RWC

I took a sample of water to the local fish store and my nitrates checked ok, my pH was ok, but my ammonia was high. I recently lost a few tiger barbs and red wag platys. Why would my ammonia be high if I already cycled my tank?

CHoffman

How did you cycle your tank??..How long has it been cycled and how do you know it was cycled??...Also you could just be going through a mini cycle..Did you change your filter media or do a big waterchange??

agabr123

you could have sent yourself into a mini-cycle or crashed your cycle for a lot of reasons.

how many fish do you have in the tank and what types? have you replaced your filter media or used any medications? have you changed out or rinsed your substrate? did you get a test for nitrite? and how high was nitrate and pH?

sorry for all the questions, but they'll help the members figure out what's going on

capekate

Its possible that your tank is over crowded and your Pleco will be a big waste producer which can raise your ammonia level.With over crowded tanks its hard to avoid this problem.
edit: Also I see you are using salt in your tank, which is not a good thing for quite a few of the fish in your list..

Shawnie

alot of things cause ammonia...overstocked, overfeeding and lack of water changes, meds, new filters, improper cycle products, not fully cycled, stressed fish produce more waste, and answering some of the questions others have asked, can help alot...

RWC

I only have 19 inches of fish in a 29 gallon tank so I hope overcrowding isn't the problem. My tank is a month old. I used my friend's established tank to cycle my bio-wheel a week prior to starting my own tank. The first 3 weeks went fine, then I started to lose some of the initial fish. I've only added a couple of fish each weekend. I had the ph test fine, a nitrate, nitrite test which was ok. Ammonia was high. They also told me to add salt and do a 33% water change which I did. The pleco is only 1-1.5 inches so I doubt he could be the problem. Could part of the problem be that I was doing 1/5 water changes once a week during the 1st month?

Since finding this out I replaced the cartridge for the 1st time. During the 1st month I rinsed the cartridge a few times when the bio-wheel started to spin very slowly.

In the tank I have tetra, hatchetts, mollies, corys, and plecos.

agabr123

what specific fish do you have? and do you mean 19 inches now or 19 adult inches? the pleco (if he is a common pleco) will get extremely large and be much too big for your tank, they need a 55 gallon minimum. even now his bioload is probably too much for the tank.

RWC

I got a clown pleco so he wouldn't get too large for the tank. I have 19 current inches of fish, full growth would be 33 inches.

Shawnie

plecs size dont matter its their waste that does..id say IMO that the media you used, wasnt established or strong enough to hold the cycle process with the fish you added..inches per gal is more for small fish and the plecs are probably the culprit....you can fix things with daily water changes of 30-50% with some prime or stress coat+ and keep up with that every day until the cycle finishes ..rehoming the plecs and maybe getting some ottos in their place would be a good idea ....goodluck!

EDIT: dont use salt as plecs cant tolerate it ....

CHoffman

You shouldn't use salt with any fish that doesn't have scales like your pleco..It's really is an irritant to them. A week isn't really long enough to seed the filter media with as much bacteria is needed. Since you've been adding fish this whole time I would say your tank was never cycled to begin with and just can't keep up and the ammonia just is building up...When you have any reading of Ammnoia, or nitrite you should do daily 50% water changes to keep the levels down and not cause harm to the fish.

agabr123

hmm, okay. replacing the cartridge could have been your problem. i never replace mine, i just rinse them in tank water that i've taken out for a water change.

any medications or any other changes in your tank?

RWC

No medications yet. I will do water changes for the next several days and do another reading towards the end of the week. I realize now that I added too many fish too soon, and thought that leaving my bio-wheel in an established tank for a week wasn't enough. My only concern now is that the pleco and corys make it.

Thanks to all.

Shawnie

getting that salt out and finishing up the cycle will be work but it will be so worth it and its only going to require patience and lots of water changes for a few weeks...dont give up!