Hi all, I'm sorry this is going to be a long post, but thanks for reading.
I have a new dilemma with my fish. I have a 48 litre "Fish-Box" which has been set up for about 3 weeks now. It has adequate heating and filtration, and it's fairly heavily planted. I have 4 guppies, 4 neon tetras, and a panda catfish, so it's well below capacity.
The problem I have is New Tank Syndrome. Despite regular water changes and the addition of various 'treatments', my statistics are as follows:
The difference between the Safestart and the Filter Start is that one (Safestart) seems to recommend adding the whole dose in one go, while the other (Filter Start) recommends adding several small doses over 2 weeks. My first question is: As I've used small amounts of both products, would it harm the fish if I now added the full dose of Safestart? Is it possible to overdose the tank with 'good' bacteria? I know it's a delicate balance, but I'm desperate to get those numbers down.
On top of all this, one of my guppies has come down with WhiteSpot, so I'm treating it with Interpet Anti WhiteSpot. The instructions tell me to add the first dose, then a second dose four days later. So now my worry is that I can't carry out any more water changes for the next 4 days, otherwise I'll dilute the medication. I don't have a hospital tank, there's no room for one to be honest, plus, am I actually treating the fish? or the water? Is it too late to save the fish? It doesn't look badly infected, and he's definately perked up a bit since I added the first dose.
I really don't know what to do for the best now. I've spent so much money on water treatments and equipment and medications, and I've tried to do everything by the book, but it all seems to be going wrong! Even more annoying, my friend bought a Biorb at the same time as I bought my tank, and he just filled his straight from the tap, untreated water, overcrowded it with about 8 goldfish on the same day, has left them to it from day one, and his fish are thriving, they couldn't appear to be happier!
So my main question is, should I add that full dose of Safestart when I've already been using small quantities of that, and the Filter Start? I really need to kickstart the cycle and get those figures down as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading, and I hope I've made everything clear enough, just yell if I haven't.
Chris
I have a new dilemma with my fish. I have a 48 litre "Fish-Box" which has been set up for about 3 weeks now. It has adequate heating and filtration, and it's fairly heavily planted. I have 4 guppies, 4 neon tetras, and a panda catfish, so it's well below capacity.
The problem I have is New Tank Syndrome. Despite regular water changes and the addition of various 'treatments', my statistics are as follows:
- PH: 8.2
- Ammonia: 0.25
- Nitrite: 5.0 +
- Nitrate: 80
The difference between the Safestart and the Filter Start is that one (Safestart) seems to recommend adding the whole dose in one go, while the other (Filter Start) recommends adding several small doses over 2 weeks. My first question is: As I've used small amounts of both products, would it harm the fish if I now added the full dose of Safestart? Is it possible to overdose the tank with 'good' bacteria? I know it's a delicate balance, but I'm desperate to get those numbers down.
On top of all this, one of my guppies has come down with WhiteSpot, so I'm treating it with Interpet Anti WhiteSpot. The instructions tell me to add the first dose, then a second dose four days later. So now my worry is that I can't carry out any more water changes for the next 4 days, otherwise I'll dilute the medication. I don't have a hospital tank, there's no room for one to be honest, plus, am I actually treating the fish? or the water? Is it too late to save the fish? It doesn't look badly infected, and he's definately perked up a bit since I added the first dose.
I really don't know what to do for the best now. I've spent so much money on water treatments and equipment and medications, and I've tried to do everything by the book, but it all seems to be going wrong! Even more annoying, my friend bought a Biorb at the same time as I bought my tank, and he just filled his straight from the tap, untreated water, overcrowded it with about 8 goldfish on the same day, has left them to it from day one, and his fish are thriving, they couldn't appear to be happier!
So my main question is, should I add that full dose of Safestart when I've already been using small quantities of that, and the Filter Start? I really need to kickstart the cycle and get those figures down as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading, and I hope I've made everything clear enough, just yell if I haven't.
Chris