Hi, Ammonia spike in 9 month old aquarium

[heywally]

Hi my name is Mike and I am a newbie. There, now you know the truth. There are other things about me that I'll reveal later, after I have been assimilated into your 'fish culture.'

Nice forum - I've gleaned a lot of info here about filtration but I have a question. My situation:

Freshwater 46 gallon All Glass Bow front aquarium with plenty of plants. 9 months old. Currently in the process of replacing Emperor 400 with Aquaclear 110, (I like the idea of having the greater volume for the bio stuff as I have had ammonia problems) both running concurrently now though.

Fish: 5 Rasboras, 16 Jumbo Neons (4 have died), 2 newer Guppies (currently moved to another smaller tank, 6 have died in the past 3 weeks)), 4 Jellybean tetras (one dying I think), 1 Amber tetra (3 have died), 6 Otocinclus.

Even though I thought that I did plenty of research on things before setting up the aquarium, especially on the fish side, I have messed up the filtering by not maintaining/cleaning (other than changing the standard carbon cartridges) my Emperor 400. I had no bio media in the two extra cartridges (don't know what I was thinking since I knew about bio media but didn't delve into the nitrogen cycle enough) and I didn't clean the filter unit itself, causing it to have reduced flow and accumulated gunk, a bunch of which was released into my aquarium during several carbon cartridge changes. All along, I have done 15% gravel vacuuming water changes with a good water conditioner, every 5 days, so I thought I was being diligent.

Ammonia spike.

After several (2 and then 2 more from another batch) guppies died (thought at first it was something with that shipment), I finally did a water test (idiot) and found that I had an ammonia level at 1 PPM, which is what I'm assuming killed my guppies (idiot).

I'm replacing my Emperor 400 with an Aquaclear 110, to try and get a lot of Bio surface area. I bought 2 of these filters so my plan will be to completely swap them out every 3 months and do a thorough cleaning, but reusing/moving the existing foam/bio media into the new filter.

It's been 2 weeks since I set up the new improved filtration. Ammonia level is down but still at about .5 ppm. Nitrites/Nitrates are minimal, I have been doing almost daily 15% water changes since I discovered the ammonia problem. So, it seems like the cycling is not complete.

My question (and would appreciate any other input): should I continue with the 15% daily gravel vacuuming water change given my scenario or am I hampering the cycling process? Obviously, I really don't want the ammonia level to spike up much higher again but OTOH, are the bacteria getting enough ammonia to establish themselves? My gut feel is to continue with the daily water changes and just be patient that the cycling will take a while. Also, I tested my treated water change water to make sure that was at 0 ppm ammonia and it was.

Thanks!

 

[Dixon]

i moved this for you to a section where your question will be answered.
welcome to AC

 

[donfenk]

You seem to be on the right path -
Continue with the water changes - might want to try a 40% change every few days rather then the small 15% changes daily. This will keep the ammonia and nitrite levels in check while the tank cycles.

Its ok to continue to vacuum from the bottom to remove uneaten food and waste as this contributes to ammonia levels.

Remember when cleaning the filters - this is where the good stuff mainly lives - so you never want to replace everything at once.

Also try feeding the fish slightly less (i am not saying you are feeding too much - but alot of folks new to the hobby tend to over feed - this results in uneaten food decaying and also the more the fish eat the more they poop).

Only once your Ammonia and Nitrite levels are Zero can you be assured your tank has reached it fully cycled state.

 

[Reddog80p]

Hi,

Welcome to AC! There are very knowledgeable and friendly folks here to help. Enjoy your stay! The problem to me seems to be a lack of a big enough bacterial colony, to keep up with the ammonia your fish are producing.

Some tips on filter cleaning and maintenance.....
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97498

 

[yourchoice]

Are you adding a water conditioner?

Most peope like Prime.
Add 2 drops per gallon.Removes chlorine,chloramine,ammmonia.Detoxifies nitriite and nitrates,Provides slime coat.

 

[heywally]

You seem to be on the right path -
Continue with the water changes - might want to try a 40% change every few days rather then the small 15% changes daily. This will keep the ammonia and nitrite levels in check while the tank cycles.

Its ok to continue to vacuum from the bottom to remove uneaten food and waste as this contributes to ammonia levels.

Remember when cleaning the filters - this is where the good stuff mainly lives - so you never want to replace everything at once.

Also try feeding the fish slightly less (i am not saying you are feeding too much - but alot of folks new to the hobby tend to over feed - this results in uneaten food decaying and also the more the fish eat the more they poop).

Only once your Ammonia and Nitrite levels are Zero can you be assured your tank has reached it fully cycled state.

Thanks for the suggestions; my main concern with the water changes was not being too extreme with them within the context of needing to keep the ammonia down until the cycle finishes but maybe 40% not quite as often is a better way to go - I don't know. Yes, am not overfeeding and in fact am feeding every other day. It's funny, when I was a kid and had guppies, it seemed like they never died and I hardly did anything to the tank (and I know I over fed them)- I must have had lots of beneficial bacteria in there!

 

[heywally]

Hi,

Welcome to AC! There are very knowledgeable and friendly folks here to help. Enjoy your stay! The problem to me seems to be a lacbuk of a big enough bacterial colony, to keep up with the ammonia your fish are producing.

Some tips on filter cleaning and maintenance.....
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97498

Thank you - yes, based on what I've read, I've loaded up the Aquaclear with bio media and the foam but that setup has only been up and running for about 10 days.

 

[heywally]

Are you adding a water conditioner?

Most peope like Prime.
Add 2 drops per gallon.Removes chlorine,chloramine,ammmonia.Detoxifies nitriite and nitrates,Provides slime coat.

Thanks, I'm using "Ultimate" which is supposed to do all of that. Also ran a water test on the freshly treated water to ensure that no ammonia was present.

 

[zazz]

I Understand your concern about underfeeding the bacteria, but your instinct was right, be patient and tank will cycle.
I would recomend larger water changes, dialy or every other day doesnt matter to me. You want to change enough water to keep the ammonia below .25 to avoid/minimize fish losses. Same goes for nitratite.
I would further recomend that you leave all filter media in place until the tank is cycled (0 ammonia.0 nitrites,presence of nitrates).
If something is clogged to the extent of restricting water flow ( not sure why it would get like that) then go ahead and swish it off in the dirty water you remove at WC.
Good Luck and let us know how it goes!
BTW< Love that avatar, looks a whole lot like my dog. although she would never stand still for the headwear.:dive:

 

[heywally]

I Understand your concern about underfeeding the bacteria, but your instinct was right, be patient and tank will cycle.
I would recomend larger water changes, dialy or every other day doesnt matter to me. You want to change enough water to keep the ammonia below .25 to avoid/minimize fish losses. Same goes for nitratite.
I would further recomend that you leave all filter media in place until the tank is cycled (0 ammonia.0 nitrites,presence of nitrates).
If something is clogged to the extent of restricting water flow ( not sure why it would get like that) then go ahead and swish it off in the dirty water you remove at WC.
Good Luck and let us know how it goes!
BTW< Love that avatar, looks a whole lot like my dog. although she would never stand still for the headwear.:dive:

Thanks much - Donfenk also recommended the larger water changes; I did the first of those yesterday. And good advice about the filter media - I just installed an Aquaclear 110 two weeks ago - replacing my Emperor 400 filter (though it's actually still running until this water problem gets fixed) - so leaving the foam and bio media in place until cycling completes should be reasonable. With my Aquaclear, I have one large piece of foam on the bottom and two bio media bags on top, no carbon bag. The Aquaclear recommendation is to swap out only one of those components at a time but from what I've read, people go a very long time with the bio media bags and just rinse out (with treated or aquarium water) the foam piece and reuse it. I've purchased a 2nd Aquaclear that I plan on swapping out the existing one with every three months, moving the existing foam/bio media to the newly installed filter. That way, I can give them (the whole filter unit itself) a thorough cleaning (impeller, etc.) often enough. The lack of cleaning (gunk released into tank, reduced flow) was one of the problems I created with my Emperor.

I'll update when this resolves.

Our dog Wally doesn't mind having some temporary minimal head wear on once in a while when we need to get cutesy pics (we call this one, Babushka dog) but won't stand for things like raincoats, little boots, and designer jeans. Got him at a shelter - think he's a mix of Chihuahua and Terrier.