RivendellTS

Everything was going along just fine and then I just HAD to get a new fish. Then everything went to heck in a handbasket and fast. First I had a MMplaty female that had come with the tank. She was never right...she was mishappen. But she seemed to be otherwise healthy. She up and died about two days after I put the new fish in. Within a few days I noticed my silver dollars had ICH. Then the new fish died. , Increased the temp to 82 and treated the tank. In the next few days I lost two silver dollars, and all four neon tetras. Took about two weeks but Ich is gone But here's where things went really wrong. My filter system has the charcoal filters and the "sponge" stuff as well. When I discovered the Ich I took the charcoal filters out per the instructions. I didn't want to risk reintroducing the Ich into the tank from filters that had been exposed so I tossed them and once the fish were clear I put new filters in (figuring that the sponge stuff would hold the bacteria as well so I should be fine...right....not!!). That was about 10 days ago. Everything was fine until yesterday (water parameters "normal"...nitrates 20, ammonia and nitrites 0, pH 7.4). The all of a sudden I am getting unusually high ammonia readings. As I discovered just about 2 hours ago, part of my problem is my tap water. It is well water and usually I get a zero (VERY light yellow) ammonia reading from a sample right out of the tap. Not today....today the tap sample was green.

So how do I fix this mess.....and yes I know NOW I should have quarantined the new fish but that's water under the bridge. I just want my nice cycled tank and good water parameters back and not to hurt any of the fish I have left.

jdhef

Well while it's good to see you around again, I'm sorry it's under these conditions.

While some bacteria will grow on the carbon, carbon needs to be replaced every 3 weeks or so, and the removal of the carbon should not cause a mini-cycle. If your tank is cycled it should be able to process any ammonia that is in your tap water, although you may want to do smaller, more frequent water changes to try to keep the ammonia levels as low as possible. You could also consider using bottled water until your tap water gets back to normal.

Additionaly if you treat your tap water with Prime, it should detox the ammonia in your tap water long enough for your tank to get it processed.

Good luck!

Lucy

I'm really sorry about your fish
Tough lesson to learn about the importance of a Q tank.

I'd suggest daily water changes with Prime to keep the ammonia down until the bacteria can catch back up.
At that point the bacteria should process the ammonia coming from the tap.

However, since you have well water, you should probably find out why there's ammonia in it.

Good luck!

Edit: John!

RivendellTS

Yeah even my 13 year old asked why there was ammonia in our drinking water!!!

Ok - I saw Prime in PetSmart so I will go tomorrow and get some. How long should I have to do that for? And....I did set up a 10 gallon tank about 2 weeks ago to use as a q tank so I can get some more fish. Remember my 55g was already established when I bought it so I haven't really had alot of experience cycling a tank. I was unable to find safe start and the local pet supply place told me I can use StressZyme instead. Any other practical advice for getting the 10g ready for fish?

Lucy

The stresszyme may have something to do with the tank readings. It really won't help the cycle. It doesn't have the right kind of bacteria.
Imo, you should stop using it.

A Q tank doesn't have to be set up all the time. Just put some extra sponges in the big tank. They'll seed the 10g for when you need it.

RivendellTS

Thanks Lucy -I didn't put the stresszyme in the 55g. I put it in the 10g to try to get it to cycle. As soon as I get my 55g "fixed" I will put the 10g filter and sponge in the 55 g. How long do I need to keep the 10g stuff in the 55g tank for it to seed them. And then can I put the 10g stuff back in the 10g tank and put fish in it immediately? I am assuming if I do not put fish in right away then I will have defeated the purpose of the seeded filter because there will be no fish waste to keep it going. Right?

I did a water test this morning and all the readings were back to normal but I suspect that is a function of the not quite 50% water change I did last night. I plan to do another water test tonight, and then another water change with prime (after I go get some today on my way home from work).

RivendellTS

Also...how am I going to know when the tank is back to normal and how long can I expect it to take to get back to normal? If I am doing daily water changes it seems like the readings in 24 hours will always be fine. Ironically, thru all of this, my nitrites have remained at 0 my pH is steady and my nitrates are lower than they have ever been (running 5-10 when normally they are more like 10-20).

BTW the ammonia spike...is that what is considered a mini cycle?

Lucy

You'll know when the cycle is back when your bacteria can process the ammonia and readings are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites with some nitrates 12-24 hours after the last water change.

Yes, a mini cycle is when you get an ammonia or nitrite reading in a previously established tank.

jdhef

The ammonia spike would be considered a mini-cycle. I have a feeling that the ammonia in your tap water is what caused this mini-cycle. Your tank was basically in equalibrium, meaning there was enough bacteria to process all of the ammonia your fish produced. But once you added tap water containing ammonia there was more ammonia than there was bacteria to process it, causing a mini-cycle. But now that there is more ammonia, there will be enough ammonia to feed and grow a larger colony of bacteria, so when the larger colony grows, your tank will be back in equalibrium.

So, keep using Prime until your ammonia readings are back to zero. I think that the Prime will still test positive for the detoxed ammonia. What I mean is that even though the Prime detoxes the ammonia, I think it still shows up in the test kit as ammonia, because I don't think the test kit can tell the difference between detoxed ammonia and non detoxed ammonia.

Good luck!

Nate McFin

Were it me and the ammonia reading was normal(meaning 0) I would wait until the afternoon and check it again. If it still comes up normal you should be back to cycled. Just keep a close eye on the params for a few weeks. When ammonia is present even in the smallest amount do a water change. Too many water changes can be bad as well because the cycle will need some ammonia to process again.
Yes it is called a mini cycle. It is also possible that there was nothing wrong with your cycle but that excess uneaten food, plant material,decaying fish, or other was causing a build up of ammonia that was too much for your biological filter to process.When you did the large water change it may have just removed that ammonia leaving things in good shape.
The nitrites and trates would remain the same because without ammonia being process there wouldnt be any nitrites or traits created. Conversion goes something like this. Without the bacteria to process the ammonia ALL STOPS.
Ammonia>Nitrites> Nitrates
Hope things get back to normal soon!
Best Wishes,
Nate

RivendellTS

Thanks to all.

Back to my ? about the 10g. How long will it take to seed the 10g media in the 55g filter and can I add fish immediately to the 10g once the filter media is good to go?

Lucy

Give the media at least 2 weeks in the established tank.
Ime, it's good to go with a few fish 99% of the time.
As always keep an eye on your parameters to be sure.