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Ammonia levels out of control

4K views 22 replies 10 participants last post by  staticfiend 
#1 ·
Ok I started a 55 gal tank about 5 weeks ago. I have 11 small fish in it. But the ammonia levels keep spiking. I even did a 25% water change 4 days ago and still it keeps going up. Does anyone got any ideas?
 
#2 ·
Can you post the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? You'll need to do water changes more often, maybe even every day, to keep your fish comfortable. What kind of fish are in the tank?
 
#3 ·
5 diamond tetras
1 serpae tetra
1 tiger barb
1 blue gourami
2 gold barbs
1 striped raphael cat
1 spotted raphael cat

We had the ammonia tested today at the fish store and it was really green. I'm not sure what the percent was. We put some chemicals in it to bring it down but we have been doing that for a while and it still continues to rise. I dont get it.
 
#4 ·
Your tank is cycling, and I suggest that you read up about it. Basically, the bacteria that break down ammonia into nitrite then nitrate are not present right now, but will begin to colonize. Chemicals will not help this, and may actually hinder the cycle because the bacteria will not have anything to feed on. What you can do, is do water changes as often as is necassary to keep ammonia levels, and later nitrite levels, at or below .5 ppm. This could be every 3 days, or every day. You will need to purchase an ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kit, test daily, and do water changes as necessary. When you have 0 ammonia and nitrite, and a reading for nitrate, the cycle is complete. Nitrate is removed when you do regular water changes, and is not toxic to fish in low levels. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.
 
#6 ·
If you haven't bought the kit by the time you read this (or even if you have): I strongly suggest a liquid test kit instead of the paper test strips. The initial cost may be a bit higher but it gives much more accurate results and will last you a lot longer because it will perform more tests than the strips. I use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. It goes for about $30 in most stores but sells for about half that price at online aquarium supply stores like Aquariumguys and Drs. Foster and Smith.
 
#7 ·
You've got a lot of fish for a cycling tank so don't be surprised if you have to do a change daily to keep the ammonia down, you don't want it back at 0 however. Make sure you get your own test kid (liquid like batman said) so you can test daily. Can you transfer some of the occupants elsewhere temporarily to take the stress off of them?
 
#8 ·
you might also consider cutting down on feeding the fish.Any food that is not eaten will contribute to elevated ammonia levels. While tank is maturing or cycling once a day feeding will help keep ammonia from getting too high and thus reduce the number of water changes necessary.
 
#9 ·
Reducing the temperature two or three degrees will also help reduce the toxicity of the ammonia. Don't move it out of the fish's comfort range, but maybe move it towards the low end if you're up at the high.
 
#10 ·
if your tank is cycling and your ammonia is high, you really need to do daily changes. and to be honest, you probably should have looked into doing a fishless cycle and spared the fish the stress. i also assume that your tank is not planted. planted would take up some of the slack but you can't rely on it completely. also it take 3-6 weeks or longer to cycle a tank. i reset up my 55 gal on 08/31/08 and its still cycling and i am on the fishless cycle. so tanks cycling can vary.
 
#12 ·
staticfiend said:
So you dont even need fish in the tank for it to cycle?
Nope, you can add pure ammonia, use fish flakes or even a prawn. The idea is to add waste that adds ammonia to the water and feeds the beneficial bacteria in the tank in order to convert it to nitrates. Nitrates are a good sign in your tank and levels between 5ppm to 40ppm is safe. Although 40 is a bit high.
 
#14 ·
0

You want 0 ppm Ammonia, 0 ppm Nitrites, and <40 ppm Nitrates. Nitrites are poisonous to fish just like ammonia. When your tank has cycled you'll have bacteria that will convert nitrite into nitrate.
 
#15 ·
Hello from the dark side of the hobby... sorry to but into this freshwater thread, but an important point has not been recognized.

What type of test kit are you using? You said that you are adding chemicals to lower the ammonia. What exactly are you adding? If you are adding a water conditioner to remove ammonia, such as Amquel, Ammolock, etc, then please continue reading...

Test kits which utilize Nessler's reagents will give you a false positive when using these products. There is no ammonia, but the kits will read positive anyhow. You must use a Salicylate-based ammonia test kit in order to achieve the correct reading. For proof of this, simply read the instructions in your test kit.

Another big topic is pH. At low pH levels, say 6.4 or below, nitrosomos bacteria are not capable of breaking down ammonia into Nitrite. Have you tested your pH? If this applies to you, you must first raise your pH above 6.4, and then allow time for the nitrosomos bacteria to consumer the ammonia. Unfortunatly your fish will be more stressed during this time, because the toxicity of ammonia increases as the pH increase. Hence, this is a delicate balancing act.

The real problem probably occured in week 2 or 3. You likely tested your water and thought the tank was "cycled". In fact, some nitrosomos and nitrobacter bacterias were present; enough to reduce the current ammonia and nitrites to zero. Unfortunately, at this point you added livestock to fast. The result was a quick spike in ammonia to a level that the nitrosomos were unable to handle. The reaction was problably to add a water conditioner, which then caused a false positive reading of ammonia. You continued to add more conditioner and do water changes, and continued to get false positives.

Just a guess, but i'd bet my avitar pic that i'm right on this.-)
 
#16 ·
I got the API master test kit. My ammonia is still right around 0 (yellow) My PH is around 7.6 on the low and 8.0 on the high. The Nitrates were between 20-40. But the Nitrites seem to be at a 5! What should I do to fix this? I plan on doing a water change tomorrow. But is there a chemical I should add? I was adding Clor Am x at the begining when I was using tap water. Now I've switched to Spring or Well water. Then when the ammonia was high the dude at the fish store sold me Microbe Lift "special blend"
 
#17 ·
Well if you read 7.6 on the low scale pH meter that just means you pegged it. The high range is your true pH.

The microbe stuff was more than likely a waste of money, sorry.

Your best bet to reduce the concentration of ammonia and nitrites is a water change. 50% today, 50% tomorrow, and 50% each day until the nitrites are under 0.5ppm. The good news is you have nitrites, so you have bacteria already converting ammonia, you just need to get the nitrites under control so your fish can make it while you mature the nitrite half of the cycle.
 
#20 ·
Sometimes Nitrobacter bacteria take several weeks to develop, and they are responsible for the conversion of Nitrite to Nitrate. Be patient, and don't worry. The toxicity of NItrite at pH levels above 7.0 is very small. Just wait it out.
 
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