cousinav

My tank is now about 5-6 weeks old. It's a 10 gallon tank with only 2 little neon tetras in it. I put Biospira in the tank about a week and a half ago. The nitrites are at zero, the nitrates are between 5 and 10, but the ammonia is back up to 1 ppm from about .5. I changed the carbon 3 days ago. What am I doing wrong? Why would the ammonia still be so high? I was away for 2 and a half days and left some of that gel pack weekend food in there which I don't think they even touched. Could the food have spiked the ammonia? I just don't know what to try anymore. Shouldn't the bacteria be doing it's thing by now?

Shawnie

Hi cousinav...the carbon, after so many weeks, just releases the ammonia it removes back into the tank....carbon gets old and does this...most dont use carbon unless they are removing meds....fish feeders arent that great either I just feed my guys before I leave and a couple days of not eating, doesnt hurt them...Im not sure if the feeder did it or the carbon or none of the above, but do a 50% water change and try to keep the faith with bio spira..it says not to test for 7-10 days so everything can adjust...you are just in a mini cycle or at the end of your cycle, because you dont have nitrites and you do have nitrates...goodluck!

sirdarksol

Yes, it should have. The food could have spiked the ammonia, but the bacteria should have taken care of that, as well.
Have you used anything like ammo-lock or Amquel? These chemicals sometimes mess with ammonia readings.
Sorry, unsure beyond this.

cousinav

The only thing I used was Prime. I changed the carbon b/c I thought it would help with the ammonia. It was brand new carbon 3 days ago. I guess I'll do a 50% water change with the Prime, remove the carbon and cross my fingers.

Shawnie

I know its so frustrating...but your fish will appreciate it...your tank isnt that big so it should remedy quickly...50% changes daily, treated with prime of course, and in no time it should all balance out...I didnt know about any of the nitrogen cycle before this site, and I have a 75 gallon with fish that I had to take care of...it took me 9 weeks to cycle it ....phew I dont miss that a bit! what test kit are you using?

cousinav

I have the API Master Kit. Should I start vacuuming the gravel again? It sure needs it but I was avoiding doing so after adding the biospira.

Shawnie

id just do a lite surface vacuum....great on the api test kit....just try not to get too frustrated...

Alaska

First off, do a water change... maybe 25%, with gravel vaccing. Test your tap water for ammonia to make sure it isn't causing a problem.
Now wait a while. If the ammonia still hasn't gone down, your test kit may be faulty. Buy a new one.
If you continue to have a problem, do a more thorough cleaning. Scrub the filters, gravel etc (no soap!). You could also try adding some hardy plants like java fern and such. Plants use ammonia and nitri/ates as a fertilizer (google silent cycle). As long as you don't buy fancy ones they shouldn't need extra lighting.
Good luck!

Shawnie

NOOOOOOOOOOOO you never wanna clean the filters..gravel..etc while cycleing...or even if u arent...you will cause a mini cycle...never clean anything fully just rinse it in old tank water when you do water changes...

Alaska

Accumulated mulm in filters and in the gravel can cause ammonia spikes. I assure you that there's nothing wrong with scrubbing the parts down in dechlorinated tap water with an algae sponge that has never been used for non-aquarium purposes.

Shawnie

all the GOOD bacteria is mainly in your filter and filter media...scrubbing that at any degree of pressure or with anything other than rinseing it in used tank water, will either totally mess up your cycle, or start a mini cycle all over...it will kill the beneficial bacteria ...i agree a lite vacuum of the surface for extra poo, or food is ok...but not a total cleaning

angelfish220

Normally you could get away with it but now it can disrupt the bacteria cousinav is desperatly trying to grow.

did you vacume latly before the ammonia spike? I would just let is set unless it gets really bad, then just suck some gunk off the top nothing more. Dont do anything that can disrupt bacteria and keep doing big water changes.

Alaska

Which is why you don't replace all the filter media at the same time. We're talking about a very lightly stocked tank- 10g with only 2 neon tetras (by the way, if you want to see better schooling behavior about 6 or more is the recommended amount of small tetras like P. innesi)- a good cleaning isn't going to hurt it much and it could help significantly.
Cousinav- has the tank always contained just the two fish, or have you had a loss recently?

angelfish220

I think that he got the fish, and then learned about the nitrogen cycle, and is waiting for his tank to cycle before he gets any more.

cousinav

I lost quite a few fish. Those are the only two that survived the cycling and I didn't want to add any more until it was finished.

I haven't vacuumed the gravel in over two weeks. When I add water, a lot of schmutz starts floating around. I try to scoop it up with the net. Maybe that's enough for now until the cycle finishes.

My kids are eager to get more fish but they will just have to wait. I hate disappointing the little ones (fish and humans).

Shawnie

I lost alot also from not knowing...but good that you know now and are waiting.........you are doing everything right and im sure it will happen fast with just 10 gallons

Alaska

Ah yes, well I would certainly agree that you should hold off until everything is fixed! It just popped into my head, and I figured I'd mention it.
I assume that when the fish died, you removed them immediately? I've had cases where people are complaining about mysterious ammonia spikes, and I said, 'hey, poke around under the rocks and plants' and voilà, they found a little fish body that was rotting. Anything's possible.

sirdarksol

Agreed on the filters, disagreed on the gravel.
Vacuuming the gravel does minimal harm to the cycle, but greatly helps lower the nitrogen released into the tank.