Ammonia sky rocketed??

ltldrgn13

ltldrgn13

ltldrgn13
Mar 6, 2005
36
0
0
50
Boise Idaho
My ammonia levels sky rocketed within 72 hours... went from 0 to 8.0.

Last night I did about a 35% water change, complete gravel vaccum and removed and cleaned all the decor items... found a couple of died baby fish that I thought had been eaten.

Although today the ammonia levels are still at 8.0...

This tank has been up and running for a little over 4 months and hasn't had any major changes except the birth of some molly frys that most got eaten.

Any suggestions??
 
Find a better test kit???
8.0 ammonia would kill almost any fish, including cast iron danio's. Immediat high volume water changes, maybe several back to back should bring it down.

waht kind of filtration are you running? Although bacteria is housed on any available surface in the tank, decor and other items should not be a major part of your bio-filter unless you are extremely underfiltered to begin with.
Did you by chance replace your media as well, or clean it harshly?

How big is the tank, how many fish, how much and how often dso you feed?
What if anything are you adding to your water?
dave
 
That is an abnormally high reading. I would be surprised to find anything alive in that tank. It's very possible your test kit is wrong. Have you tried it on another tank? Also are you sure there's not anything else dead in there?
 
Tank info:

72 gallon bow-front:

Marineland Penguin 350 BIO-Wheel Power Filter

It have tons and tons of fake caves and natural decor.. so there are
at least 18+ different hiding places that I can come up with.. the
tank also is heavy planted (fake plants).

2 (2 in) Bala Sharks (will be moving to friends 500gal when bigger)
2 (0.75 in) Red-tail Sharks
1 (2 in) Rainbow Shark
3 (1.5 in) Zebra Danios
3 (.75 in) SwordTails
2 (.75 in) Dalmation Mollies
4 (0.5 in) White Clouds
3 (0.5 in) Green Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Tigar Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Gold Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Albino Barbs
2 (0.5 in) freshwater Drawf Puffer fish
1 (4 in) pleco

Yes I did change one of the filters (it has 2) but do I didn't clean the filter itself out. I change one of the filters every 2-4 weeks. Also I didn't scrub the rock just did a good vaccum. The decor/plants were not scrubbed just sprayed down with hot water.

As for feeding I feed two times a day once in the morning before work and once at night befoer bed... two frozen gum drops (blood worms or something along those lines) and a pinch of flakes. No more then the fish eat with a min or two. There isn't ever any food left over. Although I think the ammonia did spike because I let my son feed one night and he did feed way to much flake food, along the few died fry. I know I shouldn't have let him feed... :-(

I have added "Stress Coat" and some "Doc Wellfish's Aquarium Salt" to the water during water changes or when adding a new fish. But never more then the container says. And not at the same time. I was also told the salts were best for the type of fish I have. Other then that I have used 1/2 of the suggested amount of "Algae Destroyer Liquid" because I was getting quite a bit of algae growth. I was leaving the light on to long during the day.. it is now on a timer only on for 10 hours a day rather then 16 hours.

All the fish seem fine... other then a couple of the barbs doing dancing and head stands ones in a while but they have always done that. Although there is a very slight odor to the tank but nothing to major. My husband says he can't smell it though, so that might just be me.


I am 1000% sure there are no other dead fish in there I search and search.

Thanks for the help... I am going to do a quick test on my other tanks and see if maybe it is just my kit. It is about 2 years old... so who knows.
 
Oh ya the kit I am using is the Freshwater Master Test Kit....

I just tested my 20 gallon and it showed the ammonia at 1.0 which doesn't seem right... the tank has been up for over a year and 1/2. As of 2 weeks ago no one is living in it, but I have kept it up and running. I was planning to get some live plants in the next few weeks and try my hand at those.. then add a few different kinds of neons.
 
I am almost certain that the test kit is bunk!
Quite simply, you would have lost a bunch of fish if your ammonia was anywhere near 8.0. You have some tough fish, but not a tank full of all tough fish, and as said even a danio isn't apt to live through ammonia that high.

I'd take a sample to the LFS, and have them test it. You really do need to find out for sure if you have an ammonia issue, but I would not at all trust your test kit.

Also do some research on salt, You don't need it, it isn't good for your fish long term, it costs 3-6 times as much from the pet store as it does from the grocery store, and there are far too many myths out there about it's use.
The salt levels you are creating are completely unnatural, and completely unneeded for your fish. It's just the LFS's way of removing your money from your wallet and putting it in their cash register. And they are doing it at the expense of your fish which they will happily replace after they die.
http://www.aquasource.org/CMS/modul...ns&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=54&page=1
http://tcoletti.tripod.com/molly_salt_debate.html

Dave
 
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