RE: Newbie....think I made a mess....fish just don't know it yet. ...

["Liptrot, Pete" <pete.liptrot@bolton.gov.uk>]

 I know I'm a bit late on this but I wanted to add my bit to all the support
that has been given.
my nitrates are the highest ever the top of the 
scale on my dry tab test kit. 
I am a bit puzzled by the high levels of Nitrate you are finding. Check the
levels in your tap water. Nitrate itself shouldn't really start to
accumulate until both the Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter are established, and
at the moment it sounds like the filter system is still maturing.
I've also added nitra-zorb to take care of nitrites,       ammonia, and
nitrates and I've added phos-zorb to 
the other chamber to hopefully take care of the algae bloom.   
Personally I would remove this as it will possibly further delay the
maturation of the bacterial colonies. They require the presence of
sufficient nutrients to develop (in this case the Ammonia and Nitrite) to
the point where they can safely deal with the demand placed on them. I do
know of people who have tried to rely on zeolitic ammonia removers etc. to
run their system only to have to go through the tank maturation process when
the resin becomes exhausted, by which time they have had a full complement
of fish.
I am using an Emporer filter which is rated at 400gph. 
This should be more than sufficient to run the 55 galls once established. As
other people have said get hold of some quality bacterial starter fluid or a
starter culture from someone else's tank.
Finally, see if there is a society in your area, and if there is join it.
Society membership has probably been my best source of advice and knowledge,
and in a problem like this you would probably have found someone willing to
hold your fish for you until things stabilized.  
Pete.



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