Ammonia Problem

[seanyt66]

Hi

I just finished a fishless cycle (3rd ive done). when the ammonia and nitrite levels dropped to zero i added more ammonia and let the levels drop back to zero whick took no time at all - i then did a big water change and let the tank run for a couple of days.

I then planted the tank and introduced my blue lobster who the tank was set up for, the next day i tested the water and the ammonia was 0.5 and nitrite 0. I then did another fairly big water change and tested the water a couple of hours later and the ammonia had gone. But the next day it was back to 0.5 and nitrite still 0.

The tank is a Clearseal 30x12x15 (88 litres) and the filter is a fluval 2.

Could it be that the bioload is too much for the filter even though there is only one blue lobster in the tank? the lobster is still quite small, only about 3 inches long.

Any advice would be much apprieciated.

P.s. i ran zeolite in the filter for a day to see if i could get rid of excess ammonia but it doesn't seem to have worked.

Regards


Sean

 

[seanyt66]

Bump

 

[Spooky76]

Maybe you didnt put enough pure ammonia in ? Not sure but its cycling anyway now. I cant believe the load is too much for a fluval 2. All you can do now is keep up the water changes and check the stats twice a day. ive never dealt with lobsters before but I cant think a fish that size gives off too much ammonia.

Just feed as little as you think you can get away with, and keep up with the water changes. I never had much joy with zeolite in my filter either, maybe dont run it and just get some more media in the filter ?

just another thought, your not using strips to test the water are you ? Ive heard they can be unreliable too. If you can, 2/3 small changes a day until you dont get ammonia or nitrite should do the trick.

Good luck.

 

[seanyt66]

Thanks Spooky

The ammonia problem seems to be getting worse! i cant understand it - the tank was definately cycled, the bacteria are processing the ammonia as i had a build up of nitrite when the ammonia levels were high then both dropped back to zero! its almost as if the lobster is producing more ammonia than the bacteria can handle.

regards

Sean

 

[Squid]

i then did a big water change and let the tank run for a couple of days.

I think this is your problem right here. It is my understanding (and the way I did mine) that following the large water change needed to reduce the nitrates at the end of a fishless cycle, you need to add the livestock within 12-24 hours. The bacterial colony is really still in the early days, and with no ammoia source the bacteria can die off a bit.

Good Luck
Squid