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Why Would All Of The Chemical Levels In My Fish Tank Be High?

By Aquaboy on Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 | 4 Comments

I have a 10 gallon fish tank. I just cleaned it and added fresh water 2 days ago. I added the correct amount of water conditioner to the tank as well as pH balancer and everything is way to high and seems to have gone up since I last tested. The levels are as follows:
Nitrate – around the 40 mark (almost unsafe)
Nitrite – around .5 or 1.0 (unsafe)
Water hardness – 150 (hard)
Chlorine – 0 (good)
Alkalinity – 300 (high)
pH – 7.8 – 8.4 (alkaline)
Also, will the water being hard effect my fish in any way? Should it be soft? If so, how do I make it soft?
Anything will help, thanks!

How Can I Add More Levels To My Hamster Cage?

By Aquaboy on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 | 3 Comments

I feel bad for my two Chinese Dwarfs, because all I have been able to provide them with is one 20 gallon fish tank. I have seen some really cool tanks where they have extra levels, but I don’t know how people make them. I tried but I found it difficult seeing as you can’t use tape, glue, or staples. I have also seen those cage toppers, but they’re $30 and so far I haven’t even seen good reviews on them! I usually take each hamster out individually every night to have 15 minutes running around my room in a hamster ball, I clean and rearrange they’re cage weekly, and I give them carrots and toilet paper rolls as treats, but I feel it’s not enough. Any good ideas to add some fun to my hamsters’ cage?

Why Are My Nitrate Levels In My Fresh Water Fish Aquarium Always So High?

By Aquaboy on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 | 4 Comments

I have a 29 gallon freshwater tank with 4 fish equaling about 16 linear inches, the tank is 74 – 78 degrees Fahrenheit. My average readings are; .25ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, the Nitrates are always above 50ppm, usually 60, but I’ve measured over 80 more than once. When I started the tank the Ph was very Alkaline, more than 8. I have gotten the ph down to about 7.7, but it took me 8 mounths to do it. So if anyone has an idea about lowering the Nitrates or the Ph(besides changing the water), please let me know what’s good.

High Ammonia Levels In A New Cycling Aquarium?

By Aquaboy on Sunday, November 14th, 2010 | 3 Comments

First off, I have three other established aquariums, so I do have a fairly solid back ground of basic fish keeping. And before you ask, the reason I did not use one of these aquariums to give the new aquarium a jump start is because these aquariums have pest snails that I do NOT want to take a chance of introducing snails to this new aquarium.
I have a 55g Freshwater and I am currently doing a fish-less cycle. About 2 weeks ago I added a product by Nutrafin called Cycle. It says it’s a Biological Aquarium Supplement and claims it “immediately establishes save biological aquarium environment” and “allows immediate introduction of fish” . It has instructions to give X dose per gallon of water for three days.
I followed the directions and did water testing on the third day. I have the API freshwater master test kit (Liquid testing kit). Most of the reading were off and the ammonia levels read high, so I did a 25% water change. This did not lower the ammonia levels. I decided it might have just been a bad ammonia spike, so I let the aquarium run with the filters for another few days. The other reading went to normal, but the ammonia was still high. I tried Jungle ammonia clear tabs, and tetra’s ammonia remover product with a 25% water change. STILL no change in the ammonia reading. Let the aquarium run a few more days hoping it just needed some more time. After about two weeks of the aquarium running and adding the bacteria supplement, I decided to do a 50% water change.
That was a couple days ago. My readings are now:
Ph 7.6
Ammonia .50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
I’m just stumped. The water is also a little cloudy… and the ammonia levels have been high even after water changes. And ideas?
I think I’ve been pretty thorough, but if you need more information…. let me know.

High Ammonia Levels In A Newly Cycling Aquarium. Advice?

By Aquaboy on Saturday, November 13th, 2010 | 4 Comments

First off, I have three other established aquariums, so I do have a fairly solid back ground of basic fish keeping. And before you ask, the reason I did not use one of these aquariums to give the new aquarium a jump start is because these aquariums have pest snails that I do NOT want to take a chance of introducing snails to this new aquarium.
I have a 55g Freshwater and I am currently doing a fish-less cycle. About 2 weeks ago I added a product by Nutrafin called Cycle. It says it’s a Biological Aquarium Supplement and claims it “immediately establishes save biological aquarium environment” and “allows immediate introduction of fish” . It has instructions to give X dose per gallon of water for three days.
I followed the directions and did water testing on the third day. I have the API freshwater master test kit (Liquid testing kit). Most of the reading were off and the ammonia levels read high, so I did a 25% water change. This did not lower the ammonia levels. I decided it might have just been a bad ammonia spike, so I let the aquarium run with the filters for another few days. The other reading went to normal, but the ammonia was still high. I tried Jungle ammonia clear tabs, and tetra’s ammonia remover product with a 25% water change. STILL no change in the ammonia reading. Let the aquarium run a few more days hoping it just needed some more time. After about two weeks of the aquarium running and adding the bacteria supplement, I decided to do a 50% water change.
That was a couple days ago. My readings are now:
Ph 7.6
Ammonia .50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
I’m just stumped. The water is also a little cloudy… and the ammonia levels have been high even after water changes. And ideas?
I think I’ve been pretty thorough, but if you need more information…. let me know.

Ammonia Levels Wont Drop In My Aquarium. Any Ideas?

By Aquaboy on Friday, October 29th, 2010 | 8 Comments

I have a 75 gallon with only 2 oscars and a pleco in it. i have had this tank setup for over 4 months now and i still cant get my ammonia down. i have been doing a 25 to 50% every other day. my ammonia levels read around 2 usually and i dont get it. I have been doing the extra water changes and have been very carefull feeding not leaving any extra. i have tried ammo lock and ammonia cartridges in the filter. I also have been using stress zyme and stress coat regulary. I have also taken out all my live plants and rock. All thats left is a plastic cave. i have been dealing with this for 4 months any ideas would be appreciated. i have 3 other aquariums none with this problem i am at my wits end.

why cant i fix the ph levels in my fish tank???? please help?

By Aquaboy on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 | 6 Comments

i have a 55 gall0on fish tank wen i check the ph its at its highest like 7.6. ive been trying to fix it for a week now. i have the color code chart and it statrts at 6.0 obviously and ends with 7.6 my level is worse than 7.6 would i put in ph up or ph down on the color code chart u would want it to go up to 6.0 but technicaly u would use down cuz its so high. i know this all sounds confussing but if u have knowledge with fish and tanks you will know what im talking about. what should i be using up or down y wont it fix. could this be why my fish see very inactive?
Why cant i fix the ph levels in my fish tank???? please help?
i have a 55 gall0on fish tank wen i check the ph its at its highest like 7.6. ive been trying to fix it for a week now. i have the color code chart and it statrts at 6.0 obviously and ends with 7.6 my level is worse than 7.6 would i put in ph up or ph down on the color code chart u would want it to go up to 6.0 but technicaly u would use down cuz its so high. i know this all sounds confussing but if u have knowledge with fish and tanks you will know what im talking about. what should i be using up or down y wont it fix. could this be why my fish see very inactive?
some people have suggested to get a ph kit and i do have that thats what i am using the box says that the type of fish i have it shuold be a 7.0 and its worse than7.6 its comming out a dark navy blue wen it should be a litght blue. do i use ph up or ph down

What could have caused the high ammonia levels in my aquarium?

By Aquaboy on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 | 6 Comments

I have a 35 gallon freshwater aquarium. I’ve had it for a number of months. I do about a 50% water change once a week, or every couple of weeks. I also have a test kit so that I can test ammonia, nitrite, etc. My question: I found one of my angel fish dead on the bottom of the tank yesterday. I have only had him for 6 months or so. He wasn’t showing any signs of illness and wasn’t lethargic. I just did a partial water change the week before. When I tested the ammonia levels they were elevated. What caused this? Every other time I have tested the ammonia levels were at zero. (Btw, there were 2 angel fish, 2 bottom feeders, 3 mollies and a few guppies in the tank, so it didn’t seem overcrowded)

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