Too many fish too soon... AMMONIA !

H

homerr

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Mar 29, 2004
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Ok, I added too many a bit too soon, and I got the ammonia spike going on. :sad

I've been changing about 25% of the water daily. I'm using the RUFG filter system with 2 penguin 660R power-heads in a 20 gallon tank. The power-heads have the foam filters on the intakes.

The fish seem to be happy, and healthy. I haven't lost any.
The tank has been running for about a month.

Question is... How long can I expect the ammonia spike to continue? Is there any additive I can use?
I hate to waste any additives, as I am doing the water changes.
I'm on my own well, so I don't have chlorine problems. I also run in-line filters before the house to remove any smells, or metals.

I've read a bit on this forum about adding water from another tank etc... I was always told that adding water from the store's tank is a bad thing, so I've never done it?

Also, should I be cleaning the gravel at all, or would I be disturbing the bacteria growth?

Thanks,

H.
 
By now, in a normal cycling process, your ammonia spike should be subsiding. If it is not, your fish could be suffering long-term damage to their gills. At this point, the danger from fish store disease is less than that of the continued ammonia spike, so I'd go to your LFS and see if they will sell you a hang-on-the-back filter (whatever system they are using on their tanks would be best), along with a USED filter cartridge/sponge (fresh off one of their tanks). And a cup of gravel would also be very helpful.

Take all this home and set it up on your tank immediately, and your cycle process should be immediately accelerated. Ammonia and nitrites (the next and equally toxic step) in the cycling process should drop to zero very quickly.
 
You may also want to see if Bio-Spira is available in your area. It's one of the few bacteria-in-a-bottle products that seems to work by introducing the beneficial bacteria to your tank.

Even if you are not intending to have this be a planted tank, adding some fast growing plants, like anachris, will alos help reduce the ammonia levels.
 
Also, as a temporary solution, Amquel can be used to bind with the ammonia into a non toxic form if the ammonia levels remain high. The ammonia will still be in the tank so the bacteria can feed.
 
And don't limit yourself to 25% water changes. Do changes until the ammonia level drops below 1 ppm. That is the upper limit to the safe zone.
 
I've been using Amquel. So far, I haven't seen any noticable drop in ammonia.

I also have several live plants. They grow like crazy too!

I've used cycle, but I don't know if it's helping or not. Maybe it takes a while.

I like the idea of getting an external filter. I think I'll give that a try.

I typically do a 25% water change each night. Should I do a bigger change, or more often like 2 times a day?

Thanks for the help,


H.
 
Cycle hasn't been proven to introduce the right kind of bacteria into your tank. Wouldn't bother putting more of it in, but the Bio-Spira will help if you can find it.

More water changes, bigger water changes--I'd do a combination of both. Keeping the ammonia levels low is the important result, everything else is just how you get there.
 
OK, I tested the Nitrate, and its 0 - 5 ppm.
I will do a 50% water change this evening.

I also purchased a Penguin external filter that has the 'bio-wheel' and charcoal filter.

I figure I run this until my normal undergravel can take over.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to run external from time to time anyhow, or would it upset the cycle?

H.
 
FInd somebody with a Penguin filter with the same size bio-wheel as yours, and trade either the bio-wheel or the filter cartridge with them. This will immediately transfer a large amount of the right kind of bacteria into your tank. Then you can forget about Cycle and Bio-Spira.
 
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