Info On Amonia Spike.

[nano55]

Ok so im currently in the middle of a fish in cycle, i know its not the right way of doing things but i listened to the people in pets at home before i found out about fishless cycling. anyway, no point crying over spilt milk.

so for the past 4days ive been doing daily 25% water changes and feeding the fish as little as possible to try and limit the amonia present in the tank. my amonia level has been hovering just below the 0.25ppm mark. but today i did my daily water test about an hour after the partial water change and my amonia was around 2ppm. nitrates and nitrites are both 0 but i was concerned about the amonia as it was 2ppm AFTER a water change.

so i plan to up the daily water changes to 50% and hope for the best.

my question is this, is there anything else i can do or just carry on with the water changes??

 

[techen]

Ok so im currently in the middle of a fish in cycle, i know its not the right way of doing things but i listened to the people in pets at home before i found out about fishless cycling. anyway, no point crying over spilt milk.

so for the past 4days ive been doing daily 25% water changes and feeding the fish as little as possible to try and limit the amonia present in the tank. my amonia level has been hovering just below the 0.25ppm mark. but today i did my daily water test about an hour after the partial water change and my amonia was around 2ppm. nitrates and nitrites are both 0 but i was concerned about the amonia as it was 2ppm AFTER a water change.

so i plan to up the daily water changes to 50% and hope for the best.

my question is this, is there anything else i can do or just carry on with the water changes??

If both Nitrites and Nitrates are zero then there's really nothing you can do. There's almost nothing dealing with the ammonia in the tank, so it will just build and build and build and build. So daily water changes is all you can do, you'll have to keep checking every day.

 

[fluttermoth]

You need to get the ammonia down as soon as possible; even if that means 90% or multiple water changes.

 

[ColR1948]

You might need to do larger changes too and add some Seachem Prime, that will help keep it down a bit.

 

[nano55]

You might need to do larger changes too and add some Seachem Prime, that will help keep it down a bit.

is that the same as API Stress Coat+?

 

[JenCliBee]

The only other option is getting hold of a little mature media to kick start the process, weather this be from your lfs (i wouldn't advise stuff from P&H) or from a friend with a mature tank.

Other than that it will be a matter like what everyone else has mentioned, water changes of as large as possible and just keep monitoring.

 

[nano55]

ok il go to my lfs tomorow, one thats privately owned and the guys in there realy know what theyre talking about, always have realy nice clean tanks and fish. hopefuly they wont mind donating some!

so if i have mature media in there along with mine, how long will it take to spread the bacteria into my media and start taking effect on my water?

also obviously the bacteria wontlast if theyre dried out so do i transport the media in a bag of tank water for example??

 

[JenCliBee]

ok il go to my lfs tomorow, one thats privately owned and the guys in there realy know what theyre talking about, always have realy nice clean tanks and fish. hopefuly they wont mind donating some!

so if i have mature media in there along with mine, how long will it take to spread the bacteria into my media and start taking effect on my water?

also obviously the bacteria wontlast if theyre dried out so do i transport the media in a bag of tank water for example??

It could still take a couple of weeks to fully process the bioload but it's the process that's being started which is the all important part

..... existing bacteria multiplies quicker than growing it initially.

To transport, just make sure it remains wet, a sealed air filled fish bag with a little water in will be fine.

 

[nano55]

thanks for youre help, ill go and get some tomorow hopefuly, and then carry on with the water changes aswell

 

[JenCliBee]

thanks for youre help, ill go and get some tomorow hopefuly, and then carry on with the water changes aswell

...... you might find once you add it...the water change frequency may change or you will get away with smaller changes but yeh, keep testing the water and you should be fine

 

[nano55]

okikoke i will monitor! thanks very much.

 

[ColR1948]

A lot of fish shops have stopped giving media out now, you may and hopefully be lucky and get some, keep us informed.

 

[nano55]

A lot of fish shops have stopped giving media out now, you may and hopefully be lucky and get some, keep us informed.

oh, why have they stopped? just because of so many people asking? im curious.......

 

[ColR1948]

Not 100% sure but I heard off one shop that some people came back saying their fish had died and it must have been that media they got.
They blamed the fish shop when really it was probably their fault through one thing or another and/or just bad luck, but I may be wrong there may be other reasons as well.