# Please help me



## Tomas4 (21 Feb 2017)

Hi all tank keepers.Have massive problem.Restarted my 3 years old tank on Friday.Changed gravel for eco complete,put boog root,replanted plants.Fill up with fresh water and added Tetra Aqua safe.Put fishs back(I know it's not good,but I can't put somewhere else)Next morning found 3dead,following day again.And every day was the same. No difference today to.From 11 Barbus left just six. Done big water change,but not all today,because saw,that some fishs is not well.After change looks,that not getting well too.Any advice of all you?Please


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## Lukes (21 Feb 2017)

Hi Tomas, sorry to hear the problem, can I ask how long ago you restarted your tank? And did you keep all media and filter in old tank water then put into the new tank after the tetra aqua safe?


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## Tomas4 (21 Feb 2017)

I restarted on Friday.All media was in old aquarium water.Just connected back.


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## Pinaki Pal (21 Feb 2017)

Tomas4 said:


> Hi all tank keepers.Have massive problem.Restarted my 3 years old tank on Friday.Changed gravel for eco complete,put boog root,replanted plants.Fill up with fresh water and added Tetra Aqua safe.Put fishs back(I know it's not good,but I can't put somewhere else)Next morning found 3dead,following day again.And every day was the same. No difference today to.From 11 Barbus left just six. Done big water change,but not all today,because saw,that some fishs is not well.After change looks,that not getting well too.Any advice of all you?Please


What  u have  done  is  complete  restart... Changing    substrate   means   the complete   disruption of  ecology   which   was   present  for three years...... 

  Ill   suggest  to    keep  those  fishes  in separate   tank   for  few weeks   till  initial   cycle  is established.....   

Otherwise    use   Seachem  Safe  in good  quantity..... It  nutralises all   ammo ,no2    spike ....    

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## Tomas4 (21 Feb 2017)

Thanks for advice.Try to buy tomorrow,but I think it's gona be to late.


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## Lukes (21 Feb 2017)

I agree with pinaki pal, from some knowledge I know some aqua substrates recommend to do 2 25% water changes for the first few weeks, specially the tropica substrates


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## Lukes (21 Feb 2017)

2 25% water changes per week for the first few weeks I meant to say sorry.


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## Tomas4 (21 Feb 2017)

NO3 mg/l 25
NO2 mg/l 2
I put API ammo lock,hope it's help.Can I put tetra easy balace?


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## Pinaki Pal (21 Feb 2017)

No2   is the   killer  here....   I  haven't  used that  product  u r referring  so  cant   tell....    Use    some  product   which   detoxify  no2  n  nh3    both....     



Lots   of  water change... Will  suggest   daily   wc   

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## dean (22 Feb 2017)

Tomas 
Did you clean the filter ?


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## Tomas4 (23 Feb 2017)

dean said:


> Tomas
> Did you clean the filter ?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


No,just connect all for new filter.Ammonia test showing 1.0.Second day filling saechem prime.Left 3 barbs from yesterday.not loose any fish from yesterday.So good news.


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## three-fingers (23 Feb 2017)

I would do as big a water change as you can do (50-75%) every day for at least a few days while until your plants and bacteria grow enough for the tank to become stable again.

Seachem Prime is great as a dechlorinator and can detoxify ammonia, but is no substitute for many big water changes.

When the floating plants arrive they should be great at sucking up ammonia too and thier roots have lots of good bacteria


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## Tomas4 (24 Feb 2017)

three-fingers said:


> I would do as big a water change as you can do (50-75%) every day for at least a few days while until your plants and bacteria grow enough for the tank to become stable again.
> 
> Seachem Prime is great as a dechlorinator and can detoxify ammonia, but is no substitute for many big water changes.
> 
> When the floating plants arrive they should be great at sucking up ammonia too and thier roots have lots of good bacteria


Thanks for advice,received plants.


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## Tomas4 (24 Feb 2017)

After two days used prime and stability,results not good at all.Any advice?


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## three-fingers (24 Feb 2017)

Nitrate value is good for plants, won't negatively effect fish, nothing to worry about there.

Ammonia is at 2ppm, so if you do a 50% water change this should immediately bring it down to 1ppm. 50% minimum daily water changes until it's at 0ppm for a couple of days . Don't clean the glass or remove any algae for a while, biofilm and algae will help stabilise the water conditions by consuming ammonia.

Also don't bother feeding the fish until ammonia is at 0ppm either, they will be fine for a week or longer if they were well fed before. More fish food = more ammonia.

I wouldn't bother with Seachem Stability, it's a waste of time for you. Studies show most "bacteria in a bottle" type of aquarium treatments have _very_ limited positive benefit when starting a tank from scratch (which your not doing), and not in the way the bottle describes. The bacteria on your filter and the plants are far more suitable than the bacteria in Stability. In your case it's just adding a tiny amount of waste into the tank with each dose IMO, so not helping, but probably negligible harm so don't worry.

Using Seachem Prime when changing the water should be enough, it will "detoxify" ammonia, but only in emergencies, it's not a long therm solution. If you use too much, it will actually inhibit bacterial growth, and I'm not sure what effect it has on plants when overdosing to detoxify ammonia. So use at normal dosages and just keep up daily water changes. If you see fish are distressed, just do a bight water change.  You could even do one at the start of the day, and one at the end of the day. Whatever works for you, the more the better.

The floating plants should grow noticeably within the week and will help greatly by sucking up that ammonia directly. If you have your light on a timer, increase photoperiod to 12hours+ (more plant/algae growth = less ammonia).


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## Tomas4 (25 Feb 2017)

three-fingers said:


> Nitrate value is good for plants, won't negatively effect fish, nothing to worry about there.
> 
> Ammonia is at 2ppm, so if you do a 50% water change this should immediately bring it down to 1ppm. 50% minimum daily water changes until it's at 0ppm for a couple of days . Don't clean the glass or remove any algae for a while, biofilm and algae will help stabilise the water conditions by consuming ammonia.
> 
> ...


Thanks so much.Try to do like you said.Hope it's help.


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## Tomas4 (25 Feb 2017)

Water test before 50% to wc.


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## three-fingers (25 Feb 2017)

Looking better on the ammonia side of things, you don't need to bother doing the time-consuming nitrate (NO3) test btw. Keep up the water changes!


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## Tomas4 (25 Feb 2017)

Ammonia 0.25ppm test in the evening.But done again 50% wc.Hope it's going better.


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## Tomas4 (26 Feb 2017)

Finally ammonia drop to 0ppm.Still done another wc.Can I feed fish?when I can turn on Co2 and use ferts?


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## three-fingers (26 Feb 2017)

Replied to PM - don't feed just quite yet, I would leave CO2 off for now until conditions have stabilised too.  

You can dose ferts if you want, I would just dose trace ferts for now to help the plants such up any excess ammonia. Keep doing 50% water changes for a couple of days at least still, they can only help! 

We want ammonia to be at 0ppm for at least a few days in a row before you can ease back off water changes.


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## Tomas4 (26 Feb 2017)

three-fingers said:


> Replied to PM - don't feed just quite yet, I would leave CO2 off for now until conditions have stabilised too.
> 
> You can dose ferts if you want, I would just dose trace ferts for now to help the plants such up any excess ammonia. Keep doing 50% water changes for a couple of days at least still, they can only help!
> 
> We want ammonia to be at 0ppm for at least a few days in a row before you can ease back off water changes.


Thanks for help.


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