New 125g Ammonia Problems

[mes1234]

hey there everyone. I have a newly setup 125 gallon aquarium that is housing quite a few fish which I am sure is creating a ammonia issue. I have 3 discus, 2 LG Angels 4 sm Angels, 6 Bolivian Rams, 6 pigmy cories, 2 bristlenose, 1 Red blood parrot. I have a brand new Marineland C-360 with a cycled Aquatech 30-60 HOB filter. Obviously the aquatech bacteria cannot keep up with the fish waste. Last night I did a test and I got readings as follows: Ammonia 1ppm, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH: 7.6. So I did a emergency run to go buy some ammo-lock which is just a bandaid to the problem. I checked the ammonia this morning after I did a 15% water change last night and added the ammo-lock, and the ammonia did go down. But the fish, mainly the discus, do not look like they are active and 2 of the 3 did not eat this morning. I am not too concerned with the eating part because they will eventually feel better when there is no ammonia. But as a fish lover, I am worried in general that a fish or 2 will not come around. I always think of the worst case senerio. Is there anything else I can do to make this tank cycle faster? I thought the HOB would keep the ammonia away but it isn't. Oh by the way, when I went on that emergency run I bought a bacteria suppliment to help cycle faster. I added recommended ammounts, so hopefully that will help. Check out my journal here, http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223599

 

[excuzzzeme]

Need all your tank water readings and how long has it been up and has it been cycled?

If I read your post correctly it hasn't been cycled and therefore you will need to maintain water changes as needed to keep the ammonia down. Cycling can take 4-6 weeks. Maintain large enough water changes to keep the ammonia down instead of resorting to chemicals.

 

[J double R]

hey there everyone. I have a newly setup 125 gallon aquarium that is housing quite a few fish which I am sure is creating a ammonia issue. I have 3 discus, 2 LG Angels 4 sm Angels, 6 Bolivian Rams, 6 pigmy cories, 2 bristlenose, 1 Red blood parrot. I have a brand new Marineland C-360 with a cycled Aquatech 30-60 HOB filter. Obviously the aquatech bacteria cannot keep up with the fish waste. Last night I did a test and I got readings as follows: Ammonia 1ppm, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH: 7.6. So I did a emergency run to go buy some ammo-lock which is just a bandaid to the problem. I checked the ammonia this morning after I did a 15% water change last night and added the ammo-lock, and the ammonia did go down. But the fish, mainly the discus, do not look like they are active and 2 of the 3 did not eat this morning. I am not too concerned with the eating part because they will eventually feel better when there is no ammonia. But as a fish lover, I am worried in general that a fish or 2 will not come around. I always think of the worst case senerio. Is there anything else I can do to make this tank cycle faster? I thought the HOB would keep the ammonia away but it isn't. Oh by the way, when I went on that emergency run I bought a bacteria suppliment to help cycle faster. I added recommended ammounts, so hopefully that will help. Check out my journal here, http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223599

Scratch the bacteria supplement. It won't do you any good. Using ammo-lock isn't going to make the ammonia go away, it is going to bind it so that it is harmless to the fish, so you will still get ammonia readings. Try using Prime, it works a whole lot better and is cost effective.

Remember - your biggest weapon against ammonia is WATER CHANGES. Do them, plenty of them, often, and more than 15%, until your tank is cycled properly.

I'm really surprised your discus are even around at this point, given their general sensitivity to most negative conditions.

 

[FastFly67]

sounds like you're going thru a mini cycle. the cycled HOB doesn't have enough beneficial bacteria to handle your bioload. water changes water changes water changes