Samhain
Satin, Lace, and Sequins
Blaaarrrrgggghhhh! I added my first fishies a week ago. Been checking levels daily since then, with no substantial changes. I was looking for an ammonia spike as I introduced fish food, and the fish started converting it to poop. Yesterday, everything was sitting on 0. Today when I check levels, ammo is 0, nitrite is 0, and nitrate is nearly 80! WTH????!!!!:shock:
I've mixed up the 5 gallons I had on hand for an emergency water change (will be changing it tomorrow morning, since I know fresh-mixed water can be caustic). That's going to be roughly 10% changed tomorrow morning, and I'm planning on an additional 30% exchange tomorrow evening, with a level retest following that exchange. Depending on what I get back on that test, I'm planning on 20% exchanges for the following three days. When finished, it will be a 100% water change over the course of 4 days (assuming that my levels deem it necessary).
Does that sound sufficient for handling the problem? Does it sound aggressive enough? I'm trying to be a little on the aggressive side, since I noticed a couple teeny tiny white spots on each of my fish, and we all know what that means...... And also, any suggestions on what made the nitrates spike without the other levels changing at all? And why so quickly?:question:
I've mixed up the 5 gallons I had on hand for an emergency water change (will be changing it tomorrow morning, since I know fresh-mixed water can be caustic). That's going to be roughly 10% changed tomorrow morning, and I'm planning on an additional 30% exchange tomorrow evening, with a level retest following that exchange. Depending on what I get back on that test, I'm planning on 20% exchanges for the following three days. When finished, it will be a 100% water change over the course of 4 days (assuming that my levels deem it necessary).
Does that sound sufficient for handling the problem? Does it sound aggressive enough? I'm trying to be a little on the aggressive side, since I noticed a couple teeny tiny white spots on each of my fish, and we all know what that means...... And also, any suggestions on what made the nitrates spike without the other levels changing at all? And why so quickly?:question: