First Problem With New Tank

The bloom first - if it is white, it is a bacterial bloom (green blooms are algae). These are different bacteria from the ones we want to grow in the filter; they live free floating in the water and multiply very quickly. We see the bacteria as the mistiness. The bloom bacteria live on organic chemicals, and there are plenty of those in a new tank - the plasticiser leaching out of all the new plastic things; chemicals in the corner sealant etc. It is impossible to get rid of the bloom as they multiply faster than we can get rid of them but once they have eaten all their food supply they will die off. Because every tank is different, it is impossible to say how long this will take.
The bloom itself is not harmful to fish, but the bacteria do use oxygen and are in competition with fish for this. Make sure the filter outflow is circulating the water well (ripples on the water surface) to encourage maximum gas exchange - oxygen getting into the water.


Although fish gasping at the surface indicates not enough oxygen in the water, it is also a symptom of ammonia and/or nitrite in the water.
With your ammonia levels, water changes are a must. You must keep it below 0.25ppm, and when you get nitrite, that too must be kept below 0.25. If necessary, you can empty almost all the water leaving just enough depth for the fish to be able to swim upright. Yes, it is stressful for the fish but swimming in ammonia is worse. Provided you dechlorinate the new water and warm it to the same as the tank water the fish will not suffer. You need to do this as many times as necessary to get the ammonia down below 0.25; wait half an hour after the first water change to allow the new water to mix with the old, then tst again. If it's still above 0.25, do another water change. Test again after half an hour, and if necessary do another water change and so on until the reading is below 0.25.
While you are waiting for the half hour before the next test, read this. It explains what you need to do to keep your fish alive.

Ammo lock and similar products convert the ammonia to a less harmful form, but the effect only lasts about 24 hours. Our test kits cannot distinguish between the toxic and non-toxic forms so your reading will still show quite high after adding the ammo lock. This is only a temporary fix; the effect wears off quickly. Water changes are a much more effective way of controlling water conditions.

Try feeding the fish less. Less food = less ammonia. Feed them once every two or even three days until you get the ammonia under control.



You have 6 tetras and 3 cories now. Can I ask what tank size they are in? The smaller the tank, the faster the ammonia level will go up.

Do you have any live plants in the tank which are not in the best of health? Or been over feeding the fish? Both dying plant matter and decaying fish food decompose to make ammonia and they are also a good source of organic matter for the bloom bacteria. If you do have dying plants, remove the iffy leaves. And if you've been overfeeding, cut back.
6 tetras and 3 cories in that size tank shouldn't push the ammonia that high. If you'd said a 34 litre tank, I would have said it was too many fish too soon causing the problem but not at ten times that size.


Ammonia exists in two forms in the tank, ammonia and ammonium - and ammonium is less toxic than ammonia. Our test kits measure both of them combined so they don't tell us how much is in each form. The proportion varies with both pH and temperature and it is possible to calculate how much is in the toxic form. Here is a calculator.
Leave the first box set at NH (NH3 + NH4); enter your ammonia reading in the second box; set salinity to zero; enter your pH and temp in the last two boxes. Then click calculate. You want the figure in the second box on the right side (NH3 concentration). That figure needs to be 0.02 or below (and yes, I do mean 0.02). Knowing the amount of toxic ammonia will help you tailor the water changes on a tank that size.


If you get an nitrite spike after the ammonia is under control, there is no safe form of nitrite, and it is more toxic at low pH, the opposite of ammonia. Common salt can be used to mitigate the effects of nitrite; although cories are salt sensitive, the amount used is very small. If you do get nitrite, ask for the dose rate.

OK testing below 0.5 which using calculator means I can get way with it until tomorrow morning  however do you know a good chiropractor

Hiya

My first post here

I'm not an expert (only started keeping fish around 7 months ago) but I don't think removing plants is a good idea. They eat ammonia and nitrate, so they're helping you at the moment. What substrate are you using? Some soils may leech ammonia into the water.

I just don't know where ammonia is coming from as Sue agreed unlikely from the 9 fish and I sure cannot keep going on 2 big water changes a day. Sue mentioned dying plant material and the main one I have taken out has very rapid growth but have noticed it seems to lose small leafs nearer bottom so wondered if this was the culprit. Anyway I have removed 2 bits of bog wood as I felt I had too much anyway shop never warned me how much it would swell when soaked and also the weed as I called it. Have just finished a 75-80% change and will see how it goes. Did not realise plants ate ammonia though thanks for that, don't have nitrate as yet. Hoping this will mean less food for the bacterial bloom as well.

Plants will do much more good than harm. The amount of ammonia produced by dying plant material will be very small unless you have a tank full of dead plants. As well as using up ammonia, they also help to stabilise pH. You say that a pH drop from 7.2 to 6.8 is a good thing, but I don't see why. Your pH should be stable. You also say that you don't have nitrate yet. Unless you are adding RO or similar pure water, that is very unlikely as all tap water will contain a greater or lesser amount of nitrate, certainly enough to detect with a test kit. The very high ammonia results and no nitrate (if that's what you really mean) does make me wonder about your test results.

this is how i mature filters 3 of them
were mine one was for a friend
of mine that wanted a filter ready to go
on his tank i matured these filters in 9 days
with ammonia and evolution aquarium pure
i have a log of it somewhere

It is indeed Richard and agree, I do not believe in coincidence and that the bloom is responsible. It was extremely dense on Friday morning (wife pointed out I had lost a day it was overnight Thursday that the bloom occurred). Scottish water say • PCV for nitrite = 0.5 mg NO2/l • PCV for nitrate = 50 mg NO3/l  for my area which is very low I believe. The bloom continues in that I cannot see fish clearly at back of tank but so much better than Friday.

Just tested again 30 mins ago and there is an increase but less than 1 rather than jumping to >1 or 2 as before so it appears to have slowed however still to high. I will use ammo lock again tonight and do another 80% in morning. Removal of 2 pieces of bog wood may be reason, I had placed it so that the wood was only standing on branches on the gravel creating caves that the Cory's were enjoying. I was using my syphon to hoover the gravel under the wood and did remove quite a lot of dirt Friday. The piece that is left is now too big to remove through the glass cover on top of tank so hope I do not need to but is about half what was there before.

My wife has suggested Gumtree for her new piece of furniture but I did point out the size was a compromise between my choice and the even larger tank Linda fancied Fortunately I have the time to see this through hopefully soon! Thanks for your interest.

Bifster interesting setup but a bit OTT for me at this stage wish you lived next door though!

Bifster interesting setup but a bit OTT for me at this stage wish you lived next door though!

if you need advice just ask me i am willing to give advice