Ammonia

[jpeterson]

Just tested my water and there is 0.25 ammonia in the tank again. Why on earth is there ammonia in my tank all of a sudden?

Tanks size: 43 US gallon
Stock: 6 harlequins, 5 black neons, 4 bronze corys.

I have recently decreased stock and then this is happening. It was fine then i had more stock in the tank!!!

Any ideas?

 

[mattlee]

how long has the tank been fully cycled and set up?

have you over fed the fish at all?

have any fish dissappeared that may have died and started to decompose?

have you added any new fish?

are there any live plants that have started to die off?

 

[jpeterson]

Tanks has been cycled for about 3 months now.

I think i may be over feeding which i have started to decrease now.

I had a cory die the other week which i couldn't find for the life of me so that may be decomposing.

I added some harlequins on Sunday and only one of them are still alive.

There are live plant but none have started to die off.

 

[mattlee]

Tanks has been cycled for about 3 months now.

I think i may be over feeding which i have started to decrease now.

I had a cory die the other week which i couldn't find for the life of me so that may be decomposing.

I added some harlequins on Sunday and only one of them are still alive.

There are live plant but none have started to die off.

the overfeeding wont help as any uneaten food will be rotting away in the substrate or filter and the more food the fish get the more poo they produce. a dead cory that has noy been found..... you really need to strip the tank down completely until its found im affraid as this could be the reason you are getting a spike as this also will be rotting away somewhere. adding more fish will obviously increase the bioload anf the filter will have to catch up with its new amounts of ammonia. why did they all die except for 1?

 

[jpeterson]

I don't know why they all died except from one! The other one seem happy enough shoaling with the ones i already had. I have done a 25% water change but the tap water seems to have 0.25ppm ammonia in it so it hasn't helped! I have also stripped the tank and not found the dead cory. I even mooched around in the sand with my hand trying to find it.

 

[mattlee]

I don't know why they all died except from one! The other one seem happy enough shoaling with the ones i already had. I have done a 25% water change but the tap water seems to have 0.25ppm ammonia in it so it hasn't helped! I have also stripped the tank and not found the dead cory. I even mooched around in the sand with my hand trying to find it.

was there any signs of illness with the harlequins? were they acclimatised for long enough?

the cory will be somewhere and until its found then expect ammonia levels to rise. a 25% water change is not enough to reduce 0.25ppm of ammonia you need to do a 75% change.

 

[jpeterson]

I have been doing 25% water change everyday. Yes the harlequins were acclimatised properly and there was no sign of illness.

I think we would agree that i should cut feeding down to every other day?

Also do a 10-20% water change everyday until it settles?

 

[mattlee]

I have been doing 25% water change everyday. Yes the harlequins were acclimatised properly and there was no sign of illness.

I think we would agree that i should cut feeding down to every other day?

Also do a 10-20% water change everyday until it settles?

if you have 0.25ppm ammonia and do a 25% change of water you are only removing a quarter of the ammonia leaving three quarters in the tank. a 10% change will make hardly any difference. you need to be doing at least 75%

 

[jpeterson]

I have been doing 25% water change everyday. Yes the harlequins were acclimatised properly and there was no sign of illness.

I think we would agree that i should cut feeding down to every other day?

Also do a 10-20% water change everyday until it settles?

if you have 0.25ppm ammonia and do a 25% change of water you are only removing a quarter of the ammonia leaving three quarters in the tank. a 10% change will make hardly any difference. you need to be doing at least 75%

My tap water has 0.25ppm ammonia in it anyway so doing a 75% water change will just be keeping the water at 0.25ppm ammonia!!!!

 

[mattlee]

I have been doing 25% water change everyday. Yes the harlequins were acclimatised properly and there was no sign of illness.

I think we would agree that i should cut feeding down to every other day?

Also do a 10-20% water change everyday until it settles?

if you have 0.25ppm ammonia and do a 25% change of water you are only removing a quarter of the ammonia leaving three quarters in the tank. a 10% change will make hardly any difference. you need to be doing at least 75%

My tap water has 0.25ppm ammonia in it anyway so doing a 75% water change will just be keeping the water at 0.25ppm ammonia!!!!

if your tap water has 0.25ppm ammonia in it then this is the reason your tank water has 0.25ppm ammonia in it. you have answered your own question

 

[jpeterson]

I guess that is why I haven't recently checked my tap water so I never knew. Ordered some API stress coat which gets rid of ammonia in tap water. Won't do another water change till i get it, When I do get it I will do a 75% water change. Hopefully the filter sorted it out for now until i get the stress coat from API.

 

[mattlee]

I guess that is why I haven't recently checked my tap water so I never knew. Ordered some API stress coat which gets rid of ammonia in tap water. Won't do another water change till i get it, When I do get it I will do a 75% water change. Hopefully the filter sorted it out for now until i get the stress coat from API.

seachem prime is probably better and much more concentrated so it will out last the stress coat by miles

 

[jpeterson]

Just an update to let you know, Ammonia this morning is at 0ppm. I will not be doing another water change for 5 or so days but will be testing the water every 12 hours, ill post the results here and make a graph

 

[the biffster]

are you using liquid test
or strips

 

[jpeterson]

Im using the API master test kit