??help?? added new fish started new cycle dont wanna kill fish levels high

[vinnyvalentine]

i made the mistake of adding new fish the day after doing a 20% water change my levels over the last 4 days have shot my nitrares were at 5 now they are at 80 nitrite levels are at 1.0 amonia 1.50 and ph steady at 8.0 my ??????????????? is should i be doing some more water changes threw this new cycle levels seem real dangerous to fish....

[der_wille_zur_macht]

A water change won't cause a cycle unless you REALLY stir up a lot of old gunk in a dirty tank.

How old is the tank and what else is in it?

What species of fish did you add?

Can you bring it back to the LFS while your tank stablizes?

[vinnyvalentine]

no my lfs will not take them back i have a 55g with foxface a sailfin tang a small trigger just added small snowflake eel and a large dogface puffer i also forgot to add i cleaned the sponge in my filter the same day i changed the water what should i do?? will water changes at least help or will they only slow the cycle process??

[vinnyvalentine]

oh ya i did stir up tank removing the clown fish and damsel to put them in my 10g nano reef set up so it was bad all around i need a solution and lfs is not an option

[Sisterlimonpot]

You didn't answer the most important question, How old is your tank?

[vinnyvalentine]

8 months old woops sorry that is important???? how come also any solutions??

[Sisterlimonpot]

Was your sponge the primary sourse of biological filtration? How much live rock do you have?

Water changes are going to help dilute the high ammonia nitrtites and nitrates, but it's going to be a lot of them until the levels drop.

[jbird69]

water changes will help for sure. I would get on it right now.

[Chiefsurfer]

the amount of LR is fairly critical here, because if that filter is the only source of biological filtration, it's going to be a LARGE portion of your bacteria colony, which you just flushed.

If you can't find a safe place for them for a while, I would start with about a 50% WC, and do whatever you need to keep your nitrites and ammonia real low.

[vinnyvalentine]

ok not a ton of live rock like 15lbs but i had 2 sponges only rinsed 1 of them plus some biio balls i didnt rinse either of those i just did 35% water change it lowered nitrate to 20 amonia went to 1.0 nitrite .75 so everything but amonia went down i will test water tonight any other suggestions

[Shane Hoffman]

I suggest you keep up with daily WC of 25 to 50 % to stay on top of nitrates. Kent makes a really good product that detoxifies amonia in emergencies. By no means is it meant as a daily dosing product though. Also your tank IMO is now overstocked. With a large dogface in a 55 you will be constantly batteling nitrates and amonia if you feed him as much as he needs. The sailfin will be very unhappy once he gets larger. Good luck man...

[Chiefsurfer]

I would like to see ammonia stay at least 1.0, preferaly below for the health of your fish. As stated, check 2x a day, and at least do one 30-50% change a day. GL.

[vinnyvalentine]

thank you guys

[parrotchute]

You have way too many fish including fish that are too big for that size tank.
Not only is it cruel to the fish, but it will greatly increase your chance of having outbreaks of disease and high ammonia levels.

[Sk8r]

I agree: too many fish. You need a bigger tank, like about 200g for that lot. BUT in the interim, if you spot your tank going catastrophic for your fish, get a Brute trashcan, fill with salt water, aerate, filter, and put your fish in there until your tank adjusts and you can get them back in: think of it as a big intermittent quarantine tank you use in emergenies. YOu need about 60-70 pounds of live rock with that current fish load, which limits the space you have for fish, and as they grow and need more rock, it only gets worse. Try to pick up a good USED system and sell yours, and you will be happier.

Another thing you can do is set up a remote sand bed: 3-4" of aragonite sand and live rock in a second tank (sump area) that nearly equals the size of your main tank: that would tide you over. Thing about a sump-fuge-remote sandbed is that you don't need the thick glass of a display: treat it gently and you can increase the processing power of your sandbed by having a second fishless system linked into this water supply.

[LisaD]

You HAVE to do daily water changes to save the fish, don't cycle the tank with these fish. If you can keep up with daily water changes, you may be able to get through this. You've received great advice in the previous posts.

I don't think there is any cheap or easy way out of this if you want to save the fish. You'll have to decide if you are prepared to commit the time and money.

A few more things:

1) Try several daily partial water changes of 10-15 gallons. Doing a 50% water change all at once can shock the fish, so stretch it out to 2-3 daily. I know it's a lot of work, but it could help save the fish. I use a 32 gallon Brute trash can on a dolly with wheels for making salt water. I have a power head and hose in the tank to pump water from the rolling trash can to the tank. I siphon old water into a bucket and dump down the toilet, but you could also use powerheads to move water out of the 55. You could make up 30 gallons of salt water in the evening, let it circulate with a powerhead overnight. In the morning, do a 10-15 gallon water change, with one or two to follow that day. That night, make up another 30 gallons. Repeat daily until you are out of the woods.

2) Make sure the salt water has been aerated/mixed AT LEAST overnight. Fresh mixed (raw) salt water can burn fish's gills and kill them. Also, check pH and specific gravity to be sure they match your DT and make sure temperature is close.

3) If your fish are stressing but still healthy, consider asking the best LFS you know (not necessarily the one you bought them at) if they would consider holding your fish for a couple weeks for pay. I have "boarded" fish at repuable LFS in the past for various reasons (like a split seam on a tank or a dealing with bully). Either way, it would be better to get some fish out of the tank. Either get ANOTHER Brute trash can (besides one for mixing salt water) and put some of the fish in there to thin out the population and bioload or board the fish, or adopt them out. I doubt if your 55 will ever be able to support that population, even temporarily, and even with a remote biological filter.

4) If you want to keep all those fish, as Sk8r said, start looking on craigslist for a larger used system. You can get live rock cheap on craigslist or buy dry rock and let it establish bacteria. Just try to be patient and take it slow!!! While I agree you will need a 180-210 eventually for all those fish, you could probably get by for a while with a 125, and eventually pare the stock list (or lose some fish to death). I think the foxface, snowflake eel and dogface puffer would be fine for life in a 125. The sailfin tang would outgrow the tank. You didn't say the species of trigger - a picasso would be fine for life in a 125, a niger would outgrow it. If you can't afford a 125 or larger, and can support two tanks, find a 75, they are pretty commonly sold. Split the fish between the 75 and the 55, realizing you will have to eventually find homes for the puffer, sailfin tang and possibly the trigger.

Good luck! You aren't the first person who has done this, we will keep trying to help you.