I will be upgrading the Tigers to a larger tank at a later time as well.

 

It would seem that the ammonia is high and the pH is low because of all of the decomposing organic matter. Since there are zero nitrates, either that test is incorrect or this tank has not yet begun to cycle. You need to aggressively vacuum the gravel and do water changes to get the ammonia down (Frankly, assuming it's accurate, with that high a level, I'm surprised the fish are still alive.)

Note: If you do not routinely aggressively vacuum the gravel with an UGF, they are nothing but trouble. Even though I'm old school and have used UGF's in the past, I wouldn't bother with one now that we have so many other good bio-medias.

AD

 

I think that it is reading ammonium, but that still can't be good. It's not always this high. Normally it is 0-0.25ppm. It only reads really high right before and right after a water change. Maybe I need to change more water? I usually do 30-40% once a week.

 

We will need some more data. And as a caution, be careful with water changes if your tap water is basic (pH above 7) as the "ammonia" presently is ammonium in the acidic water, but if this becomes basic the ammonium which is basically harmless will revert to toxic ammonia and if it really is this high it will kill the fish.

For the additional data, what is the GH, KH and pH of your tap water? And what pH has been normal in the aquarium? Am I correct to assume this is not a new tank (you mention 2 months)?

On the cloudiness, I suspect this may be a bacterial bloom caused by cleaning the filter. It might also be connected to the ammonia. We can consider this when we have the numbers.

And I agree with AD on the UGF. If it is in the tank and working, shove the siphon hose down the airlift tubes to pull out waste from under the filter plate, and do good gravel vacuuming during the weekly partial water change.

Byron.

 

Tap Water:
pH 8.0 (Wow, I never knew this)
GH 77ppm (As of 12pm today)
KH ? (The guy said to call back tomorrow and I do not have a test kit for this.)

Aquarium:
pH 6.8-7.0
GH ? (Aparently they do not test for this in this town as I went all over the place to get it done. Nor do they have a test kit, nor do they have limestone and crushed coral or anything else other than buffers and pH chemicals)
KH ? (I can go have this tested if I need to.)

ReTest as of 1:05 pm Today:
pH 7.4 (After adding a VERY small amount of buffer at 12pm today. How could it go up that high?!)
GH ? (Assuming its soft as my snails shell has began to erode.)
KH ?
Ammonia 8.0 (Is it reading ammonium?)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Other Info:
It is not a new tank.
It was fully cycled before adding fish.
The water was cloudy for two days before I cleaned the filter.
I always gravel vac, but I will try the airlift tubes.

 

Ammonia is still reading high. Everything else has been the same as well. My babies are doing great though! I aggressively vacuumed the gravel and cleaned the under gravel filter the 14th. I changed the filter cartridge as the other one was a few weeks old(I rinsed the old one out every week). The water has really cleared up a lot and the pH is maintaining a 7.4. I am still unsure why the ammonia reads so high. I had thought it might be old or something, but I had used it on my tap water and my beta fish bowl and it reads those correctly.

 

I'm out of town, but I go back Monday. My grandma has been left in charge with feeding my babies. So far, so good.

 

5/21/12
10pm

Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0
Ammonia 8.0 (I'm going to do some research on this)
pH 7.4

 

That high of a level of ammonia is absolutely lethal to fish, if you have any in the tank, you need to do a massive water change extremely soon. The damage that would have caused to the fish is going to seriously shorten their lives.

 

When did you set up this tank, and when did you introduce fish? It does sound awfully similar to what happens when you add fish to an uncycled tank - ammonia spike (where you are at now), followed by a decrease in ammonia but a sudden appearance and then spike in nitrite.

Can you see if a 50% water change reduces the ammonia level to half of your current readings, i.e. 4 ppm?

 

It was cycled before I added fish. I've had them for almost three months now.

 

The ammonia at 8 in basic water (pH 7.4) is not possible or the fish would be dead. According to the API data, at ammonia of 2-3 ppm fish would all show stress, clamped fins, rapid gill movement, and deaths. At 4-5 ppm deaths would be over half the fish. If as you've said previously there is absolutely no sign of stress, one of the numbers (ammonia or pH) just can't be accurate.

 

What about AmmoniUM?

I also found out (just did a water change and I don't know why i didn't think of this before) that the water from our bathroom is 1.0-2.0 ppm ammonia. Before today, I would rinse of the filter cartridge in that water. Today I used the kitchen tap which is the one that reads 0.25 ppm ammonia for the cartridge. I always use the kitchen water for the water changes and condition the water.

Would rinsing the cartridge in 1.0-2.0 ppm have a large effect on the tank? I'm not going to use that water anymore, but I was just wondering.

Going to check levels soon once the water has cycled through the filter.

 

I would kill for 6.4 ph without aldar cones etc.

 

Forgot to mention on 5/21/12 that the water was no longer cloudy. I'm not sure when it first cleared up though because I was out of town and my grandma doesn't remember.

As of today my fish are still behaving normally(behavior of normal can be found in earlier posts). I have seen no signs of stress and I was home almost all day and night yesterday in my room (where the tank is located), so they behave normally at all hours. They do, however, do that weird thing where they swim almost straight down in place at night, but they have been doing that since I bought them and I have read that a lot of tiger barbs from places like petsmart do that. They only do it after the light goes off though... could it be that they are temporarily blind once the light cuts off?

 

On the ammonia, it will be ammonia (toxic) if the pH is basic (above 7), and ammonium (basically harmless) in acidic water (pH below 7). Which is why I said earlier that either the ammonia or pH number must be inaccurate.

Rinsing the filter cartridge in any tap water will kill the bacteria due to the chlorine (and chloramine if that is also added by the water folks). I suggest you rinse filter media in a pail of tank water.

On the light. Yes, the sudden on or off of the tank light does startle fish. The room must not be dark when the tank light comes on or goes off. There should always be some light in the room, whether daylight through the window or electric lights/lamps.

Byron.

 

Oh geez. Maybe my tank goes through mini cycles because i rinse the filter cartridge in tap water D: Wont be doing that anymore!

Maybe the pH is wrong. I'll buy a different kind of pH test today and see what that says. Any suggestions on the test? I have the API liquid one right now.

My room light is always on when it cuts out, though it probably wasn't when I was out of town. It might have been though because my beta light has to be turned off manually, so they might have had my light on to do that.

5/24/12
Ammonia 8.0 ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
pH 6 (And now it says six, so maybe it is the pH number that's wrong)