Help! Ammonia Problem

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benralph

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hi i bought some 5 frogs about 6 weeks ago, test the water with api master test kit after one week and amonia = 2 nitrate = 0 ph = 7.4 nitite = 0

so i done 50% change for 4 days until amonia = 0 nitrate = 0 nitrie = 0 but ph = 8.8(off the scale) (tap water =8.8)

lfs recomended leave tank for a week before any more changes/tests

test my water before change after waiting a week amonia = 3 to 4 nitrate =20 nitrite = 0 ph = 8.8

so 50% a day again until readings all 0

last week amonia 0.5, nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 8.2 ( tap water has risen to 8.8 lately) ammonia 0.25 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 6.8 this was 2 days after water change and no feed, before change amonia 0.5, nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 8.2 ( tap water has risen to 8.8 lately)

is this ok as i am following what my lfs are telling me, i just cant seem to keep the amonia away, the lfs said i was over feeding 3 weeks ago i was alternating daily between flake and blood worm, now cut back to blood worm once a week and flake every other day.

my tank is a juwel rekord 800

what volume is it? 110l

how is it filtered? internal

what filter maintenance, if any, are you doing? Are you changing any filter media at all? white sponge weekly, blue alternate each month cleaning in old tank water.

what fish do you have in there? What species, how many, how large are they? all small fish no more than 5months old. 3 angel fish, 2 mollies, 5 black phantom tetras, 5 cardinal tetras, 2 ghost glass catfish, 2 bristle nose plecs (1 male and 1 female) 2 buterfly plecs (hilstream loach) 5 dwarf affrican claw frogs (just over 1 month)

what is your feeding regime (how much how often?) Flake 1 pinch every other day and frozen blood worm once a week

what are your current test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH? How are you testing them? api master test kit gives me amonia 0.25 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 6.8 this was 2 days after water change and no feed, before change amonia 0.5, nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 8.2 ( tap water has risen to 8.8 lately)

what dechlorinator or water treatment are you using? tetra aqua safe

have any fish died and you haven't found their bodies? Are there any rotting plants in the tank? yes havnt seen 2 flying foxs since before christmas, checked everywhere i think.

thanks

ive also noticed the tank is starting to smell a little bit,i thought this was normal and just reading something now has made me think otherwise, is it normal?? this is all after the tank was left unplugged for a day by misstake 16 hours max, temp was at 18c when i got home and alarm was going off on thermometer. this was a few weeks back
 
hi i bought some 5 frogs about 6 weeks ago, test the water with api master test kit after one week and amonia = 2 nitrate = 0 ph = 7.4 nitite = 0

so i done 50% change for 4 days until amonia = 0 nitrate = 0 nitrie = 0 but ph = 8.8(off the scale) (tap water =8.8)

lfs recomended leave tank for a week before any more changes/tests

test my water before change after waiting a week amonia = 3 to 4 nitrate =20 nitrite = 0 ph = 8.8

so 50% a day again until readings all 0

last week amonia 0.5, nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 8.2 ( tap water has risen to 8.8 lately) ammonia 0.25 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 6.8 this was 2 days after water change and no feed, before change amonia 0.5, nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 8.2 ( tap water has risen to 8.8 lately)

is this ok as i am following what my lfs are telling me, i just cant seem to keep the amonia away, the lfs said i was over feeding 3 weeks ago i was alternating daily between flake and blood worm, now cut back to blood worm once a week and flake every other day.

my tank is a juwel rekord 800

what volume is it? 110l

how is it filtered? internal

what filter maintenance, if any, are you doing? Are you changing any filter media at all? white sponge weekly, blue alternate each month cleaning in old tank water.

what fish do you have in there? What species, how many, how large are they? all small fish no more than 5months old. 3 angel fish, 2 mollies, 5 black phantom tetras, 5 cardinal tetras, 2 ghost glass catfish, 2 bristle nose plecs (1 male and 1 female) 2 buterfly plecs (hilstream loach) 5 dwarf affrican claw frogs (just over 1 month)

what is your feeding regime (how much how often?) Flake 1 pinch every other day and frozen blood worm once a week

what are your current test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH? How are you testing them? api master test kit gives me amonia 0.25 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 6.8 this was 2 days after water change and no feed, before change amonia 0.5, nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 8.2 ( tap water has risen to 8.8 lately)

what dechlorinator or water treatment are you using? tetra aqua safe

have any fish died and you haven't found their bodies? Are there any rotting plants in the tank? yes havnt seen 2 flying foxs since before christmas, checked everywhere i think.

thanks

ive also noticed the tank is starting to smell a little bit,i thought this was normal and just reading something now has made me think otherwise, is it normal?? this is all after the tank was left unplugged for a day by misstake 16 hours max, temp was at 18c when i got home and alarm was going off on thermometer. this was a few weeks back

The part highlighted is your problem I'd have thought ... you really shouldn't need to change it at all ... well, no until it's falling apart anyway. just rinse it out in old tank water :good:

EDIT: After having just read it again ... I think I read it wrong and you're actually only cleaning the white filter once a week ... not changing it?

Sorry if that's the case :blush:
 
EDIT: Have you cycled your tank?

Agreed.

What you are doing is throwing away you beneficial bacteria before they colonize.

Autotrophic bacteria grow in our filters to process ammonia and nitrite. First, when ammoina is present in a tank, autotrophic bacteria start to grow in the filter to break down ammonia into nitrite. The reason why you are seeing ammoina is because you have no autotrophic bacteria in your filter to break the ammoina down since you are changing the foam insert once a week.

After the autotrophic bacteria break down the ammoina into nitrite, another type of autotrophic bacteria break down nitrite into nitrate.

To get nitrate out of the water, you perform weekly water changes, as there are no bacteria to take away nitrate. However, plants will use a little nitrate, if you have live plants in your tank.

You should not change out the foam insert in your filter, as this is where most of your beneficial bacteria live, which you need to process ammoina and nitrite.

Like stated, you should only change the foam insert if it falling apart (if it is not capable of holding beneficial bacteria efficiently).

Just rinse out the foam insert about once a month in old tank water and you should be fine with that foam insert for a very long time.

Now it seems that you are at the beginning of a "fish-in cycle."

Try to keep the ammoina under .25 ppm, then you will start to see ammonia go to zero while nitrite rises, and keep nitrite down below .25 ppm by doing water changes daily.

Do not clean the filter until after the cycle is done unless absolutely necessary. (i.e. filter water flow slows down)

-FHM
 
tank has cycled



not sure if i explained it properly or im bein silly??

this is my filter and i meant white wool pad replacing weekly, and rinsing blue in tank water monthly


Filter Wool (white pad)
The white filter wool acts as a mechanical pre-filter, removing large particles of dirt
and excess food which in turn ensures that the other sponges do not get clogged.
Active Carbon Sponge (black)
The black activated carbon sponge sits on top of the blue coarse filter sponges, and
removes chemical impurities from the water which cannot be removed biologically.
Nitrate Removal Sponge (green)
The Sponge contains micro-organisms, which will, once developed, reside inside the
sponges and in the water. These micro-organisms feed of nitrates and will reduce them
significantly. The JUWEL Filtration system provides the optimum housing for these
micro-organisms.
Filter Sponge Coarse (blue)
The coarse blue filter sponges allow bacteria cultures to develop quickly, cleaning the
water which is now free from chemical impurities.
Filter Sponge Fine (blue)
The fine blue sponges and the bacteria cultures living in them, clean the water of even
the smallest impurities.
 
not sure if i explained it properly or im bein silly??

this is my filter and i meant whie pad sorry


Filter Wool (white pad)
The white filter wool acts as a mechanical pre-filter, removing large particles of dirt
and excess food which in turn ensures that the other sponges do not get clogged.
Active Carbon Sponge (black)
The black activated carbon sponge sits on top of the blue coarse filter sponges, and
removes chemical impurities from the water which cannot be removed biologically.
Nitrate Removal Sponge (green)
The Sponge contains micro-organisms, which will, once developed, reside inside the
sponges and in the water. These micro-organisms feed of nitrates and will reduce them
significantly. The JUWEL Filtration system provides the optimum housing for these
micro-organisms.
Filter Sponge Coarse (blue)
The coarse blue filter sponges allow bacteria cultures to develop quickly, cleaning the
water which is now free from chemical impurities.
Filter Sponge Fine (blue)
The fine blue sponges and the bacteria cultures living in them, clean the water of even
the smallest impurities.

Beneficial bacteria actually colonize on pretty much everything in your filter, especially the white foam pad, blue pad, on sometimes on the carbon.

So changing any out will cause a reduction in your beneficial bacteria you have in your filter.

So, you change out the white pad once a week? And clean the blue one once a month?

-FHM
 
not sure if i explained it properly or im bein silly??

this is my filter and i meant whie pad sorry


Filter Wool (white pad)
The white filter wool acts as a mechanical pre-filter, removing large particles of dirt
and excess food which in turn ensures that the other sponges do not get clogged.
Active Carbon Sponge (black)
The black activated carbon sponge sits on top of the blue coarse filter sponges, and
removes chemical impurities from the water which cannot be removed biologically.
Nitrate Removal Sponge (green)
The Sponge contains micro-organisms, which will, once developed, reside inside the
sponges and in the water. These micro-organisms feed of nitrates and will reduce them
significantly. The JUWEL Filtration system provides the optimum housing for these
micro-organisms.
Filter Sponge Coarse (blue)
The coarse blue filter sponges allow bacteria cultures to develop quickly, cleaning the
water which is now free from chemical impurities.
Filter Sponge Fine (blue)
The fine blue sponges and the bacteria cultures living in them, clean the water of even
the smallest impurities.

Beneficial bacteria actually colonize on pretty much everything in your filter, especially the white foam pad, blue pad, on sometimes on the carbon.

So changing any out will cause a reduction in your beneficial bacteria you have in your filter.

So, you change out the white pad once a week? And clean the blue one once a month?

-FHM
yes its very thin 2 to 3mm and gets dirty very quick as i have 5 live plants and the fish nible bits off. in the manual it says to replace weekly q

quote Care and maintenance of the JUWEL Filter System
Maintenance of the Filter System
The JUWEL Filter System requires very little maintenance if you follow the following
instructions.
- Replace the white filter wool pad once a week. If you have large fish, then this may
require changing slightly more frequently. This will ensure that the filter sponges will
not be clogged by larger dirt particles.
- Replace the black activated carbon sponge every 4-6 weeks. Again, if you have large
fish then this may be to be more frequent. This ensures that any chemical impurities
from the water will be removed. Please note that the chemicals which are absorbed by
the activated carbon contained in the sponge, will be released to the water again if
the change intervals are too long.
- If the filter wool and the activated carbon sponge are replaced as suggested, then it
is sufficient to carefully clean or replace the coarse blue sponges at 6-12 weeks and
the fine blue sponges at 3-6 months only.
Important - Cleaning or replacing the blue filter sponges will affect the bacteria
cultures. We recommend therefore, that only one of the sponges at a time is cleaned or
replaced, never at the same time.
You do not need to worry about the liquid dirt accumulating at the bottom of the
filter housing. Normally, this dirt contains important biological substances which
enhance the water quality.
Please do not worry if some dirt gets into the water during the cleaning process
causing cloudiness. After the filter system is back in operation, the water will soon
clear again.
- In order to allow a proper level of micro-organisms in the filtration system it is
recommended to exchange the sponge every 6 weeks. The nitrate removal sponge
contains bacteria, which will
 
Do you clean the pad in old tank water?

Also, did you cycle your tank?

-FHM
 
yes tank has been cycled

filter was cleaned in tank water
 
Have you checked for ammoina in your tap water?

Is there another source of ammoina? i.e. left over food?

When doing water changes do you use a gravel vac?

-FHM
 
Have you checked for ammoina in your tap water? no will do now

Is there another source of ammoina? i.e. left over food? no left over food

When doing water changes do you use a gravel vac? yes
 
How did you cycle your tank?

Did you do the "add and wait method", or the "add daily method?"

Or did you do a fish-in cycle?

I personally would not change any filter media until absolutely necessary.

The reason the manufacture says to change out the filter media is for profit reasons....They want your money.

Instead of buying new wool once a week, just rinse it out in old tank water.

I do not know if high pH will effect the growth of your beneficial bacteria.

-FHM
 
How did you cycle your tank?

Did you do the "add and wait method", or the "add daily method?"

Or did you do a fish-in cycle?

I personally would not change any filter media until absolutely necessary.

The reason the manufacture says to change out the filter media is for profit reasons....They want your money.

Instead of buying new wool once a week, just rinse it out in old tank water.

I do not know if high pH will effect the growth of your beneficial bacteria.

-FHM

lfs advised fish-in cycle

will try and not change it so often now,
 
So did you do the fish-in cycle before you added the frogs?

If so, what size tank, and what fish did you use, and how long did it take?

-FHM
 
So did you do the fish-in cycle before you added the frogs?

If so, what size tank, and what fish did you use, and how long did it take?

-FHM

yes fish-in before frogs added

110L

6 black phantom tetras 2 mollies + 6 cardinal tetras ( shop assistant advised wrong and i lost 2 cardinals) took about 2 months
 

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