Hi All... Help With Water Test Results Please

The best one to use is Tetra Safe Start. But read the instructions on the pack before you buy. I haven't used it myself but I have read that you aren't supposed to use it when there is anything added to the tank to detoxify ammonia. Or not for a certain time after adding the detoxifier - and that includes Prime.

I use Seachem Prime as my water conditioner at each water change. I also use Tetra Safe Start any time I've added new filter media or new fish into an established tank (after quarantine), and so the two are used in tandem. This is helpful to know, Sue - is it because one counteracts the benefit of the other?

Lots of good advice on this thread, but I honestly cannot recommend Pure Aquarium balls enough in this situation.

PFK rate them very highly: http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=4918. They will keep your ammonia and nitrite levels down and are also foolproof as you could throw the whole tub in and you can't overdose.

The link isn't working to pfk mate, I've looked at a few reviews looks good, might give it a go!

I know a lot of people swear by this product, but there are a couple of things that worry me in the PFK article.

My best theory is that the process is similar to the immobilisation techniques using polyethylene glycol (or PEG) prepolymers, as used in water sewage treatments. If I’m right then the research behind this method is watertight and the results — at least where treatment of waste water is involved — are well documented and very impressive with captured bacteria that get to work quickly.

The reason it used to thought that the nitrite eaters were Nitrobacter is that this is the one found in sewage treatment where nitrite levels are very high. Later research showed that it is Nitrospira that grows in aquariums, at the much lower nitrite levels found there.
So does Pure Aquarium contain Nitrospira or Nitrobacter?

The winning factor is the omission of any claim that this will start an aquarium cycle. The product is intended as a standalone to existing biological activity, and although it claims to —and by all accounts should — help establish tanks, it’s not intended as a sole developer of filter bacteria.

So it is not intended as a product to 'instantly cycle' a tank.




Having said all that, it is realised that the products that contain the wrong nitrite eaters can help - they remove high levels of nitrite while the correct species grow.

... I think they would be an effective way of preventing the nitrite and ammonia becoming toxic while the tank cycles. For less than £10 they must be worth a shot!

They won't stop Ammonia and Nitrite from being toxic, they will only introduce bacteria that will help consume/convert them.
Unless there are enough bacterium, any remaining Ammonia and/or Nitrite left in the water column will still be toxic to fish.

Dylan is using Seachem Prime now which does actually render Ammonia and Nitrite non-toxic.

Prime, or any other similar product, shouldn't be used instead of regular water changes though as you still need to top up the mineral buffers and remove any Nitrate build up.

If the nitrate level is increasing, it has to come from somewhere, and unless you are adding a lot of plant fertiliser containing nitrate the only source is from the fish via ammonia and nitrite. In other words, you definitely have some of both bacteria, it is now just a case of waiting till you have the right amount of each of them.

So, now it looks like some of my fish have white spot! What's the best way to treat it? I've seen that adding aquarium salt can help, but am a little paranoid about adding it as, well it's fresh water fish.... I see I should up the temperature gradually to 30 Celsius,  am I better with medicines which is the best?

Thanks Dylan.

Most whitespot meds on the market are OK - provided you follow the instructions to the letter. That link explains the parasite's lifecycle - it is important to continue treating after the spots have gone off the fish as they can only be killed in the theront phase and there must be some med in the water when every last one gets to this stage.

However - do you still have the clown loaches? Not only are these fish very prone to whitespot if they are stressed (eg during a fish-in cycle), they are scaleless fish so read the med instructions carefully. Some tell you to use half dose with scaleless fish. I too have loaches so I use half dose and add a couple of extra doses on the end.

You may well find you have to water changes during treatment. On a dose day, do the water change then add the med. On non-dose days, after the water change add enough med to treat the amount of new water; that is add enough to replace the med in the water you just took out.

It's only carbon that needs to be removed as that removes the medication. Once treatment has finished, put new carbon in the filter for a few days then throw it away, together with all the med it has adsorbed. Then replace it with plain sponge as you don't need carbon full time. You will lose some of your bacteria but the amount on the carbon won't be a large proportion of the ones you have grown so far.

Fish can take 30 C for a short period, it's living full time at that temp that does the harm. Take it up slowly then bring it back down slowly afterwards. Make a note of the current setting on your heater if the dial doesn't correspond to the actual temp - something that is very common.

Some fish are masters at hiding. It could well turn up again.

Those Pure Aquarium balls aren't a substitute for Carbon.
They are gel balls filled with bacteria. (In the simplest terms)
The gel dissolves and bacteria is released.

As Sue pointed out earlier , it's debatable whether they even contain the correct type of bacteria required for the aquarium environment.

The manufacturer states they aren't to be used to speed up the cycle.

In a tank which is already cycled I don't see the point. The amount of bioload entering the tank dictates the quantity of bacteria which will survive in your tank.

If you add more bacteria, and there's not enough food to sustain it then some bacteria will starve and die.

Others may disagree.

So my clown loach has returned 

Hopefully this white spot doesn't last too long, what am I best replacing the carbon with? Biofoam?