Ammonia Rise

[steve_b21]

Ammonia is .25
Nitrite is 0
 
Tank has been running for about 2 years with 2 widow tetra’s.
 
I added live plants to it and had a full water change on Friday last week.
 
Put the 2 widow tetra’s back in and 1 died over night.
 
On Saturday I added a betta fighter fish and 16 neon tetras and removed the 1 remaining widow tetra.
 
On Sunday evening there was 10 neon tetra’s left.
 
On Monday evening, there was 6 neon tetra’s left.
 
Cannot see any dead fish in the tank though?
 
 
I think I added too many fish at one time, which has caused the ammonia to rise. So the question now is do I do a water change?  50% ?
 

 

[Curiosity101]

You need to do a water change and clean the filter. My guess is that there are 4 dead neons rotting in the filter further increasing the ammonia level.

Just to clarify, you did add too many fish at once and that's what gave the rise. But also how big is the tank?

 

[steve_b21]

You need to do a water change and clean the filter. My guess is that there are 4 dead neons rotting in the filter further increasing the ammonia level.

Just to clarify, you did add too many fish at once and that's what gave the rise. But also how big is the tank?

tank which is fitted in a wall.


Fitted in a wall.. the depth of the tank is only 5" ,height is 28" and length is 47"


Pictures are here...

 

[Curiosity101]

Just checking it was actually big enough for the fish you were putting in.

But yeah basically only 3 bits of advice.

1. Make sure you clean the filter out cause that's the likely place for the dead neons.

2. With it being so tall try to grow/place some nice tall plants in for the betta to rest on. They've developed their labyryth organ so much that often they drown without air. Having something near the surface that they can rest on is a good way to avoid this.

3. Don't add so many fish in one go. A good guide is to add between 50-100% more on top of the the current stock each time. So the correct number of fish to add when you only had 2 widow tetras was around 3-4 neons.