I Need some advise, I have a two gallon fish bowl with a beautiful ryunkin
named "Franklyn".( He will be moving into a larger aquarium very soon) I have
followed all the guidelines and and have been testing and doing frequent water changes.
I'm still not solving the mystery of my lab results.

AmmoniaNH3/NH4 ppm 0.25
NitriteNO2 ppm >1
NitrateN03 ppm 250 (high range) 50(low range)


Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Looks like the biofilter bacteria aren't up to speed in that tank. Is it just a bowl or does it have a filter? any gravel? How long's it been set up?

How bout pH and water temp? How toxic .25ppm ammonia depends on water temp and pH.

I'm not sure about your nitrAte reading. It can't be both. It's good to keep nitrAte under 40ppm.

NitrIte is toxic. It enters thru the gills and binds up the red blood cells keeping them from being able to carry oxygen. Salt helps protect against nitrIte poisoning because it competes with nitrIte for uptake thru the gills. If it's a partially cycled tank, I'd do two things
1) partial water changes to get nitrIte down below 1ppm
2) add 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. predissolve in tank water and make sure it disperses well when you add it. Be sure to use non-iodized salt with no other additives. maintain that level till the biofilter bacteria get up to speed and nitrItes read 0ppm.

If it's a bowl with no filter on it, I'll totally clean it out with tap water including the gravel/ornaments to try and kill any biobugs and prevent nitrIte buildup. Treat it like a betta bowl and do total water changes when you start seeing ammonia again. You'll need to match the water temp closely.

How long till you move to a larger tank?

I've had my tank since Dec. 2004, I've made three complete water
changes since that time and partial changes every two days. Today I did a partial
water change and added a teaspoon of sea salt for each gallon. I still need to test
again and include the PH.
Thanks for getting replying so quickly

I fogot to add to my Lab list

ph 7.4
temp 72' degrees

Bad.

You still haven't finished cycling because your ammonia and nitrites are still high, but you already have stressful levels of nitrates. I'd get that tank as soon as possible. In a tank that size, you really need to be changing water at least twice weekly.

Also, while the salt will help protect your fish from high nitrites, it will slow down your cycle.

I hope my "Franklyn" is going to be alright. I do have the tank set up
with a bubbler and a filter. Should I change the water everyday? I've been changing 25% every other day so far?

So what kind of water tests are you using?
Can you be an more specific about nitrIte and nitrAte readings?
I doubt your nitrAte's going to be that high as your tank isn't cycled yet.
Glad you added the salt.

With pH of 7.4 and water temp of 72F, .25ppm ammonia isn't anything to worry about. I'd start worrying about ammonia if it starts getting too much over 1ppm. Ammonia should be on its way down now and you'll see a nitrIte spike while the bacteria that convert nitrIte to nitrAte get up to speed.

How's Franklyn acting?

Hi Dataguru,
Thanks once again for getting back to me. Franklyn looks good so far.
I have been using the "RedSea" marine lab. I tested again after a 25% water change
and here are my readings.

AmmoniaNH3/NH4 0.25
NitriteNO2 >1 (The color is always a red)
NitrateNO3 250/50 (now here is where it gets complicated
because it has a color chart with both
High range and low range. If I get a
test result that appears red, I have no
way of knowing if its 250 high or 50 low).


ph 7.4
Temp 72F

Should I be concerned?

I wouldn't worry about the ammonia level. With pH of 7.4, temp 72F and total ammonia of .25ppm, the toxic NH3 levels are only .003ppm. That's pretty low.

I still don't know whether to be concerned about your nitrIte and nitrAte readings cuz I don't know what they are!
I'd definitely keep the tank salted to .1% to help protect against nitrIte poisoning. Partial water changes every couple of days wouldn't be a bad idea either since we don't know what your levels are.

So what's the range of the nitrIte test?

Check out CaptK's post on the nitrAte test kit you're using. Apparently if it hits the top color when you do the test initially that means it's at the highest reading on the low range test or above. Then you dilute with distilled water (I think it was) and do something else to it to get the high range reading. Do you have written instructions with the test kit?

This is a sample of the " Red Sea " Nitrite guide:



Nitrite NO2 ppm

aqua 0
blue 0.05
lavender 0.1
purple 0.2
pink 0.5
red >1 (This is the reading I come up with)

I was hoping for a set of written instructions.
so it only goes up to 1ppm. hmmm does it have the high and low range thing like the nitrAte test does?
Remind me not to buy a red sea test kit!
I'm using the AP tests for nitrIte and nitrAte. The nitrIte is good. I have trouble reading the top end of their nitrAte card tho.

It does have instructions, however, I must be chemically
challenged . The Instructions state that a concentration
as low as 0.1 ppm and above 0.3 ppm are harmful. The lab
chart for nitrite does not have high and low range like the nitrate
lab chart does. Franklyn looks good, and that makes
feel good. I don't think there is problem with the test kit at all.
If I remember correctly <_<, I got a " D " in chemistry in
College.


Thanks for all your help Dataguru, You are awsome

Thank you too Fishbert, I didn't for get that you suggested the
salt. I appreciate your advice , and so does Franklyn.

All cycled tanks will have 0 nitrites, so it can never be too low.

About the ppm thing, that's weird. My test goes up to 10.0 and the chart reads as follows:

0-0.5: Safe
1-3.0: Stress
5-10: Toxic

I'm not sure which is accurate, I'm not strong in chemistry either. The really scary part is at one point in cycling my nitrites went off the chart. It killed my lionhead and gave my oranda permenant problems until it died a year later.

<_< I think frequent water changes are the best way to go.

Hi DataGuru
Hi Fishbert

It's been a week since I spoke to you guys. Still concerned about My lab results,
I decided to take Franklyn out of the water do a total cleaning of his tank.
Now, I wonder if this means I must start the cycle all over again.

Yes.

so what do you mean when you say "total cleaning"?

Hi Guys,
Sorry, I've been away from the messageboard for a while.

I took Franklyn out and put him in another bowl and rinsed
everything. Decor, Gravel, and washed the bowl. I also got another
filter. ( The small, disposable cartridge). I wondered about cycling
all over again. Fishbert said "yes".

Since I was going to have to cycle all over again, I moved Franklyn
into his new 10 gallon aquarium. He waited the appropriate 24 hrs.

My Hubby has been quite entertained by Franklyn's happy dance. He said
"Franklyn needs a buddy." So now we have a "Edgar". My husband
named this one. I don't really know the gender of either one.

Bigger tank, means bigger clean up.
I have one of those "self-start siphon" so I can clean the gravel and
do water changes. I haven't quite perfected the siphoning technique <_< .

It would be good not to rinse things with tap water cuz the chlorine will kill the biobugs.

So how's your water doing?

Hi DataGuru,

Acutally, I rinsed everything with tap water.

Franklyn and Edgar are doing well. I literally have to
start from scratch again, cultivating my bio filter. So
far, I have been keeping water levels safe by frequent
water changes.

speaking of water changes. Now that my babies have moved
to a 10 gallon aquarium. I have been giving them a variety
of food. They love spinach and orange slices, however it
makes it hard to siphon it out.

I will keep you updated on how they're doing.

Greetings to all .

I would like to update you on my babies Franklyn and
Edgar . I am still going through the cycle stage.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.5
Nitrate 10
pH 8.0
Temp 73 degrees

They both seem to be doing well through the cycle process.
My biggest concern now is, Franklyn frequently chases Edgar
all over the place. Edgar has lost some scales on both sides
of his body. This only happens after I have feed them.

I took Edgar and salt dipped him so that he could start
to heal. I think It's helping, however, I don't see that
his scales are comming back. Do they come back?

Could this behavior be because of the cycle process?