Help please

[Camcrick18]

Hi guys

First of all I've got a 70 litre max nano. It has cycled for over 23 days and has dropped to 0 ammonia -0 Nitrite -25 nitrate about 3 days ago so I decided to do a full waterchange and add one fish and 7 clean up crew. 2 nass snails 2 trochus snails 2 rock hermit crabs and 1 cleaner shrimp. However since the day it hit 0 and I completed a water change the ammonia has been slowly rising again. Yet no food was added for the fish. This ammonia keeps rising and a screenshot of my seneye is attached. Please help me. I can not take the fish back due to being in new years day tomorrow so most places closed. So anything else will be great. Thank you

 

[Uncle99]

Just do water changes, that will send the ammonia lower

 

[Camcrick18]

Okay and shall I take the fish back on the second or leave them. I only have the royal gramma

 

[Justanano]

What do you mean a full water change? You took out all of the water?

 

[Camcrick18]

Yea pretty much did a 90%

 

[Camcrick18]

Yea about a 95%. Was told this is the best way to do it so you do not need to worry about any nitrate

 

[living_tribunal]

Yea pretty much did a 90%

Well you shouldn’t remove the bacteria pop you just grew! Just add some bacteria and you’ll be good to go. Any vendor will suffice.

 

[living_tribunal]

Also, what substrate do you have for the bacteria to live on?

 

[Camcrick18]

I have fine sand and about 15lbs of real reef rock

 

[living_tribunal]

I have fine sand and about 15lbs of real reef rock

Were you clearing 1ppm ammonia/nitrite in a single day? That’s the sweet spot to get started for 1 fish.

Just add some bacteria and that ammonia will clear up almost immediately. Definitely don’t return the fish.

 

[Camcrick18]

Okay perfect. Thank you very much. I've had freshwater and cycling went so smoothly but I used red sea starter mature set and seemed to complicate it a bit

 

[mayday0237]

I have fine sand and about 15lbs of real reef rock

Dose with bacteria, seed is pretty good. Dr. Ts stuff is also good. Don't do such a big water change ever again.... No more than half ever it takes out too much of the good stuff.

 

[Uncle99]

Theres not much bacteria in your water, rather, bacteria populates your hard surfaces like LR, substrate, glass.......
Changing 100% of your water would not impact your bacteria count much, but might be a bit extreme,
10-20% every other day just until ammonia zeroes out...then weekly or twice a month would be fine.

keep in mind, that when you added livestock, you added ammonia makers, your bacteria population needs time to catch up.

 

[Camcrick18]

Thank you. Illgraba bottle of bacteria tomorrow and then do every other day water changes

 

[living_tribunal]

Okay perfect. Thank you very much. I've had freshwater and cycling went so smoothly but I used red sea starter mature set and seemed to complicate it a bit

Don’t make it harder than it has to be. Just add bacteria, and dose ammonium chloride. Once you’re clearing 1ppm ammonia and nitrite a day, you’re good to go. If you have 25ppm nitrate then you’ve added too much of an ammonia source.

 

[living_tribunal]

Thank you. Illgraba bottle of bacteria tomorrow and then do every other day water changes

You don’t need to do every other day water changes. Once you’ve cycled, a 20-50% wc will be fine. I don’t even change it sometimes.

 

[Camcrick18]

However I have fish in so need to not allow it to become toxic

 

[living_tribunal]

However I have fish in so need to not allow it to become toxic

What are the ammonia levels? They are fine unless they are a over .25.

Bacteria will clear that ammonia out immediately.

 

[Camcrick18]

My free ammonia is currently at 0
. 035

 

[living_tribunal]

My free ammonia is currently at 0
. 035

Then you’re fine. There will always be very minor amounts of ammonia. What test kit are you using?