Ammonia Is High!

[Rorie]

Planted tank, carpet base. Normally just change water as the corys and plants sort out the waste fine.

Just added 6 discus. 4, then 2 days later another 2. i have two mature filters running in this tank, so the shock shouldnt have been that bad. But doing 30-50% water change each day just to make sure.

Today i have 0.5 reading for ammonia! I assume its waste sitting in the substrate from the discus? But i cant get to it to clean! Will more corys, a plec, or anything else help? I know some will say "just clean it" which i do every now and again, but its getting more and more tricky now that the substrate is covered in grass!!

Help please!

 

[StandbySetting]

Just give it a few days, the filter will catch up quickly enough, just carry on with the water changes.

 

[Rorie]

Just give it a few days, the filter will catch up quickly enough, just carry on with the water changes.

But I have 2 filters so I am really surprised!!

But u think it's ok not to clean the substrate under plants? Corys and plec Gould help, right?

 

[ian]

nothing eats fish waste...

6 Discus is a lot of bioload to add over 3 days, your filter is gonna have to develop more bacteria, as above, continue with water changes.

 

[Rorie]

I must be missinderstansing then... Why are corys and plecs good? Is it just waste food they eat?

 

[StandbySetting]

I must be missinderstansing then... Why are corys and plecs good? Is it just waste food they eat?

You could have the biggest filter in the world and it would make no difference, it's all about the size of the bacterial colony.
Cory's are no good, they just eat normal fish food and Plecs eat algae, shrimp will eat little detritus, but to get rid of detritus the best thing to do is improve circulation amongst your carpeted plant.

 

[Shaman]

Some plecs and cories eat some types if algae.

IIRC the only thing that I know that eats fish waste are Malaysian trumpet snails.

 

[Rorie]

I have quite a lot of flow from the two filters. What happens when the filters are able to deal with that amount of ammonia...will the waste disintegrate and go away with time or do I need to start removing the waste? I cannot really have any more flow because of the discus!

 

[StandbySetting]

It wont go away on its own, you can easily increase flow with a Koralia, they don't blow fish about like standard power heads do.

 

[PDSimon]

are you dosing something?

 

[coldcazzie]

the filters remove the ammonia which is a product of the waste breaking down but they wont remove the actual waste itself, especially if it's all stuck up in your carpeting plants. If there was nothing in the way then it might be possible to blow the waste to the filter inlet and catch it in the mechanical filtration part of your filters, but they'd need a heck of a lot of cleaning, and that isn't possible with a carpet like the one you have. I know it'll be tricky but try to get as much of it up as you can each time you change the water. And keep up with your large water changes. Maybe even up them from 50% to 70%, or larger. I know it's a big tank so it's a pain, but it's better than all that money on discus going down the drain because of ammonia poisoning! I wouldn't have added the extra discus yet, I'd have waited until next week before adding them, but it's a little late now so multiple large water chagnes it is until the filter catches up.

 

[Rorie]

The waste breaks down and causes the ammonia. Previously in my small aquarium
I would Hoover up excess waste to remove the excess ammonia? So if I leave the waste in, and it beaks down causing ammonia, am
I right in saying my filter will eventually adapt to the excess ammonia that is causes from the waste not being removed?

I understand the process, but confused with what happens If I don't remove the waste... Just more ammonia? Which my filter will, with time, be able to deal with? If so, why do we bother hoovering aquariums?

Will the waste totally break down eventually, or will
It always leave remains?

I just sold my 4000l/h pump as it was just way to
Much for discus!

 

[fluttermoth]

The waste breaks down and causes the ammonia. Previously in my small aquarium
I would Hoover up excess waste to remove the excess ammonia? So if I leave the waste in, and it beaks down causing ammonia, am
I right in saying my filter will eventually adapt to the excess ammonia that is causes from the waste not being removed?

Yes, it will.

I understand the process, but confused with what happens If I don't remove the waste... Just more ammonia? Which my filter will, with time, be able to deal with? If so, why do we bother hoovering aquariums?

It will eventually have broken down enough to stop producing ammonia. The reason we hoover it out is because it's good practice not to leave rotting stuff mouldering away in your tank and because it looks horrible, but there's technically no reason not to leave it. I read in PFK many years ago someone (I'm fairly sure it was Mary Bailey, though I could be wrong) saying that for breeding delicate, wild caught dwarf cichlids, they did a lot of water changes but never, ever hoovered the substrate so as not to disturb spawning fish or fry and also to ensure a lot of microorganisms for the fry to eat.

Will the waste totally break down eventually, or will
It always leave remains?

I guess it would break down completely and be used up by plants in the end, but by that time you'd have a load more! I think aquariums are probably really too small to run completely self-contained eco-systems, although there is the 'Walsted method' which claims to do something along those lines, but it's not something I know much about; I'm happy hoovering and water changing (I like doing water changes, lol)

 

[Rorie]

i didnt mind the hoovering before, but my carpet is so delicate! I really dont like disturbing it!

I guess as the waste falls under my carpets leafs, you cant see it....and i am sure my carpet, being so heavily planted, will absorb some of that ammonia....

I will keep on with my water changes until the ammonia stops creeping up...then i'll see how i get on with the no hoovering approach!

Thanks for your help folks

 

[coldcazzie]

Yeah.

If you wanted to increase flow slightly, you could go for a much smaller wavemaker: one in the region of 1000l/h instead of 4000!

But yes, eventually the filter will adapt to the higher levels of ammonia. And as you say, once it's in the carpet it's harder to see.