[schoch79]

Hi guys. So I know about fishless cycling but my question lies in fish in cycling...kinda. So I have a tank that used to have fish in it but after having a few fish die...old tank syndrome or disease....I let the tank sit with no fish for a while. Anyway, I did several complete or near complete water changes then decided to start stocking. The tank is 75g by the way. So the fish in there now are 3 cories and 5 guppies. Every day I test for ammonia and end up doing a large (50-75%) water change. Every day I test it it looks to have between 2-4 ppm ammonia only 24 hours after the water change. Before starting to stock this tank I did a good clean out of the dirty filter so Im assuming the ammonia isn't from there. The only thing I didn't clean out is the fake rock decorations that are hollow but open so water/debris can get in them. I really doubt that few fish is making that much ammonia daily. What do you think? Is the ammonia from the fish or dirty inside of the decorations?

 

[Finch401]

Hi schoch if I was you before you started I would've cleaned out the tank and decorations in a vinager solution and rinsed thourghly
Did you change all the media in the filter? Might be an idea if its been sat idle for a significant amount of time
Is there any plants in the tank? These could also help
One last thing I wouldn't recommend using any Corey's or bottom dwellers for cycling I personally would just use the guppies

 

[jeaninel]

The beneficial bacteria colonize in the filter and on surfaces in the tank such as decorations, driftwood, etc. By cleaning out the filter and tank you've killed off any BB that were dormant in the tank and so now starting a new cycle. Keep you the daily water changes and keep testing.

As for why the ammonia is so high it's possible it's just from the fish. Did you test your tap water to see if you have ammonia in it? Could there possibly be a deceased fish stuck somewhere in an ornament?
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[schoch79]

I have tested the tap water and it tests good. I even test the tank water after a water change and the ammonia is definitely way better. It is completely possible that there is a dead fish in the ornament but not from the current stocking. As weird as it sounds even with the high ammonia I haven't lost a single fish....yet. In fact even my baby guppies that were just born in this tank, are still living and in my opinion doing well. I'm just shocked if this much ammonia is being produced in 24 hours by such a small amount of fish in a relatively large tank. Just seems weird to me so I was actually leaning towards thinking it was something in the ornament. I was mostly asking if anyone thought that it could just be the current stocking making so much ammonia though. Thanks for helping.

 

[Hallyx]

It seems unlikely that those few fish would generate that much ammonia in a 75g tank. As Jeanine and others have suggested, I'd look elsewhere for the ammonia source.

I hope you're using Prime or other ammonia-locking conditioner to detoxify the ammonia. Its protection lasts only for a day or two, so daily dosing of 2-drops/gal (for that much ammonia) would enhance security and your piece of mind.

 

[schoch79]

Yep daily prime and water changes until things straighten out. I'll keep you guys posted.