Adding a canister filter and nitrite spikes.

Question
QUESTION: Hi Karen, last time we spoke I had lost some fish and started my tank system over! I've had my 55 gal brackish water tank running a little over two weeks (I currently have two mollies and an Archer)-I would not have gotten the archer so soon, however, I misread about adding fish and for some dumb reason I thought I could add fish that were within limits of the per gallon rule, however, rereading your previous comments and others, I realize I should have waited til the end of the cycling period before adding more fish other than the two mollies, but whats done is done. My salinity is at 1.05, roughly, I had a few nitrite spikes and the ammonia seems to keep teetoring a little, round .25ppms give or take, how ever I have been just running the course and have done two 25% water changes. The question I had was, is it bad to vaccum the gravel while doing water changes during the cycling period if I have high ammonia/nitrate issues?

The second question  I had was how should I impliment a canister filter in with my system. I've done research for suggested brackish/salt water filters and it seems canister filters come up on the top searches everytime. I ordered a Penn Plax Cascade canister filter, the 700 model and is rated for tank up to 65 gals. It comes with filters as well I ordered some carbon ones. Now, would it be ideal to impliment this new filter, maybe along with my current HOTT that came with my tank, in the midst of cycyling? My thought is, since the canister filter is new, the bio filters would have to develop bacteria and cycle in itself, correct? However implimenting this canister filter, which I am assuming is more effecient that my HOTT current one, would help clean my tank water more suffeciently, and help with the ammonia and nitrate spikes during the cyclin period as well as after. Should I keep the HOTT filter going while I let the canister filter adjust and cycle?

My last question is about my pH level. I've read up on the sea salt I am using, Oceanic, and it seems that it lacks as far as pushing the pH level up. I ordered a pH test kit, the ones I have will only read fresh water pH for what ever reason, anyhow, if the pH is lower and more acidic, would it be advised to add pH buffers? Or should I allow the tank to contiue to cycle more and wait it out?

Other than that so far all 3 fish seem healthy, active, eating well and I havent seen any signs of stress as of yet.

Thanks again Karen and hope to hear from you soon!

Paul J.
ANSWER: Hi Paul,
Brackish tanks are very unique setups and I have one that is very much an interesting conversation piece.

I think you must be getting along well in your tank cycling but I would be sure not to add anymore fish for now of course. I would continue with those vital water changes but I don't think I'd gravel vacumm just yet to be sure the bacteria have sufficiently colonized your gravel/sand bed or if you have to, lightly hovering the vacuum over the gravel should not harm the bacteria but still siphon up any dirty stuff on the bottom.

About the filters. It's actually better to overfilter your aquarium, of course you don't want a whirlpool affect for the sake of your fish but running both of your filters wont hurt and should help with your water quality, allowing more surface area in the filter media for more beneficial bacteria to colonize and thrive. So I'd run both filters on your tank during cycling and after. But if you want to run just one filter. You will be best off to wait until the aquarium fully cycles and make sure the filter to remain on the tank has plenty of established biological filter media before taking the other filter off. And it would be good to check your ammonia level after taking the old filter off as well.

Since your fish are currently doing very well, despite the tank cycling, I wouldn't bother with the pH right now. It's really best that fish are simply allowed to adapt to your source water's current pH and chemistry rather than try to adjust it, as doing so can cause harmful flucuations. Although I know there are exceptions to this. You probably wouldn't do well to keep brackish species like Archers in acidic soft water. But fortunately most tap water sources is usually reasonably hard and high in pH. For now, i'd go off of how well your fish are doing. And from what you described, they seem to be doing excellent in your aquarium/water chemistry. It doesn't hurt to know your pH level from time to time however and it's good you ordered the pH test kit. Just don't worry about pH too much. Clean and stable water including plenty of frequent water changes tends to be far more important to fish than having water that is a specific pH level.

It's good to hear everything is going well with your new brackish water tank! What other fish are planning on adding once the tank has cycled?

Hope this helps,
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well, I had vacuumed previous to sending my message and doing so is what made me question whether it was a good idea. I didn't do an extreme clean with the vacuuming, mostly collecting uneaten food and debris, this was yesterday, but I will withhold until my tank is cycled. The problem today is that my ammonia level has went up a little and is currently at .50 ppms from .25, nitrate is at 40 which has stayed consistent regardless of water changes, and my nitrite jumped up from .5 to .75, these readings are estimates in regards to my testing strips small range of color codes. So I followed through with yet another water change today with minimal changes in levels in regards to the ones noted above. I did notice one thing however once I put in new brackish water, my two Mollies acted itchy an rubbing on glass. My fist fear is parasites and poor water quality, however, I remember they acted the same way when I did a water change last week as well and the following day they seemed fine. I have a power head that I use in my tank, no filter or anything, I just use it to aerate the water and create a little current. When I feed the fish I turn it off, tonight I noticed once I turned the powerhead off for a while, the Mollies seemed to be not so irritated... Although one of the two Mollies, who is a male, still seems to rub against the aquarium glass more to the point it still catches my attention. Not as bad as before, but still noticeable.  The only thing I did different with todays water change was using an air stone to help mix the salt in my 5 gal buckets. My concern is what made them act this way and whether or not it was coincidence of my turning the powerhead off and the fish seemed a little less irritated or are they just adjusting to the changed water conditions, or worse, something is wrong with the quality of water. Again, I remember them acting somewhat the same last week too, but I just didn't think much of it because after the water change, my nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia levels seemed to be in good condition. Both times the archer fish seemed completely unaffected. Is this normal? The other thing I noticed as well, my level of salinity dropped from 1.05 to approx 1.03. I used the same amount of sea salt mix, however I think it has gotten moisture in the mix, I remember reading when this happens, 1 oz of sea salt mix for example may have water in it as well, so measuring just by ounces is not as accurate as measuring with a hydrometer, which I have one in my tank and usually use it to measure the newer water in the buckets.

So currently, aside from the readings, my fish still seem as healthy as before, eating, with he exception of the one Mollies. Is it possible that maybe the lack of sea salt could have dropped the pH and/or the salinity level and this is what could have caused discomfort to the Mollies? Is there something I should be watching for or change given to what I've done so far?

Aside from this, once my tank is cycled and things are stable I was hoping to find more interesting fish for my tank. I believe there are low, med, and high levels in regards to brackish water fish and I believe my archer is in the low range, 1.02-1.05, so I was kind of looking for fish to accommodate that level of salinity. Archers are neat to watch, mine has already impressed me by darting at food slowly sinking from a distance and practically jumping out of the water at times. I'd read as well to leave a couple inches open on the top of my aquarium and add live insects which could bring out more of his natural eating behavior. I have been searching for various types of brackish water fish that wont out grow my 55 gal tank too fast. So far I've had interests in Knight Gobies. I think the monos are neat fish, but am feared of how big they grow, I guess archers can get up in size as well. I really liked the puffer fish, but it don't seem they can be tank mates with a lot of fish, at least ones that are somewhat small in compared size. I was also considering to add driftwood and some sort of sand. Any suggestions of what types are safe and/or recommended? Brackish water seems to lack scavengers as well. However I notice the Mollies pick at things the gravel allot. Sorry this is so long, but hopefully you can give me some suggestions to apply to my current dilemma. Tanks in the cycling stage seem to be vary delicate...

Thank so much for your help and knowledge Karen!

Paul.

Answer
Hi Paul,
I think what you should be working on most right now is to get your aquarium cycled and get those harmful ammonia and nitrite levels lowered. Make sure to only feed your fish a tiny, tiny amount of food once a day for now. For their own sake it's better to let him have a tiny meal once a day and reduce the amount of ammonia being produced until the tank cycles when they can then have more frequent (but remember small) meals and have more variety.

It's great that you are doing partial water changes as this is the best way to combat ammonia problems. But be sure in your replacement water that your tap water doesn't contain ammonia. Surprisingly, when water companies add Chlorine -and- Chloramine and you use a water conditioner that neutralizes chlorine and Chloramine, that is good but what many water contioners do is break the Chloramine bond which releases ammonia into the water so when a water change is done you may be adding extra ammonia-laden water to your aquarium. The easiest way to combat this is to simply use a water conditioner that neutralizies both chlorine and Chloramine as well as Ammonia. Prime, Amquel, and Aquasafe are a few that do this.

Sometimes just one water change isn't enough when your ammonia spikes. That's why its good to re-test after a water change because if the ammonia is concentrated enough, just one water change may not lower it enough and another water change may have to be preformed. I know this means a ton of work for you since you have to mix the salt for a good while and have a big aquarium, so using ammonia neutralizers may be the best option for a case like this along with some water changes.

I think your mollies' itching and rubbing is all related to the water quality conditions. And hopefully by improving the ammonia and nitrite level that should solve the problem. A helpful thing to do when your fish behave odd after a water change is to test your tap water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and it may or may not be related to your mollies itching behavior.

Archerfish may be a little hardier or more tolerant of poor water conditions than mollies, but of course no fish can handle ammonia levels for too long. Mollies aren't as hardy as most sources say and sometimes can even be delicate! They are still lovely fish if well-cared for though.

I think you are doing a good job so far, just make sure you aren't overfeeding and try to help your ammonia and nitrite problems with larger water changes if you can and an ammonia neutralizer would be excellent. Remember to test your tap water also just in case.

About the driftwood, this may not be the best option since Driftwood always tends to lower your pH by releasing the tannins into your water. You might want to consider some of the very realistic-looking fake driftwood or fake roots that some larger chain petstores carry. Of course rocks and stones are a good decor choice as well.
Archer fish can be adaptable like most brackish water fish. And can do fine from a salinity of 1.010 or so. In nature, these fish tend to move from different varying salinity levels in their wild habitat. It is said that they can prosper in freshwater or even marine. But like with most all brackish fish they thrive best with some marine salt. Archerfish are very cool critters. Some people have tried to encourage the 'water spitting' technique by dangling a piece of their favorite food above the water surface and waiting with lots of patience until the archer finanally shoots it down. Archerfish are excellent in paludariums where twigs and sticks can be placed and insects (like crickets) can be placed on the twigs. This probably isn't a consideration for you at the moment but it's an very interesting idea otherwise!

Knight gobies are interesting little fish as well. I think a few would fit fine in your aquarium once established. They are territorial so each one should have his own cave and plenty of plants and decor. Otherwise keeping one would probably be fine also.

I currently have 6" long and still growing Dragon fish in my brackish tank, as well as many female sailfin mollies and a pair of Fiddler crabs. The male fiddler crab is very comical when he displays to the female, he sits perched atop a high area and waves his big-oversized claw back and forth despite his efforts, the female crab is never impressed!


There are several brackish water fish you may consider here is a link that gives a guide to setup and stocking levels according to tank size that I hope will be of some help-
"http://badmanstropicalfish.com/brackish/brackish.html"

Best wishes and I hope this helps!
Karen~