i am beyond frustrated and am hoping somebody can help.I got a 55 gallon tank in Febuarary. I set it up wth two 55/75 aqueon power filters, a heater and a bubble wand. I went hrough the fishless cycle with ammonia. It took forever, but I finally got everything settled. I was using the liquid API kit. Got down to zero ammonia and nitrites. I forget exactly what the nitrates were. I bought one blood parrot fish. I kept the feedings minimal. I did small water changes and always treated new water with prime. things were going along well, then the ammonia statred to climb. I started doing more frequent water changes. Eventually it was off the charts high. My nitrates and nitrites went to zero. I was doing frequent, large water changes because I wanted to keep the poor fish alive.The fish eventually died. I'm thinking this was in June. I continued to do water changes, but eventually gave up. I test the water every few weeks and it's always the same. The ammonia is off the chart. I don't know what to do. I am tempted to just sell the stupid thing. Should I drain everything and start over? Has anybody else had this problem?
about to give up
- Thread starter werecatrising
- Start date
Are you saying that the fish died in June, and you have not added any more fish, but your ammonia is still off the charts? If the ammonia is still very high without any fish in the tank, is it possible that your water source is high in ammonia?
Yeah. I haven't added anything. There is a tiny amount of ammonia in the water if I test straight from the tap, but would the bacteria in the tank take care of it if there was any?
When doing water changes are you treating the water before you add it to the tank? Are you treating it as you add it to the tank- if so how much water conditioner are you using?
When testing your water from the tap are you doing so before or after you treat with Prime? To get a true ammonia reading you need to test treated tap water. Chloramine is converted into ammonia when broken down by the water conditioner. Prime detoxifies this into ammonium.
Have you used any medications in your tank, or any other additives to jump start your cycle, or anything else?
Before anyone chimes in that Prime will stall a cycle, from my personal experience it does not. It has been my go to conditioner for years and I actually just finished cycling a tank while using it.
When testing your water from the tap are you doing so before or after you treat with Prime? To get a true ammonia reading you need to test treated tap water. Chloramine is converted into ammonia when broken down by the water conditioner. Prime detoxifies this into ammonium.
Have you used any medications in your tank, or any other additives to jump start your cycle, or anything else?
Before anyone chimes in that Prime will stall a cycle, from my personal experience it does not. It has been my go to conditioner for years and I actually just finished cycling a tank while using it.
When I say a tiny ammon of ammonia in the water I mean the slightest bit of color the card shows. I ad the prime to the ew water while it is in the bucket . I have not checked my pH
tanker
Josh Holloway--Be mine!!!