air conditioning for the building,chillers for the tank or do most house fish sucessfully in such high temps?


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

Tue room temperature where the.aquarium resides is mostly 32 in average. There is no hood on aquarium atm so no lights. Only room lights are available to aquarium. Installin the fan has helped as today morning bfr water change te temperature was 30 celcius. I changed 50 percent of water at 09:00 am and its 10:30 am now. I m at work. Toaday qround 7:00 pm i m going to change 50 % again.and then test the water. Before comming to the.office i also put ICE in the water.


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Are chillers available in Pakistan?Or do other keepers keep their fish in such high temp.If you are unsure ask your pet store (or LFS{local fish store}) how they manage their fish.It is possible that the fish you have may "acclimate" to the temp,but our preferred temp is 20 C-25C .Once the temp goes above that the dissolved oxygen is decreased and the nutrients(ammonia,Nitrite,Nitrate) are increased.The elavated temp would be great if you were fishless cycling and could lower it after wards,I hope it is speeding up your cycling process(really think you should be cycled in 7 more days or less?),but then unless someone in your location can say different we need to deal with the temp.
Make sure all food you feed is eaten within 2 minutes and don't let any build up on substrate,as this will not help with the water quality.


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

I have told one of the big LFS to check for chiller for me but they havent replied yet. Well I have been inspecting the water good thing is that the fan has got the temperature down now it continuously on 29 - 30 centigrade. No deaths yesterday. 

As per ur recomendation I changed 50 % water yesterday morning and then 50% water last night. Today Morning I had less time so I change 20 % water and then InshAllah tonight will change 50% water and will then check the levels of neutrients. 

Ppl here are not that much leterate regarding fish keeping. The LFS just says that ur aquarium should be in a place that is not much warm and keep on changing water. Here in my city I m the first person to get the test kit and check the neutrients level. here Ppl mostly keep hardy fishes like Gold fish etc so they dont worry abt water temps and water condition much.


----------



## mubjaved (May 24, 2013)

I changed the 50 % water last night and then tested the water the result came out to be as follows

Amonia 0 mg/l



Nitrites 0.3 mg/l


Nitrates between 0 and 12.5 mg/l



Look like progress what do u think.

Today Morning I dint change water and Now in the evening I have changed 50 % of the water and the new results are as follows. 

Amonia 0 mg/l



Nitrites still not less 0.3 mg/l but less than bfr



Nitrates i think have increased than last test its between 12.5 and 25 mg/l




The water temperature is now constant between 29 and 30 celcius. 

There have been no deaths in last 3 days... relief...

How do u think the situation is and is there any thing more that need to be done..

Also my plant Anubia Nana is turning yellow what do u think should i remove that plant cause I think its not surviving...


----------



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Your tank is definayely getting better.The water changes are helping out a lot but hopefully it is cycling also and soon you should have no nitrites.Plants are finicky and many take upto a month to adjust to new tanks so I wouldn't get rid of it yet.Many (if not all) of the existing leaves may turn yeloow and die.Look for new growth,that will be the true sign of how the plant is doing.
LOOKING MUCH BETTER NOW,AND GLAD YOU'RE NOT LOSING FISH !


----------

