Ammonia Spike

[emmit]

i have just tested for ammonia in the tank and am getting a reading of 0.25-0.50ppm in 70g tank

rest of the readings are

nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 10ppm

i have not long ago added live plants to the tank (1 which i have been told is non aquatic)

last night i put in 2 half's of cucumber for the pleco's removed them this morning with the middle missing so the pleco's are feeding

now what would have caused a ammonia spike

done a 50% water change as it was due today any way

the tank sits opposit a window but the other side of the room at least 14ft away from the window tho (but does get some sunlight on the tank)


tank has been established for 3 weeks now as it sit but was perviously housing oscars with the same filter for 2 years

 

[waterdrop]

Well emmit, you have a difficult thing and an easy thing. The difficult thing is the figuring out and explaining of something like an ammonia spike, but of course its fun if you like that sort of thing. The *easy* thing though, for the aquarist, is that there's no necessity for that intellectual exercise in that the *action* you want to take is straight-forward and moderately urgent: If you measure levels of either deadly substance, ammonia or nitrite(NO2), above 0.25ppm in your aquarium, for whatever reason, you simply change more water!

With certain species that are big waste producers, it can be surprising how quickly their respiration and waste production will return even a big tank to toxic levels. When moving or doing things to filters, it can be surprising that the bacterial colonies can be disturbed and not perform up to their usual standards. When cleaning or adjusting tanks, it can be surprising that substrate or other waste can throw your good levels off. But regardless, the action is simple, thankfully, you just have to get busy and perform water changes using good water change technique (always gravel clean as you remove and be sure to use conditioner and temperature matching, especially for larger changes or when the maturity or quality of your bacterial colonies is in doubt.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[emmit]

this is the first sign of ammonia in the tank for 3 weeks

water was ready from yesterday and heated over night ready for the change today