Ammonia Spike After Water Change

[bgormley]

Hi guys
I did a 20% water change today (4 days after the last water change). The readings are Amm 5, Nitrite 1, Nitrate 40+.

The tank is 2 1/2 weeks into a cycle with 5 zebra danios and this is the highest the ammonia has been. Should I do another water change or is it best to leave for another couple of days to allow the cycle to progress?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Nim]

As you are getting a bit of Nitrite as well so the cycle is going in the right direction. How big is the tank? Ideally you should do a water change but this will slow down the cycle a bit. I would wait for another day to see how ammonia reacts.. if it starts to go down in a couple of days, then do a small water change.. if it does not start to go down a lot then you may need to do a large water change to help fish survive.

Once Nitrites starts to spike, I suggest you add some salt to the tank as salt does help the fish in battling the toxic effects of Nitrite.

WHy is your Nitrates so high? What are the tap water readings?

Nim

 

[bgormley]

Hi Nim
It's a 71 ltr tanks. I haven't tested the tap water, will do that this afternoon. Will also re-test the water tomorrow. Thanks for the tip about the salt, will remember to do that!

 

[bgormley]

OK, I tested the tap water and it's reading 40 for NitrAtes (??) seems high to me but the water in this county is dire...! I tested the tank water today and the Amm has gone down to 1 and NitrIte is 1, hopefully this means i'm halfway there??

 

[Nim]

Thats fine. Its looking good The Nitrites should linger on for another 4 days I assume and the they will come down.

If Tap Nitrates are at 40 then there is little you can do about it except get plenty of plants and increase the water changes once your tank is cycled. General tropical fish can adapt to slightly higher nitrates but you need to do more water changes to keep them from reaching the sky.

Nim

 

[bgormley]

Thanks for the reassuring reply Nim!

 

[Tolak]

What are you using for dechlorinator, and does your water have chlorine & chloramine?

 

[bgormley]

Hi Tolak

I'm using Tetra Aqua 'Aquasafe' as dechlorinator and my tap water has chlorine (not sure about chloramine though even though i have here a printout from my water company) does this help? PH is 7.46

 

[Nim]

I think what Tolak might be getting at is that your water supply now as Chloramines and many dechlorinators detoxify Chloramines and one of the end results could be Ammonia which will go away pretty soon as its not a constant biological production of ammonia.

Since your tank is just cycling, it is very normal to have spikes especially after water changes. Nothing to panic yet but if this happens even a month after the cycle has been completed, I would call up the water company and instead of requesting the water quality report, I would ask them if they are using Chlorine or Chloramines as an additive to the water. They should be able to give you a definitive answer.

If you can get hold of Seachem Prime, then try that.. its a lot more economical then Aquasafe and also de-toxifies the ammonia that is produced as a result of detoxification of chloramines. I cant be sure about aquasafe as I will myself have to read up what it does and I have never really used it in the last 3 years

Nim