Losing Fish Fast, Ammonia Has Spiked.

[geordieelvis]

Totally gutted, I have had my tank up and running for a couple months now and I had slowly built my community up to a total of 14 fish. I do weekly water changes and testing and up until a few days ago everything was perfect. The problem started when I found a guppy dead a couple days ago. I quickly tested the water and noticed my Ammomia was sitting at between 4 and 5 ppm. I have since then done daily water changes and stopped feeding the fish. but have now lost another Guppy, a pair of ghost fish and a Danio. Ammonia is still at least 4ppm. I am devastated because I honestly thought I had cracked it and had a good set up. It now feels like I am back to square 1 again. My fish that are alive dont seem normal either, they seem to be chasing each other trying to nip each other. Any advice at all??

 

[Mikey1]

explain your filter situation....
 
what filter or filters are you using?
 
how often, and how do you service/clean them?
 
how often do you change filter media? and have you done that recently?

 

[Gvilleguy]

I would think your first priority would be to do a 90% water change to get the ammonia WAY down (dechlorinated) (and temp matched if you can).  Then, like Mikey said, we need to narrow down what you possibly did that caused the spike.

 

[geordieelvis]

Ok, tank is a Fluval 90, filter is a Fluval U2 which came with the tank.water is a constant 24 degrees. I cleaned 1 part of the filter a couple weeks ago by washing it out in water that had been removed from tank. That is the only thing I have done that I think could have affected it? I haven't done much else with the filter as the tank is still fairly new. I do clean the gravel as part of my weekly water changes, could this be removing good bacteria or not?

 

[Chad]

My thinking is that cleaning the gravel may have released trapped detritus that has overwhelmed the filtration and caused the ammonia spike. It's a thought. Normally cleaning part of a filter with tank water won't do it.

 

[geordieelvis]

Yeah, due to conflicting advice I was using a gravel cleaner as part of my weekly water change. I suppose this could be a big part of the problem. My other worry was the water I am using to re-fill the tank hasn't been tested , I use the correct dose of Nurafin Aqua plus when it gets refilled but I have never actually tested the tap water for ammonia.

 

[Chad]

Cleaning gravel is great it's just that we need to make sure we do it often and get out as much detritus as we can which can sometimes be hard. This is just my guess though the ammonia certainly could be from another source. I mention the gravel because I've heard similar stories to yours quite often.

 

[Gvilleguy]

If you were cleaning the gravel all along, I doubt that enough waste could have built up to cause a problem. But if it has been months, and you then cleaned the gravel for the first time, I could see that causing trouble.

I would test your tap water for ammonia as soon as possible, and if it's not as high as the 4.0 you currently have in the tank, do the big water change.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I'd suggest switching to Seachem Prime for your dechlorinator, as it removes a number of elements from your tap water. But first thing is to change out the water. Take out as much water to just leave enough for the fish to swim upright and replace with temperature matched dechlorinated tap water. If you don't already have a liquid test kit (such as Nutrafin or similar) you should get one to get accurate readings of your water.

 

[davemings]

As above.. Prime is good stuff and will remove ammonia and detoxify nitrite.

 

[geordieelvis]

I have the API Master kit, I will use this to test my tap water and do a big change if the water is ok. Will look at changing the AquaPlus to your suggestion as well

 

[geordieelvis]

Ok, the latest is.... I tested my tap water and it reads 0ppm. I then did a big water change using the last of my Aqua Plus and tested my tank water tonight and it is reading at most 2ppm, so things are going the right way? Also I haven't lost anymore fish today and the remainder definitely seem happier. Should I keep changing water or just keep testing?

 

[Chad]

Well...both. Test and change water as needed.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Any level of ammonia is toxic to your fish, so the lower you can keep it with water changes, the better. Is your pH 7+? As pH goes higher, the ammonia itself is more toxic to the fish. If your pH was 6.0, the fish would not be feeling the affects as much. Have you tested the nitrite levels as well?

 

[geordieelvis]

Ph is 7.5 from the tap Nitrites are 0 and Nitrates are 10ppm in the tank. Also got 5 live plants in there.