# Something went wrong, very wrong.....



## justjulie (Aug 16, 2010)

I've been doing planted tanks for only about four months now, so I'm still on the steep part of the learning curve. 

One of my tanks has some serious ammonia/nitrite/nitrate problems. We started it three weeks ago with new Eco-Complete, new filter, and not enough plants. We had high ammonia (1.0 ppm) so we added more plants and did a near-complete water change before we added fish (only two for now). Our Ammonia has stabilized at .50 ppm which is still too high for my liking but the fish are still alive. A week ago we decided to try adding ferts to three of our tanks. I did 1/2 tsp. Osmocote Plus in ice cubes. 

I don't know if the fert is the reason for my problems because two of the three tanks are doing just fine--no measurable difference in Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate readings. Also, I had not tested the 20 gal for Nitrite/ate before adding the ferts so I don't have a "before" reading to compare it to. I had buried the ice cubes very deep (we have 3" of Eco-Complete and they went all the way to the bottom). I don't see any little balls that might have traveled to the surface.

The tank with problems is a 20-gal high. The .50 ppm Ammonia has been stable for this last week. Nitrite has ranged from 1.0 ppm to 5.0 ppm. Nitrate has ranged fcrom 5.0 ppm to 10 ppm. We've done three partial water changes (20%-30% each).

WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG????? I'm really quite frustrated.

Any ideas on where I went wrong? And most importantly, any ideas on how to fix this? I read in another thread the idea to emmerse willow branches to suck up extra nutrients and I've considered that. My concern with that is that I live in a cold area and all the trees are going dormant right now--will the branches work the same?

I appreciate your help!

Julie


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## darkoon (Jun 7, 2010)

I would say slow down, do one thing at a time. 3 weeks might not be enough to completely cycle your tank, and the near-complete water change you did could have removed most of the beneficial bacteria that was generated. wait until it is completely cycled, that is 0 amonia and 0 nitrite, then you can start adding fish, plants and fert.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Water changes do not remove the nitrifying bacteria. These bacteria cling to surfaces in the filter and in the tank in what is called a biofilm. You scrub them away, or throw away the filter media, or kill them with chlorine, but you are not getting rid of them with a simple water change .

Keep up the water changes to keep the ammonia under .25 ppm, and the nitrite under 1 ppm. This will call for a lot of water changes.

You can add the bacteria your tanks are lacking. Look for a product that contains _Nitrospiros sp_ bacteria. Do not waste your money on anything else.

Add more plants, and perhaps increase the light a bit. Thriving plants will use the most nitrogen (in any form). Add CO2 for the plants (Excel is OK, too). If the plants are so dense you cannot see the back of the tank then there are enough plants to deal with a reasonable level of fish. The new plants will usually also have beneficial bacteria on their leaves, stems and roots.


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## potatoes (Jun 25, 2010)

I agree that the tank is not cycled. The bacteria attach to every surface in the tank that gets sufficent water flow. If you have other tanks or friends with tanks, you can add filter media, gravel, or ornimants from their esablished tanks, and they will suppy some more bacteria. Also, more plants are always good


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## jho0101 (Oct 8, 2010)

keep in mind that if you go to your LFS they usually keep the bacteria in the refrigerator. remember the nitrogen cycle. start at the ammonia, the bact eats it and make nitrite, the other bact eats nitrate and makes end product nitrate. if you have ammonia after the cycle is estabished it could be too much food, fish waste or decaying matter. also when you finally clean your filter on clean half to keep the biological filter going.


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## ray-the-pilot (May 14, 2008)

justjulie said:


> One of my tanks has some serious ammonia/nitrite/nitrate problems. We started it three weeks ago with new Eco-Complete, new filter, and not enough plants. We had high ammonia (1.0 ppm) so we added more plants and did a near-complete water change before we added fish (only two for now). Our Ammonia has stabilized at .50 ppm which is still too high for my liking but the fish are still alive. A week ago we decided to try adding ferts to three of our tanks. I did 1/2 tsp. Osmocote Plus in ice cubes.
> 
> I don't know if the fert is the reason for my problems because two of the three tanks are doing just fine--no measurable difference in Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate readings. Also, I had not tested the 20 gal for Nitrite/ate before adding the ferts so I don't have a "before" reading to compare it to. I had buried the ice cubes very deep (we have 3" of Eco-Complete and they went all the way to the bottom). I don't see any little balls that might have traveled to the surface.
> 
> ...


I don't know about Osmocote Plus. As far as I know I only use this for fertilizing my potted plants. It is not suitable for aquarium plants because it contains ammonia and other chemicals that break down to ammonia.

My feeling is that the primary thing that you are doing wrong in not following a plan. My suggestion is to read up on EI and follow the directions exactly.

Your NO3- is not bad at all but NH3 should be 0. My feeling is that you will shortly have an algae bloom and NH3 and NO2- will go to zero.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Can you get some high nutrient sucking plants? Fast growers like wisteria, Najas "Roraima", hornwort, etc. They will use the ammonia in any phase. Just stuff your tank with them and do water changes. You can also use Seachem Prime to neutralize the ammonia. There are directions on the bottle for doing that.

You added ferts and fish which increased your already too high ammonia levels into a tank that wasn't cycled yet.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

wasn't there something with eco complete that niko mentioned that caused the water params to go haywire???
well you could try ammo chips but it might only lower it a bit...after all its zeolite and will soften you water.
i'm lucky because i NEVER cycle my tanks. i just throw everything together and it always works for me, but now when i finally got test kits, my water params are suitable except for high phosphates from trying to get rid of GSA and low nitrates from not dosing nitrogen ferts.
if you add more fast growing plants they should suck up the ammonia, problem is, to let them grow fast you need to keep up with other nutrients, light, and co2.


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