unclenedsfishfactory.com

Ned,
My son and I were in your store last Sat. I brought in a water sample and my nitrites were too high to put any africans in yet. You gave me a great whirlwind tour and I got some dirty water from you guys and since adding it to the water my nitrites have been consistently higher than they were before I put the gunk in.

What are the numbers exactly?
Are you confusing Nitrite with Nitrate?

Nitrite is dangerous above about 2 parts per million.

Nitrate is dangerous only way above 200 parts per million.
High Nitrate is not desirable, it sometimes keep fish from growing and spawning properly.

If Nitrate is way too high it usually means your gravel is too dirty and/or you are not changing enough water.
In fact,
almost any water quality problem,
low pH, high ammonia nitrite or nitrate,
can be solved with a good size water change.

It is a good idea to do a pH, Alkalinity, & Hardness test on your tap water or other source water to know what you are starting with.
Also you should use a water conditioner
such as AquaSafe, NovAqua, or Aquatan if you are using city water.

I am cycling the water with three tiger barbs and learned from your assistant that the stresszyme I added to my tank for several weeks prior probably did more harm than good.

Not necessarily doing harm exactly, but basically stresszyme is an artificial way to start the nitrogen cycle....
so it some times gives us strange readings.

Here are some numbers you are looking for
Ammonia 0.0 ppm (not unusual or fatal to be 1 - 2 ppm for the first week or so)
Nitrite 0.0 ppm (not unusual or fatal to be 1 - 2 ppm for the first 2 to 3 weeks)
Nitrate 20 - 40 ppm (it is normal to have zero Nitrate for the first 2 to 3 weeks)
best pH and Alkalinity depends on type of fish you want to keep
(for East African cichlids, we usually want alkalinity above 180, pH above 7.6, and hardness above 120)

A quick way to see if your tank is cycled is to just see fine brown algae growing on the walls or decorations.
The brown algae is called diatom algae and won't grow until Nitrate is present.
There will be no Nitrate 'til Nitrite breaks down.

Basically what happens is
as the fish breathe and urinate they give off Ammonia,
one species of bacteria grows and changes the Ammonia to Nitrite,
then... a second species of bacteria grows and changes the Nitrite to Nitrate.
We then keep the Nitrate at low or medium levels by periodically vacuuming the gravel and changing part of the water.

The most important thing about starting a new tank is
do NOT clean the filter foam for probably 8 weeks.

I am changing about 10-20 gallons of a 55 gal weekly. I have been cycling the tank for a month and the fish have been in for two weeks. I obviously cannot add any fish until this problem is resolved. How long does a nitrite cycle normally take?

Kind of depends. Usually 3 weeks max, but you need a small Ammonia source (some fish) to start.

I am also wondering when you are getting another peacock/hap delivery as I am not sure that you will still have many of the fish I saw in stock when my tank is finally cycled.
We have lots...see list
viewtopic.php?t=2712


Thanks for your help. PS When are you going to put a store in the South Shore!!!
As soon as you loan me $150,000 and find me 4 qualified aquarists.

Dave Champa

You're welcome.

Ned Bowers

Uncle Ned's Fish Factory, Inc.
1590 Main Street (Rte. 109)
Millis, MA 02054 USA

store 508 533 5969 (leave message anytime)
cell 508 981 7730 (NO message can be left)
fax 775 206 6024 (anytime)
www.unclenedsfishfactory.com
email: cichfish@aol.com

hours noon - 8 pm monday to saturday (thursday 'til 9 pm)
noon - 6 pm sunday

>>={{{{{{{{{{{{{{(°/) ><((((°> ><((((°> ><((((°> ><((((°> ><((((°>