Ammonia Spike

[dave_gray2077]

Ok came home from work to find on otto dead just now.

Tank is 125 liter Rio. standard internal filter.

Ammonia .50ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 25ppm

The otto did seem to have something on its body. What i could only describe as what looked like a zit on its body. i believe it was on its anus. i dont have a cam to take a pic unfortunatly. Could this death have caused the ammonia spike. or has the ammonia spike caused the death? it was dark when i left the house for work this moring so the body could have been in there for anout 24h now.

In any case in changing about 60% of the tank water now to lower the ammonia.

Tank still has 2 ottos. 8 cardinals and 6 rosey tetras. they are all active and look fine.

Edit to add. tank has been stable for 6 months and this is my first death. I dont know the ottos life span but it was fully grown when i bought it from the LFS so could this just be old age?

 

[-germ-]

No way of knowing what caused the death with the lack of symptoms, possibly camallanus a parasite known for protruding from the anus.
Again as concerns the ammonia spike its either/or, all you can do is observe the other fish and the water stats the best you can, unless you have made any recent additions to the tank fishwise, chemical wise (buffer?) or maybe foodwise thats resulted in a spike....
Also any changes in your tank maintenance regime?

 

[dave_gray2077]

no fish have been added in the last 3 months.

feeding has not changed in the last month. the only thing that has change (which i dont think will be to relivant) is 2 lights have failed this week so iv stoped IE dosing 3 days ago and am down to dosing minmal amounts of Kno3 etc.

 

[Jabba]

I wouldn't describe 0.25 as an ammonia spike. I have had mine up to 1ppm following a recent dose of meds causing a mini cycle and my ottos are still fine, I think the cause is something else. What is your pH like - high or low? ammonia is less toxic in low pH.

How long have you had the Otto - they are notoriously sensitive fish initially and are usually in poor condition when we get them because of the abuse they suffer in transport. They aren't a fish noted for their longevity I think two to three years tops.

Out of 12 I had I am down to 4, all of them died within 3 months of going in the tank, I have had the current ones now 6 months with no problem - even with the high ammonia I had.

I'd just keep an eye on everything else for signs that something isn't right but I wouldn't read the death of one fish however unpleasant as a sign of a tragedy unfolding.

If you get to 1ppm Ammonia then do a water change but otherwise just observe and avoid the temptation to meddle or panic.

 

[-germ-]

But surely the fact he has any ammonia at all 0.5 (not 0.25) is indicitive of such a further problem?
IMO a truly cycled tank has zero as an ammonia reading, if it doesn't, then there are issues somewhere.....

 

[jourdy288]

Perhaps the lighting failure killed off some plants and algae?

 

[Jabba]

oh silly me, I can't read, I agree the sign of ammonia is an indicator but that as he seems to already know can be produced by the dead fish (I think this more likely especially if it was 24 hours before it was found), in any event 0.5 isn't at a level I would regard as an issue, worthy of keeping an eye on yes but panic or a cause of death no. I go with the former the dead fish caused the ammonia ...

 

[Dave Spencer]

feeding has not changed in the last month. the only thing that has change (which i dont think will be to relivant) is 2 lights have failed this week so iv stoped IE dosing 3 days ago and am down to dosing minmal amounts of Kno3 etc.

An EI tank will have a smaller bacteria colony relative to other tanks, due to the filtering capability of a large mass of fast growing plants. Now that you have stopped EI dosing, perhaps the slow down in plant metabolism has left the bacteria colony unable to cope with all the NH4 while it plays catch up, and starts to multiply in reaction to the increased supply of nutrients.

I am just surmising really, but it sounds good.

Dave.

 

[dave_gray2077]

Well no deaths overnight and the ammonia has dropped back to 0ppm. So the filter must have caught up.

An EI tank will have a smaller bacteria colony relative to other tanks, due to the filtering capability of a large mass of fast growing plants. Now that you have stopped EI dosing, perhaps the slow down in plant metabolism has left the bacteria colony unable to cope with all the NH4 while it plays catch up, and starts to multiply in reaction to the increased supply of nutrients.
Dave.

That sounds plausible if the plants were taking up allot of the NH3 the bacterial colony will have to adjust. The lighting did go from 2.8 to 1.3 and I cannot afford to replace them right now.

Well all seams fine now.

 

[fishlette]

i agree that ottos are known for being a little on the fragile side. something to do with how they are caught, using cyanide or something like that

they also need a large amount of algae. sometimes there just isnt enough to sustain them.