Ammonia in my cycled tank

[Crystal]

I had cycled my tnak, and then after a few days of 0 Ammonia/0 nitrite readings, I have between a 0 and .25 ammonia reading! I have three Black Phantom tetras which all are doing really great, so I don't want to cause them any problems.
What can I do? I just did a water change for them, so i am hoping that will help.

*edit* after reading the new tank syndrome, I hope the power outage that we had a couple tines did not kill off my benificial bacteria. The first 2 were only a couple minutes, but the thirs was a while, and the most recent one was niot too long.

 

[wuvmybetta]

If it was for no longer than an hour,I doubt it killed your entire bio-filter. Do you use amquel or any ammonia locking chemicals? They can alter your readings dramatically. Also check for anything...dead and hidden.

 

[guppymonkey]

How long was the power outage? Even a few hours can hurt your bacteria, especially with a new tank.

I wouldn't worry too much as long as you do water changes. If there are only three fish a little ammonia shouldn't hurt them too bad. The ammonia levels shouldn't rise very quickly, which wouldn't be the case if the tank was overstocked.

 

[Crystal]

wuv: there is nothing dead, no uneaten food. I don't like using any chemicals that are not necessary. I use Prime as my conditioner since our tap water has ammonia in it, and I let it sit for 24 hours before adding the water into my tank. I hope my new little guys will be okay, i love their personalities so much!
The power outage was at least an hour to two hours, I could not tell, since nothing was working and i could not find my watch.

How often should I change the water? 10% every day? I am so upset this is happening, since I waited so patiently and fishless cycled it first.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I'd change 30% daily if I were you just to be on the safe side, doing less doesn't have a drastic effect on the levels. It certainly won't do any harm.

I have no idea why you would have ammonia with only 3 tetra in a 40l. Perhaps it is the power outage, although I wouldn'thave thought it possible. I have had powercuts for 4 hours before and my levels were fine. The only thing I can think is that my tanks are mature and perhaps have more beneficial bacteria than yours and although some were killed off there was enough remaining to cover it.

Hope everything is ok.

 

[Crystal]

Thank you C.S.
I have no idea what happened either, I thought I had done everything right when I cycled it.
I hope my little guys will be okay, I have the water ready for tomorrow's change, so I'll keep up with a lot of changes to help the poor little guys.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Crystal~
Prime is the worst at messing up your readings. If you'll notice it will only show ammonia readings for 24-48 hours after a water change. After that everything should test fine until your next water change and testing.

Are you testing your water before or after a water change?

 

[Crystal]

I had a bit before my change, and it showed more after.
What else can use for water treatment? My aqua plus stuff did not really do much.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Prime is great stuff. It's just giving you false readings. Do your water change and then wait 3 days before testing. You won't/shouldn't get an ammonia reading then.

Of course this is hard to judge if you do frequent water changes often. As long as your fish seem well and not stressed,I would assume the readings are false,because of the Prime.

 

[Crystal]

So if my readings are off, does that mean there is no ammonia and my fish are okay?

 

[wuvmybetta]

Yup

I've been through the same thing with Prime. I couldn't figure out why I was getting ammonia readings in a tank that was well established with no new additions. So I'd test before a wc = 0 ammonia. After a wc =ammonia .Tested the tap...0 ammonia. Tested the tap with Prime,ammonia out the roof! =BINGO!

 

[Crystal]

I tested before the wc, I had a tiny bit, barley over 0, tap water has .50 ammonia in it, and after 24 hours in the bucket with prime, 0 ammonia.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Ammonia in your tap isn't a good thing either. I went through a battle with that last year. Letting it sit the way you have been is the best thing you can do. That or running it through a cycled filter overnight.

I still wouldn't worry too much about your tanks readings. It's very mildly stocked and even if a large amount of your bacteria colony died off,it should rejuvenate quick enough. Do you have any bacteria in a bottle handy?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Bloody products!!

I'm glad it's been sorted out though, it's horrble when you get bad readings and you don't know why.