Can someone list all the ways to treat bad water quality?

Question

mY AMMONIA, nITRATE AND NITRITE ARE PRETTY HIGH AND MEDICATION ISN'T WORKING..

Answer 1

If your ammonia is high as well as the nitrites you need to do a water change pure and simple. Is your tank new? This is more than likely the problem.

Adding medicine is making it worse not better. Get rid of it. Medicines are used to cure fish not clean water.

30% water change wait two days and test again. Do not worry about the nitrates if they are 80 or below, this isn't toxic to fish.

Your ammonia and nitrites need to remain below .5. Water changes are the only thing that will help with this until the tank cycles. Also, when stocking, overstocked tanks that are not on a weekly water change will also do this.

Boiling water prior to use in a fish tank is never a good idea. It removes all the good stuff and concentrates the nitrates and nitrites already in the water.

Answer 2

Water changes. If you think about it, wherever fish live, they get them constantly. Current moves the bad stuff out and new water in.

In an aquarium, you might get the bacteria you need to convert the ammonia and nitrite to nitrate, but the nitrate just stays there (unless you have lots of plants - or algae - to use it).

The fact that you have ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate says that either your tank is still cycling (builiding the bacterial population to remove these), you've used an antibiotic medication in the tank recently, you're seriously overstocked for the size tank you have, you're overfeeding the fish, or any combination of the above. Hopefully the cause is one of the first two.

If you're trying to clean your tank and gravel because the water appears cloudy, this is natural for an aquarium without sufficient bacteria. As long as there's more ammonia and nitrite than the bacteria can use, they'll be multiplying like mad. This "bacterial bloom" is what makes the water look cloudy. So if you tear down the tank to clean it out, you're only removing the bacteria you need and prolonging the process. Once there's enough bacteria to convert all the ammonia and nitrite your fish are producing, the reproduction will slow down and the tank will look clear.

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/CloudyWater.htm

Answer 3

Tennismaster,

I went through that frustration. Your tank is probably in the middle of its cycle. Medication will not help your tank's water quality diminish.

The simple way to help your high levels of ammonia, nitrate and nitrite is with water changes.

HOWEVER.

Instead of using tap water and treating that with chemicals which just exacerbates the water toxicity that exists already; go to the grocery store and buy reverse osmosis water. Most grocery stores have water stands where you can purchase a 3 or 5 or 10 gallon water jug and fill it right there at the water stand.

Right now you should do a 50 % water change with that kind of water. It will lower your toxic levels as your tank cycles. It will slow down your tank's cycle by a couple of weeks. But most tanks cycle 4-6 weeks anyway, regardless of the number of water changes.

Every 5 days after you replace 50% of your water with the reverse osmosis drinking water, do a 10% water change. Do not use tap water. If you can't afford to buy the drinking water, then use the tap water but don't add more than one chemical to the tap water when you treat it or you will get white foam at the top of your tank's water level. That indicates that you have over-chemicaled your tank's water and the fish will not be happy to say the least.

Also, you should purchase a Master Freshwater test kit that comes with vials and bottles of ammonia, nitrate and nitrite and ph, where you can test your water yourself every couple of days as your tank completes its cycle. You should also buy an ammonia alert monitor that you can suction to the inside of your tank that will show you when the ammonia etc. is completely gone b/c it has a circle in the middle that changes colors (yellow = safe). Again, purchase this at Petsmart.

Other than water changes, you need to be patient and let your tank finish its cycling. How many fish do you have in your tank?

Frequent water changes will help. Don't overuse chemicals b/c that will not help you at all. Prime, Cycle or Ammonia Lock only BIND the ammonia, nitrate and nitrites. It doesn't remove it from your tank's water. Only water changes will do that. All those products do is make those chemicals safe. But let nature take its course instead. Replace the water iwth drinking water (reverse osmosis) frequently and that will naturally remove and decrease the high levels as your tank finishes its initial cycle.

I almost forgot. If this is your tank's first water cycle, do not syphon the gravel bed. You want to let good bacteria establish in the gravel and on your powerfilter's sponge. So don't change the sponge either. If it gets dark brown, just rinse it off in your tank and put it back in the powerfilter box.

And decrease the number of times you feed your fish to 1x or 2x a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening should be enough. Don't starve them but don't overfeed them while your tank goes through its first water cycle.

My tanks' initial water cycle took 6 weeks and I did it with fish. I went through everything you're going through and I posted what I learned based on my experience and asking people questions like you have. I refuse to use tap water in my 28 gallon tank. I have 3 three gallon water jugs and I do water changes every 6 days and my fish and mystery snails and plants are all thriving well.

Answer 4

Water change. Water change. Biiiig water change! Around 50% if they're very high. Nothing can make up for a water change. Don't try anything else besides a water change.

Why am I so serious about it? I works! It works better than anything else, IMO. Even if you don't want to do it, do it, because it works.

Also, what size is your tank and what fish does it have in it? Overstocked tanks will have a high ammonia content.

Did you cycle your tank? How long has it been set up? If it isn't cyvled and/or is overstocked that is probably why you have high ammonia and such.

It would be good if you told us what size and what you have in your tank.
AA

Answer 5

If your aquarium is new, change the water once a week. If the bacterial cycle is already established, change it once a month. When you change it, put in a good water conditioner, and I'd recommend also putting in Stress Coat and Stress Zyme from API. Other than that, put Stress Zyme (or some other bacterial supplement) in once a week and rinse the filter cartridge weekly. If you want to, you can put water clarifier in at the middle of the month, but that may not be necessary. Don't fool with those test kits and all. They're friggin' expensive and you really don't need them if you do things right.

Answer 6

medicine wont bring them down. frequent water changes is what does the trick. try 50%, then test a couple hours later. if ammonia and nitrites still arent at 0, do another 50%. repeat until they are 0.

Answer 7

Purifying Water

How to Purify Drinking Water - from the makers of Clorox Bleach

Boiling Method:

Boiling is the preferred way to purify water. Bring water to a rolling boil for 3-5 minutes, keeping in mind that some water will evaporate. Let the water cool before drinking.

Boiled water will taste better if you put oxygen back into it by pouring the water back and forth between two clean containers. This will also improve the taste of stored water.

Bleach Method:

When boiling water is not possible, filter water, letting particles settle out. Pour off clear water. Add regular household liquid bleach (such as Ultra Clorox Regular bleach -- not scented or colorsafe), as follows:

4 drops regular liquid bleach per quart of water

16 drops regular liquid bleach per gallon of water

1 teaspoon regular liquid bleach per 5 gallons of water

Mix well; wait 30 minutes. Water should have a slight bleach odor. If not, repeat and wait 15 more minutes.

Answer 8

The main causes of pollution are overstocking and overfeeding, especially with dried foods.Assuming that you don't have an over-crowded tank, stir up your gravel to release the muck and do a 25% water change and syphon out the garbage at the same time. DON'T FEED your fish for a day or two.Then do another 25% water change.
After this, feed SMALL amounts of food. (I always advise feeding half the amount of food you think the fish need, and do it half as often as you think you should. And if you miss one day a week, that's fine.)
Fish have the ability to pass undigested food straight through their bodies... they only digest what they need. Mammals (like humans) need food to keep warm; fish need food only for growth and energy to move .
Remember, very very few fish starve to death in an aquarium.
Most are killed by pollution through overfeeding or by over-dosing with medications.

Answer 9

I would say to do a lot of water change and don't yous chemical.

Answer 10

frie a pea and put it in there