:( Iv Put Some Live Plants In But Now Have Ammonia Problems

[toastie]

hi , both my main tank and small shrimp tank were perfect every test for months then i put some live plants in and now iv got 0.25 / 0.50 ammonia and cant get it to drop  
 
is it the plants ? shall i pull them out ? i thought they where going to help the water .
 
any ideas would really help ..
 
i did a 50% change about 3 days ago and a 60/70% yesterday but the reading are staying the same , 
 
iv gone 2 days witjhout feeding as well and made no difference 
 
cheers d 

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Plants to don't cause or make ammonia, in fact they do the reverse, they use it. Therefore, if your readings are real, they are being caused by something else.
 
What dechlor do you use and how soon after adding it are you testing?
What ferts are you using and when are you adding them?
What are your nitrite readings?
 
My first instinct is that you are getting false readings for some reason. Please list your pH and tank temp as well so i can determine whether yout readings are even a problem for the short term.
 
If you have 1 ppm of ammoni and change 50% of the water the ammonia level should go down by about 1/2. That it doesn't is a good indication the results are wrong. Check your tap water for ammonia.

 

[hobby5]

Imho new plants can cause ammonia. In the first time they mainly adapt to the new conditions and grow roots and new leaves while losing old leaves which will then rot. But in the end they are very benificial for your tank.
 
When did you plant them? I would remove all dead plant matter you can see. Keep monitoring the values and do frequent water changes.
 
Did you change anything else? Did you clean your tank or filter?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I would tend to agree with hobby5... if the plants are rotting or shedding leaves as they acclimate to the new tank, they can produce ammonia.
 

What plants did you buy?  Do you notice any leaves browning or becoming translucent (melting)? 

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I must have missed the part where the OP stated the plants had lost a bunch of leaves and he had failed to remove the dead leaves

 
And there must have been a huge amount of rapidly decaying leaves to make ammonia not drop at all:
 

 
now iv got 0.25 / 0.50 ammonia and cant get it to drop...........
i did a 50% change about 3 days ago and a 60/70% yesterday but the reading are staying the same.........
iv gone 2 days witjhout feeding as well and made no difference

 
Imo, dead leaves are not what is going on here. And if they were bacteria would be multiplying to handle them plus the plants likely carried in some good bacteria.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Is there any missing fish or shrimps?
 
If the plants are not the problem, perhaps could be a dead/rotting fish or shrimps thats adding to the ammonia?
 
I know this is a long shot but a possibility that the plants may have leached chemicals that were used, like pesticides or similar like that, and possibly killed some of your shrimps, and if you have many shrimps, like me, I no longer count them as lots of them hide and nowhere to be seen at times etc
 
Is that a possibility at all?
 
EDIT - just had a thought, have heard Seachem Prime does give false ammonia readings after dosing tank, might be an idea to immediately test tank water after water changes and after prime dosage (if you use prime of course.)

 

[toastie]

20 mins righting a reply then hit the wrong bottom and deleted the lot ...geerrrrr
 
i will try again .
 
thanks for all you replys , il try and answer what i remember
 
plants went in about a month ago ,
no loss of leaves . or very little , the long one seems to be growing like a nuter 
no fish missing but maybe some tiny shrimp but its hard to say and they are very tiny 
iv tested tap water and it much lower so i guess the test is working 
 
i wrote loads more but iv now gone blank ., good old vodka  
 
ph looks hight ? but its never been low 
 
heres a pics of the test 
 

 
 
heres the plants 
 

 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I must have missed the part where the OP stated the plants had lost a bunch of leaves and he had failed to remove the dead leaves

 
And there must have been a huge amount of rapidly decaying leaves to make ammonia not drop at all:
 

 
now iv got 0.25 / 0.50 ammonia and cant get it to drop...........
i did a 50% change about 3 days ago and a 60/70% yesterday but the reading are staying the same.........
iv gone 2 days witjhout feeding as well and made no difference

 
Imo, dead leaves are not what is going on here. And if they were bacteria would be multiplying to handle them plus the plants likely carried in some good bacteria.

 
 
Well, I merely stated it 'can' cause ammonia to rise, IF they are rotting or melting.  Certainly, it isn't the cause based on the pictures, and I would NOT remove the plants.  I'd leave them, they will help more than they will hurt.

 

[toastie]

ok cheers il leave them in . i think il take some water down the fish shop and see how it tests at the i dont make any seance ,i wonder if my test is wrong even thought the tap waters coming out lower 

 

[toastie]

temperatures is at 25 . my heater when down for a day a few weeks ago and im not sure whets idea now so any advice welcome . 

 

[toastie]

any ideas ?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The plants you have are stem plants which are very effective at sucking up excess nutrients. especially ammonia. The pH is in the 8 range from what I can tell. So that means you need to be sure the ammonia doesn't rise above .5. The nitrite looks to be barely above 0. It appears as if you are may not quite be cycled. Its hard to tell for sure.
 
As long as the ammonia does not rise above .5 and the nitrite doesn't rise either, I would try to ride things out without changing water. It is important to monitor the fish and shrimp. If they show any signs of distress, do a water change no mater what the numbers say. Distress would mean lethargy, hiding, not eating, being always at the surface as if trying to get air. Any of these are a sign something is wrong, you don't need to see them all to know something is likely amiss.
 
You did not say anything about what dechlor you are using nor how soon after doing a water change and adding it that you are testing. This could be compounding things
 
Finally, feed the fish but do not over feed. Fed fish seem to deal with ammonia better than starved fish, but over feeding will create ammonia. Feed what they eat in 3 minutes or so and remove any excess.
 
Keep testing daily and post if you see any changes.

 

[toastie]

thanks . im not sure what dechlor is ? is that the tap-safe ? im using interpet bioactive tapsafe.
 
iv tested an hour after and a day after and a few days after and it seems to be the same every time .
 
tested the tap water again and its fine so the test kit is working .
 
so shall i leave it along and long as the fish look ok ?  my fighter seems to be hidding a bit but the rest seem ok 
 
thanks again for the help D 

 

[toastie]

Still the same , not sure if I should do more water changes or let it settle , the fish seem ok , not over feeing . I guess there's something dead In there ?

 

[toastie]

how long after a water change should i wait to test the water ?
 
cheers d