Filtration Question & Others

[bloodyeagle4]

hey there!
So I've had my tank for almost a year. I got it used from someone on craigslist and it came with everything (lights, filter, heater, decor..ect) anyway I've had some issues with ich (i think is how its spelled). I do my weekly water changes, dont overfeed the fish, and test the water once a week. For some reason I get these spikes of high ammonia sometimes and its looking like im getting new signs of ich. I raised the water temp and already have aquarium salt in there so hopefully that kills the ich.
-I'm wondering what I can do about the random spikes in ammonia. My first thought was well maybe i should have replaced the filter at some point? 
- Secondly i just went to florida and got some cool seashells that I thought would be cool for my tank. Is it okay to put sea shells in there or should i boil them first? 
-Lastly I have some old legos laying around and got to thinking it would be cool to have a lego themed tank. Does anyone know if the legos would be harmful for the water. I believe they are made of abs plastic which i think is okay but I am just curious. 
 
Thanks!

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Your tank isn't cycled.
You will need to perform water changes every time you see ammonia/nitrite.

I would say no to the sea shells as they could contain harmful bugs that have been living in them. If you did still want to use then though, you could poor boiling water over them several times and soak them for a week.

I have no idea about the Lego but I suppose it could work

 

[fm1978]

I'm not sure about the sea shells at all, I think they might dissolve gradually over time and change the chemistry of your water. It would start to dissolve quite quickly if your water is slightly acidic but would then very possibly increase the pH to as high as 9. Too high, in other words, for most fish.

As for your filter, I don't think it would be wise to replace it unless it's actually stopped working. You need to persevere until you are cycled, as suggested by Blondie. Don't add any more fish and keep an eye on your levels and keep doing regular, large water changes until your ammonia, nitrite, and to a lesser extent, nitrate reduce to more or less 0.

The lego sounds like a cool idea...if you can get it to stay under water!? It just might not look very...tropical or natural in there but I dare say it should be safe as long as it's clean when you introduce it. Sharp edges could very well be an issue, though, so, personally, I'd probably not...just in case!

 

[bloodyeagle4]

thanks for the answers! Ima pass on putting the sea shells in. I did a water change today and tested it a few hours later and the ammonia is dropping thankfully!
I feel like my tank has cycled but im no expert ... it has been almost a year.
heres my results
Ph- 6.2 (low!)
Ammonia-4 ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate-20ppm
 
also what is the main cause of ich? thanks again everyone!

 

[ncguppy830]

stressed out fish that are overcrowded not always but usally stress

 

[bloodyeagle4]

hmmm okay well I have 2 angle fish and 3 silver finned tetras in my 25 gallon tank (and one of the tetras arnt looking so hot). Is that overcrowded?

 

[ncguppy830]

yea minimum for 2 angels is probaly a 50 they get pretty big and tetras need to be in schools of 6 or more

 

[bloodyeagle4]

Well dang that sucks when i got the angel fish they were a pair from a local store and they said it would be fine in my tank...so what would you suggest? I dont want to kill the fish cuz that is cruel but if they need to live in a larger environment then that kind of a problem as well... 

 

[Blondielovesfish]

You could rehome the angels or you could get a 55 gallon tank that is at least 18 inches tall.
 
LFS's have a habit of providing incorrect information to make a sale
 
Your tank is cycled when the ammonia and nitrite show 0 consistently for at least 10 days.
 
How do you clean your filter? How often do you replace parts of the filter? What parts?
Do you use a dechlorinater? 
 
I recommend that you do a 90% water change NOW to get the ammonia levels down. You want to keep these as close to 0 as possible. If, after an hour, the ammonia levels are over 0.5ppm, do another water change of at least 75%. Make sure to temperature match the water and use a dechlorinater (if you have one).

 

[bloodyeagle4]

I believe I may have a friend who just got a new tank and would take them. So that may be an options. As far tank cycle goes its nuts because Ill go a month or two with everything looking perfect and then ill randomly get these spikes. I imagine now its because my tank is overcrowded and I didnt think it was (i looked at aqadvisor.com). 
I clean my filter like once a month. I take some of the water change water I pulled from the tank and wash it out in that. I mostly just shake it around to get some of the gunk off of there. I have and know a lot of the good bacterias live in there so i dont clean it all the way. I was told only to replace the filter when it starts to fall apart so I have yet to replace it. as for the dechlorinater goes i put a capful of amquel plus into the new water im put in the tank when doing the water change. 
 
Thanks for the info its really great!

 

[Blondielovesfish]

If you can rehome the angels then that will be great. Just make sure her/his tank is cycled and the fish are compatible.
 
Is there anything that you can think of that could have caused these spikes?
 
What is the ammonia now?
 
Don't use that website (aq), it isn't accurate.