Ammonia buildup?

1tankneverenuff

1tankneverenuff

CephHead
Feb 13, 2004
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Jacksonville, FL
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What up everyone? I've had my 33L and 10's doing good for some time now. All of the sudden it appears that they have had some serious ammonia buildup and I can't seem to stop it. I use Cycle every day, but it's not doing anything. I thought all of these tanks were established, but now they are falling apart and I think it's the reason why I just lost my Black Ghost Knife and one of my Marbled/Snowflake Morays :(. Anyone have any recommendations on what I can do? Even with water changes, the ammonia keeps coming back.

PS - The tanks are far from being overstocked with fish.
 
perhaps you could increase the amount of water exchange during the water changes? For example, say do 30% as opposed 10 10% every for days as opposed to twice a month? What is your routine maintenance schedule?
 
The cycle product isn't really proven to do anything. Just do water changes. Do a 20% change and test for ammonia if it is still above 1ppm then do another change. This may mean you end up doing many water changes in one day depending on the levels. But this is better than loosing more fish. Keep doing this as long as the ammonia creeps back up over 1ppm. It is time consuming but since you fish are still grwoing they are probably starting to create more and more waste, possibly faster than the bacteria can grow to keep up with it.
 
(1) 33L Gal. - Oddballs (Knifefish, Eels, Plecos, etc.)
(1) 10 Gal. - Candy Parrots
(1) 10 Gal. - Oscars
Click to expand...

Looking at your signature (without knowing the actual size of your fish)... Your tanks are definately overloaded. All of those fish will outgrow your tanks within a short time. So unless you plan on getting large tanks for your parrots, oscars and oddballs (in terms of 80gallons+) very soon I would consider trying to return them to your LFS and getting something more managable with tanks of your size.

From what I've read, it looks like your tank isn't cycled. "Cycle" isn't proven to do anything in terms of cycling a tank... I've tried it before, and it didn't reduce my cycling times. The only advice I can give you echos that of everyone else's. Do water changes. However, the only difference in my advice is don't do small ones (under 30%) do large ones... and daily. 50% a day should help reduce ammonia levels to less toxic levels. Keep this up until both ammonia and nitrite levels are consistantly at zero. If you change with dechlorinated water, your developing biofilter won't be adversly affected.

HTH
-Richer
 
Is there any other way to help this bacteria keep up with the waste produced? My 33L is my biggest concern because of the money in fish invested in the tank and because those are by far the coolest fish I have. This is what lives in the tank currently with no problems as far as attitude or aggression towards one another: (1) African Butterfly, (1) Silver Arowana, (1) Transparent Knife, (1) African Knife, (1) Clown Knife, (1) Peacock Eel, (1) Tire Track Eel, (1) Starry Night Eel, (1) Snowflake Moray, (1) Royal Pleco, (1) Clown Pleco, (1) Bristlenose Pleco, (1) Hifin Banded Shark, (4) Mystery Snails, (1) Wood Shrimp, and (1) Synodontis Catfish. Everyone is small now, and I plan on going for a nice big tank in the future when they grow. Kind of an awkward mix, but so far everyone has been livin' fine until this sudden ammonia buildup problem. The tank is quite thick as well, so everyone has places to hide.
 
Originally posted by Richer


Looking at your signature (without knowing the actual size of your fish)... Your tanks are definately overloaded. All of those fish will outgrow your tanks within a short time. So unless you plan on getting large tanks for your parrots, oscars and oddballs (in terms of 80gallons+) very soon I would consider trying to return them to your LFS and getting something more managable with tanks of your size.

From what I've read, it looks like your tank isn't cycled. "Cycle" isn't proven to do anything in terms of cycling a tank... I've tried it before, and it didn't reduce my cycling times. The only advice I can give you echos that of everyone else's. Do water changes. However, the only difference in my advice is don't do small ones (under 30%) do large ones... and daily. 50% a day should help reduce ammonia levels to less toxic levels. Keep this up until both ammonia and nitrite levels are consistantly at zero. If you change with dechlorinated water, your developing biofilter won't be adversly affected.

HTH
-Richer
Click to expand...

I know, I know. The Parrots and Oscars are soon to move on to friend's 55 gallon tanks. They were originally in the 33L, but **** happened and they had to be temporarily moved. Still, in each 10g there is a total of 3-4 fish. And there is only 2 baby Oscars in one 10g and 2 baby Parrots in the other 10g. My original plans have just gotten all messed up and having these tanks go outta control isn't helping :(.
 
In my (inexperienced) opinion, it seems like the 33 gal. is way overloaded with fish. If you could remove a few of them your problem would be at least reduced. All of them will grow to be large, and they will be stunted (if they aren't already) by cramming them all into the one tank. Seems to me it will be a never ending battle to maintain water quality with that many large fish.

If it were me, I would move them into a larger (cycled) tank right away or else reduce the bio load. Water changes will help the problem, but won't eliminate it IMO.
 
Unfortunatly the amount waiting for the fish to grow before moving them may be too late. Often fish get stunted when placed ina small tank. This is how the "fish grow to the size fo their tank" myth gets started. So as was mentioned I would start to move those fish sooner rather than later.

Also aggression is often stunted by overcrowding a tank. So if there is much more room then pay close attention as aggression may start to come out.
 
check tap water

You might also check the tap water, test for ammonia, dechlorinate, then test for ammonia again. Perhaps they switched to chloramine and didn't tell you.
 
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