Tank levels??

I just got my new newt tank set up and I have the filter cycling. I'm going to take a sample of the water to petsmart tomorrow and I was wondering what the levels for everything should be at?

pH - anywhere from 6.0 - 8.0 is OK
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate <40

Those are levels for a cycled tank - if yours is still in the process, you might have some ammonia or nitrite. Don't let them talk you into buying products you don't need. It's unlikely that you need to adjust the pH, and it's better not to "treat" for ammonia, if you have any.

What do you mean by "it's better not to "treat" for ammonia"? If the ammonias too high (which It shouldn't be since I don't have any critters living in there yet) how are you supposed to lower it? It is just a simple tank cleaning? I'm just curious, I don't see ammonia levels being a problem since it is filtered. Thanks for the quick reply by the way

"not to treat it" means not to use any chemicals - such as the ones sold at pet shops which supposedly lower ammonia. Those things, like ammo-block or whatever they are called, are useless at best and harmful at worst, despite what they may say at the pet shop

However, high ammonia is dangerous to the animals, so you have to act on it. Best remedy is to do frequent water changes of at least 50% or so until the ammonia stabilizes.

Don't "clean" the tank by scrubbing any decorations or such. You want beneficial bacteria to colonize those surfaces so they can begin to break down ammonia

In a new tank, ammonia will go up even if the water is filtered - that's because a filter has to first be colonized by those beneficial bacteria before it can do its job. That's what we call "cycling" the tank. It can take up to a couple months, but can be shorter if you can include some filter material or decorations from a previously established tank.

also, unless you have soil or lots of plants in your tank, your cycling process will not really begin until you introduce animals which in turn introduce ammonia - through their pee and poop -and thereby get the bacteria colonies going.

Interesting. So I'm using a filter that I had on the tank they were in before I moved. It's been in storage for about a month. Would the time in storage have killed the bacteria that had established itself in the filter? I've also thrown in some rocks, fake plants, and a decoration that were in their original tank (In the hopes of establishing those little bacteria you were talking about.) When do you think would be a good time to put them in their new tank?

Yes, the bacteria in the filter are definitely long gone and dead. They don´t survive desiccation.
Bare in mind that in order for the tank to cycle, you do need a source of ammonia, otherwise there can be no cycling, no matter how many materials from an stablished tank you put in.
Cycling usually takes about a month, but if you jump start it with colonized materials, it could be half that time. It´s difficult to tell a specific time.

ok. I might go buy some guppies then, I wanted to put the two in the same tank eventually anyways in hopes that the guppy babies might make a good food source for my newts. Though I might have to wait on that, I woke up this morning and there are bubbles everywhere! I'm not sure if its because of the fall of water (about 3 inches), or if there's something in my water (which is also murky looking). I'm not really sure what's going on. Do you newt enthusiasts have any idea?

I did a little research and discovered that it could be because I didn't rinse the carbon filter first, but I don't think it would cause the amount of bubbles I'm getting. (at least and inch and a half of bubbles)

I'm SOOOO glad I decided to put fish in the tank first. I went and bought 6 guppies and put them in the tank, and an hour later they were all dead. And this was after the water test came out clean..... do you guys have any idea what's going on?

oi...this is mysterious...there could be lots of reasons the guppies died apart from ammonia levels. Check the following for starters:

- if water conditions at the pet shop were completely different (eg high ammonia or at the pet shop etc) the guppies could have died of shock or a failure to adjust
- have you treated the water to remove chlorine and chloramine?
- the bubbles...I don't know but it looks like an overabundance of a gas maybe? If CO2 levels were dangerously high for some reason, the pH would also be very acidic. Do you have a pH kit?
- make sure there's nothing in the tank that could leach dangerous chemicals into the water, and that there's no residue of any cleaning chemicals or any such that got into he water
- check your filter so make sure there isn't anything foul and stinky going on in there.
- I'd suggest getting your own test kits for the nitrogen cycle as well as hardness, alkalinity and pH - one never knows if they do a good job testing at the store

That's just the thing. Went I went to the pet store to get the fish I gave them a sample of my water so they could run a chemical test on it. Here are my results:
ammonia: 0 (Normal 0-.25)
Nitrite: 0 (normal 0-0.5)
Nitrate: 0 (normal 0-40)
pH: 8.4 (normal 6.5-8.4)
Alkalinity: 180 (normal 80-300)
Hardness: 150 (normal 75-300)
chlorine and chiloramina: 0 (normal 0)

so everything tested within the right levels.

I did treat my water with a chemical chlorine dissipater, but I've always used it and have never had any problems before. I checked the filter thinking that there could be something fishy ( get it "fishy" ) going on in there to cause the bubbles. Just to be safe I changed the charcoal filter pad. The only thing I can think of is that I just put a great stuff foam crawl out space in the tank and used a 100% latex paint (which I was told is ok for tanks), I then attached it using aquarium safe silicone. I let the foam dry for 5 days, the paint for 4, and the silicone 2 (recommended cure time printed on the bottle). The research I've done has said that if I give everything plenty of time to cure that none of these products would leak chemicals into the tank. That's the only thing I can figure out that could have gone wrong. Just to be safe I've pulled all my foam from the tank. I've scrubbed the dickens out of it with cleaner, and rinsed the tank with scolding hot water several times. If my next batch of fish die I don't know what I'm going to do.

yeah...I admit I have no idea what would cause all that bubbling. My hunch would be s.th. about the latex paint, but I don't know. If I were you, I'd do the same: strip down and start over. The great stuff foam thingy is nice, maybe, bu not necessary to give your newts a nice habitat. a humble rock island or floating cork bark would do the trick as well...

And the plot thickens.... I just went back to the pet store and did a sample re-test of my water. I brought the fish in hoping for a COD; she said it was caused by high levels of ammonia.
Right after fish died:
ph....8.2
chlorine and chloramine....0
ammonia ....1.0.... ???? WHAT?
Nitrite...0.0
nitrate...10
hardness....150
alkalinity....180

keep in mind that I changed nothing between this water test and the one posted above besides putting fish in the tank.


after stripping my tank, cleaning, and setting it back up:
ph...8.2
chlorine and chloramine...0
ammonia...1.0 (still a mystery to me)
nitrite....0
nitrate....0
hardness.... 300 (high by 50)
alkalinity....180

So I bought an ammonia reader for the tank but it won't be able to give me an accurate reading for another couple hours. The pet store attendant didn't even know what to think of this odd turn of events. She told me to do a water change, but the tap water is where the ammonia is coming from. I know I was told not to get ammonia remover but I bought a small bottle of it just incase.
thoughts??

Molch said:

yeah...I admit I have no idea what would cause all that bubbling. My hunch would be s.th. about the latex paint, but I don't know. If I were you, I'd do the same: strip down and start over. The great stuff foam thingy is nice, maybe, bu not necessary to give your newts a nice habitat. a humble rock island or floating cork bark would do the trick as well...

Click to expand...

I was so excited to have a fancy looking tank, I'm so disappointed that it's not going to work like I wanted. I'm just going to cut my losses and use one of my old log tank ornaments.

I don't know either where the ammonia comes from if you do not have any critters in there.

By any chance, did you use any silicone other than aquarium-rated silicone? Because some types of silicone from the hardware store are based on ammonia rather than vinegar...

also, Ammonia toxicity increases with pH, so at high pH like yours ammonia is esp. toxic. That could very well have done in the guppies...
..it might be a good idea to also test your water as it comes straight from the pipe. Nitrates and ammonia in tab water are not entirely unheard of...

..and I would get my own test kit if I were you...that way, you don't have to rely on whoever might mess it up at the pet store, and as your tank cycles you'll want to take regular readings anyways. I like the API freshwater master test kit : it ain't dirt-cheap, but it's reliable and will last a long time.

don't despair; sometimes poop happens and setting up a new tank is always an adventure. Just start over with traditional ornaments and you'll get there eventually. :frog:

another thought: could you have old decaying stuff in your filter, since you had it in storage for a month?

I once had a bunch of blackworms crawl into a sponge filter. When I stored it dry, they just dessicated in there and I didn't notice. Then I put it back in the water and...phooooeyy!

I don't think o. I changed the filter out and washed the filter canaster.

took some more tests. ammonia dropped on its own from 1 to .25 I added some of the ammonia killer and that brought it down to 0. I bought a few fish to add to the tank. I figure they're my guinea pigs for now. Though I really hope they make it they have some pretty neat colors.

going on 4 hours and the guppies seem to be doing fine, everyones active and there is no gill gasping. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they make it until morning.