Cycle Crashed

[KimD0709]

Hi, I have a 18 month old hexagon aquarium with tropical fish. I treated it with Lifeguard over a month ago due to fin rot. Since that time, my cycle has crashed. The ammonia readings are off the charts high. Even doing a 50% water change still results in an ammonia reading of 1-2. I’ve lost fish due to this and am really trying to do what I can to put a stop to it. I have vacuumed the gravel often to clean up waste. I’ve cut back on feedings. I tested my tap water and it has zero ammonia. What do I do? I don’t want anyone else to die, but even doing huge water changes isn’t helping.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Fin Rot is caused by poor water quality and a dirty tank that allows bacteria to infect the fish and do damage to them.

The best way to treat it is by doing water changes and cleaning the tank up.

If your filter has crashed, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0.

Reduce feeding to twice a week and do a 75% water change 4-8 hours after feeding.

In a few weeks the filters will recover and you can reduce the water changes and increase feeding.