Question about overwintering fish in garage

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello
Looks to be still cycling
Not positive but at that temp the bb might take longer to grow and cycle or it might not ever truly cycle.
I would.do a 25 % water change and keep the ammonia and nitrates down the nitrates at those levels will not harm your fish.
And test again and see where things are.
I would feed a lot less may be once a week and just a little.

How do the fish look/doing ?

Ruben

 

[Nanner]

Thanks for the info. ...

Fish all look happy and healthy....moving around the tank ....they hunker down in my fake weeds or go under the lid sife when I get close.

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello
Well can you see them good enough to see if they are breathing hard
Gills opening and closing rapidly ?
How's there color ?
Fins showing signs of ragged edges ?

Ruben

 

[Nanner]

No apparent stress from what I'm seeing. ..none of the above issues you stated but will keep an eye for those things...thanks

 

[Nanner]

Cold finally hit this week and the little heater couldn't keep up enough to try and let it cycle quicker . so pulled the heater and water temp is now down to 42.

Now its time to let them chill till spring .

Test my water today..
ammonia is 0
Nitrites are 3.0 to 4.0
Nitrates are around 5

Unless someone recommends me not to I'm planning to do a 20 gallon water change tomorrow . have 4 - 5 gallon buckets filled and cooling to similar water temp in garage .

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Is that Nitrite level correct? At that level your fish should be exhibiting very noticeable signs of stress. If indeed it is correct then , as much as I do not generally endorse water changes, this is one of the times that it is necessary. An effort should be made to reduce the measurable Nitrite level to less than 0.50.
Typically the addition of salt is the usual means of reducing the toxicity of high Nitrite, but going into Winter, I would not advise this method.
Every effort should be made to quickly determine the reason behind this current high Nitrite level.

 

[Nanner]

Unfortunately I believe it is the correct reading....I'll retest in the morning. I stopped feeding them 11 days ago.. so not sure what might be the cause of spike. Pulled the heater 2 days ago would that be a link to anything? I was thinking it might be spiking as part of the cycle of the tank. Now with the temps dropping in the low 40s I figure the cycle won't complete so that is why I am doing the water change. Could the driftwood i brought over from the pond be causing the nitrite spike? It has and still has some healthy string algae on it. The fish do not appear to be stressed or showing any signs . they have slowed movements a lot but thought that more due to temps. they don't seem to be laboring or any outward negative apperance.

Thanks for the reply...

 

[Nanner]

20% water change tommorrow ..then another one 2 days later of 20%. does that sound right? keep that up tI'll it drops or should I go with a higher percentage of water?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Unfortunately I believe it is the correct reading....I'll retest in the morning. I stopped feeding them 11 days ago.. so not sure what might be the cause of spike. Pulled the heater 2 days ago would that be a link to anything? I was thinking it might be spiking as part of the cycle of the tank. Now with the temps dropping in the low 40s I figure the cycle won't complete so that is why I am doing the water change. Could the driftwood i brought over from the pond be causing the nitrite spike? It has and still has some healthy string algae on it. The fish do not appear to be stressed or showing any signs . they have slowed movements a lot but thought that more due to temps. they don't seem to be laboring or any outward negative apperance.

Thanks for the reply...

Based on your previous postings, this tank has been cycling about 4 weeks. This Nitrite reading is likely due to the cycle taking longer due to the low temperatures. I would perform a water change, however, to reduce that Nitrite level.
What had me confused was the NitrAte level of 5.0, but looking back at your previous post this is evidently a background level that was already extant. Usually no NitrAte levels of any real significance are detected until the final stages of a biofilters cycling.
This NitrAte level of 5.0 is not harmful in any way.

 

[Nanner]

Thanks Meyer... you arw a wealth of knowledge!

 

[Nanner]

Checked parameters about an hour ago...

.0 ammonia
Nitrite guessing around 2.00 (man those purple shades are hard for me to tell apart)
Nitrates around 5.0

Did the water change. ..20 gallons...water temp was 42 in stock tank and buckets.

Fish seem active and and doing well. Hunkered down in fake plants and popping out and about with me messing in the tank. Watched them for a while see no heath issues with them.


Should I check my parameters immediately after water change (now)or wait til tomorrow for the filter to mix the water more?

Thanks

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Tomorrow should be OK. Do you think that the Nitrite level could have been possibly 2.0 in your earlier testing? 2.0 is considered high,but not necessarily lethal for Carp (Koi) and.or Goldfish. I would attempt to get it down to no more than 1.0.

 

[Nanner]

It could have been...I viewed the test in the garage last night not the best light (high florescent lamps) ...tested today and brought inside under better lighting. So very possible.

Thanks for your help and input.

I'll test in the morning and have another 20 gallons of well water chilling in the garage if I need to change another 20 gallons.

 

[Nanner]

What's best light to view test results? I started putting a piece of white paper behind it to try and get a better definition of color. I have no trouble differentiating with the ammonia and nitrate colors but the purple on those nitrite levels . I really seem to struggle.maybe just my eyes

 

[MitchM]

What's best light to view test results? I started putting a piece of white paper behind it to try and get a better definition of color. I have no trouble differentiating with the ammonia and nitrate colors but the purple on those nitrite levels . I really seem to struggle.maybe just my eyes

I'll use a white background as well.
The actual number isn't as important as any trend that you can detect. (Unless the number is really bad)
Our hobby test kits are approximations, in my opinion. It's still a valuable procedure to go through though.
Get to learn how your fish behave and how algae grows, when compared to the numbers from your tests.

.