Hi, I am an aquarium professional in Cal and I am stumped on this one. The tank is a fairly large fresh water community (about 450g) and is also very deep, (about 48"). The problem is very high ammonia readings, in the .8-.9 range. The pH is also a problem (8.5) but I'm not as concerned about that right now. For some reason, the bio filters stopped working about 4-5 weeks ago. This tank is very well filtered and even has two seperate systems. I have been doing 50% weekly water changes along with adding double doses of bacteria. When I return the follwing week, nothing has changed. The water is clowdy (no wonder) and I am puzzled. Any suggestions?
Out of control ammonia!
- Thread starter Torey
- Start date
What bacteria are you dumping in there?
Can we get the nitrite and nitrate readings, please?
Roan
Can we get the nitrite and nitrate readings, please?
Roan
Torey,
You didn't answer my main question: what kind of bacteria are you putting in the tank?
If you are using Cycle or anything but Bio Spira, please stop. The nitrobacters in those other products have been known to cause nitrite spikes. Nitrobacters are not part of FW aquaria permanent biofilteration. They die very quickly and are eventually replaced by the correct bacteria. Unfortunately they often cause massive spikes in ammonia and nitrites in the process which will keep your "proper" bacteria from establishing themselves.
If you are using anything like that, change out the water until it's all out of the tank.
Roan
You didn't answer my main question: what kind of bacteria are you putting in the tank?
If you are using Cycle or anything but Bio Spira, please stop. The nitrobacters in those other products have been known to cause nitrite spikes. Nitrobacters are not part of FW aquaria permanent biofilteration. They die very quickly and are eventually replaced by the correct bacteria. Unfortunately they often cause massive spikes in ammonia and nitrites in the process which will keep your "proper" bacteria from establishing themselves.
If you are using anything like that, change out the water until it's all out of the tank.
Roan