SimonC86

I went on vacation for 2 days and my tank has gone out of whack. I lost 1 fish already. ammonia levels are off the chart somewhere around 8! pH has dropped to 6 when it was a steady 7 before I left, nitrate and nitrite are both at 0

Also tank is very cloudy. I did a 40% water change already, cleaned the filters with some de-chlorinated water. The levels were just checked with the API master test kit. When should i check again.



I merged your two posts.
Ken

jwokmuba2

kinda sound like a mini cycle has struck, at a bad time to, when your out of town, not good, also your tank looks over stocked with two king kongs and an oscar.... not saying it cant be done just that it might take more maintanance than other tanks....

SimonC86

So what to do now. Just wait it out?

jwokmuba2

you have to treat it like a cycle, daily 50% water changes and prime to detox the ammonia for 24 hours untill you get your test readings back on track, i have never had a mini cycle, so wait for some other members to reply

Lucy

Wow! on that ammonia reading. I'm sorry about your fish.
Personally, I would do a 50% water change now and another 50% later tonight.
Test tomorrow, see if there's an improvement. If there is, do 50% daily changes until the tank is cycled.
If it's still way high I'd do 50% in the am and again in the evening.

What are your nitrite and nitrate readings?
I would also suggest using Prime as your water conditioner to detox.

Good luck.

Beth1965

Did you clean the filters with de-chorinated tap water or declorinated water from the tank? This will make a difference.
Beth

Tony G.

I would do 50% water changes and use prime to detox the ammonia. If you could go out and get some tss. It will cycle your tank and make it safe for your fish. Please fill in your aquarium info.




Lucy and Beth!!

Lucy

Oh, just noticed the difference in Ph.
50% changes may shock them.
I change my answer to 25% changes 4x's today to prevent pH shock.

jdhef

Also, as your ph drops below 7 you start to get more ammonium and less ammonia. While still harmful to your fish, ammonium is far less harmful than ammomia. So having your ph drop may have been benificial to your fish in terms of ammonia poisoning.

SimonC86

Oh gosh. I'm worried. My Nitrate and Nitrite are 0, I dont know if they're supposed to be at this time, but it is. I will do another 25% tonight. I'm using Stress Coat and Stress Zyme a PH neutralizer from Seachem which brings it to 7.0. I cleaned one of the fiters with the water that I got from the change, and the other one I used water that I put stress coat in. Should I use some ammo lock? I think this is how I mess it all up in the first place, AMMOlock.. that POS, Should I rely on it now?

I also notice something different. My airstone, when the bubbles reach the top they're no longer fine bubbles. They're pretty big. They were fine sized bubbles when I left for DC. Stupid trip, is costing me my fishies...

jdhef

Nitrite 0 is good, Nitrate 0 is confusing. Assuming you had nitrate's before your cycle crashed, it is surprising that they have disappeared. Generally the only way to get nitrates out of your tank is through water changes (or if you have enough plants to use up all nitates). Are you sure your test kit is okay?

I would skip the ph adjuster. They tend to be prone to ph swings, and a steady ph is more important than trying to hit a number. I personally think ph is made out to be far more important than it actually is. (But there are exceptions for some fish such as Discus.)

If indeed you are not getting bad readings from your test kit, I would just do the daily water changes using Prime and not use the Ammolock.

jwokmuba2

i wouldnt worry about your airstone, when the air passes through it it creats erosion, my stone did the same thing after about three weeks of being in the tank. as for your ph , dont change it to fast, it can hurt your fish, like lucy said in post #9. i have never used stress coat,stress zime, or ammo lock, so idk what to do there. i mostly use prime, works for me.

oh to help with the post above, make sure you are hitting your nitrate bottle #2 on a countertop or table, just something hard, it takes alot to mix that #2 bottle. it will look cloudy if you mixed it good...

Lucy

I'd also suggest you stop using stress zyme. The bacteria isn't self sustaining, it'll die off quickly and may prevent the beneficial bacteria from developing by using the ammonia.

SimonC86

Okay the ammonia is down to 1 or less right now. I'm using Stress Zyme Stress Coat and Cycle I think it's by Prime. It's a bit better after water changes, but gets to around 1 after wards. There isn't anything dead in the tank. I've siphoned the gravel pretty well. The filters have been cleaned. I'm so confused. I don't want ANY ammonia in my tank. Theres only 8 fish in the tank. 3 parrots, around 3-4 inches 3 Flowerhorns 1-2 inches. and 2 plecos. I haven't been feeding them as much as they could eat because of the ammonia Levels. I have no clue what to do anymore.

Shawnie

hi simon ....you have to stop using stress zyme and cycle..stop cleaning out the filters also..thats where you want the bacteria to build up... ....continue with the daily water changes and let the tank cycle naturally..if you continue to use those 2 products, you will have to use them for the LIFE of the tank or it will crash again....once it is cycled, you are still going to have to do water changes more often as you have some huge waste producers in that tank and the ammonia will come back without them...

SimonC86

So if the ammonia spikes, just change it with dechlorinated water and that's all?

Shawnie

NO you need to do changes every day until you have 0 ammonia/nitrites and under 20 nitrates and the tank is cycled....not just when they spike....

peacemaker92

Hi Simon. Hope you solve your problem and mini-cycle as fast as you can. Poor lil' fishies. Keep us updated. Good luck!

SimonC86

Can I feed the poor fishes? They keep looking at me everytime I pass by because apparently I'm the food giver. I've given them very little bit of food to to just get by lately.

omnitheforsaken

I say treat the fish the same... don't overfeed out of sympathy but do feed them. Keep in mind that uneaten food contributes to your ammonia. If you're doing the water changes and allowing your filter to remain undisturbed as suggested then the fish should be fine with your chemistry, probably just rattled by the frequent disturbances. Even if you did overfeed you would probably remove the excess in 24hrs or less anyway due to your frequent water changes... but it's not a good practice.

So please... feed your fishies and good luck with this.

SimonC86

Thank you all for all your help. Thank you very much! Would anyone be interested in buying aquarium Resin ornaments?

jwokmuba2

try posting them in the buy/sell/trade forum, oh and pics would be nice.....

SimonC86

No matter what I do, it's reading 1 after water changes maybe a little less but around the same area.

Lucy

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia?

SimonC86

Lucy, I have. It shows 0. I've cleaned the gravel very well there's no casualties in the tank. It's been almost 2 weeks now

AlyeskaGirl

OK....I am really confused here.....in your aquarium info you put tank start date the 5th of this month. Correct? I am reading that you are having a mini cycle.....but according to your start date your tank hasn't cycled at all and that's why you are having high ammonia reading.

I agree, don't use Cycle or Stress Zyme. It doesn't work properly, plus you have to add it everytime you do a water change and that can get spendy.

Cycling with fish can take 6 weeks or longer. Just be patient and don't panic. I am sorry you lost a fish.

You don't want pH at 6...it's good as described above in a post but then there's a down side to it also. The only reason it dropped was due to the ammonia.

http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/107

You need to feed your fish only once a day when cycling a tank. Feed enough so that everyone gets something but doesn't allow too much to get to the bottom. Fish waste and excess food is a producer for ammonia. They say .25 is the minimum for ammonia reading but zero is better. It will be just as soon as the tank goes through the process. Must also do gravel vacs to keep the waste and excess food at a minimum. Which helps reduce ammonia from rising. Only rinse the filter media in bucket of tank water when gunked up. You don't have to rinse everytime you do a water change...just when you notice its getting gunky. Food and waste also gets trapped in there and contributes to ammonia readings. Just keep an eye on it and rinse when neccessary.