Ammonia Maintenance

I am hoping that someone can review what I have been doing to make sure I am not missing something here. For the past week and half, going into the second week I have been battling a presence of ammonia in my 10 gallon tank. Here is a brief summary as to what happened before and after I noticed the ammonia spike:

• Family made a surprised visit and stayed for a week (I live out of state from them). Because of this visit I rushed and made a 20% water change on my tank without testing the water. I fed the fish once per day while the family was here.
• After the family left (they were here for a week) I tested the water. This was when I noticed a spike in my ammonia levels. The results are as follows: pH 7.6, Ammonia 4.0 ppm, Nitrites 0 ppm, Nitrates 10 ~ 20 ppm. Once I saw this I immediately performed a water change of about 20 ~ 30%.
  • I tested the water again for ammonia about 1 or 2 hours after the water change and it dropped to 2.0 ppm. Nitrates dropped to 5.0 ppm. Performed another water change.
  • I tested the water again and the results were as follows: Ammonia 1.0 ppm, Nitrates 5.0 ppm.

Since noticing this spike I have been testing my water daily and performing water changes as needed. On average, my results have been pH 7.6, Ammonia 0.50 ~ 1.0 ppm, Nitrites 0 ppm, and Nitrates 5.0 ppm.

I also upgraded the filter and did not replace the cartridge so I don't believe I jeopardized my BB. I even cleaned the substrate (as best as I could) to see if this made a difference. It did for one night, I went as low as 0.25 ppm for Ammonia (which is normal for me) but since then I've been average 0.50 ~ 1.0 ppm for Ammonia.

What am I missing? There have been days in which I've performed 3 water changes sparingly. Hope someone can help and perhaps remind me of something that I may be missing.

Thanks in advance.

 

Any chance you have a KH kit to test?

 

Any chance you have a KH kit to test?

My apologies. Yes, I do have a test kit. Those readings have been stable. They are as followed:

- KH 89.5 ppm
- GH 89.5 ppm

Thanks.

Edit: I have also tested my tap water. The results are:

- pH 7.4
- Nitrites 0 ppm
- Nitrates 0 ~ 5.0 ppm
- Ammonia 0.25 ppm

 

Huh. Strange. No clue on my end then. Didn't sound like you mess anything up badly. I recently experienced a ridiculous and very stubborn ammonia spike out of nowhere, and it was from a plunge in my KH. Hopefully someone can be more helpful. Sorry bud

Edit: maybe do a stock take of your fishes, and see if any is missing/dead?

 

Huh. Strange. No clue on my end then. Didn't sound like you mess anything up badly. I recently experienced a ridiculous and very stubborn ammonia spike out of nowhere, and it was from a plunge in my KH. Hopefully someone can be more helpful. Sorry bud

No worries. Thanks for your input.

 

What fish do you have in your tank? I'm surprised at 4ppm ammonia that your fish aren't dead already.

I would be doing larger water changes of at least 50%. You want to get it down close to 0 as possible. Do you have a good water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia like Seachem Prime?

 

What fish do you have in your tank? I'm surprised at 4ppm ammonia that your fish aren't dead already.

I would be doing larger water changes of at least 50%. You want to get it down close to 0 as possible. Do you have a good water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia like Seachem Prime?

At one point I performed a 70% water change and I was planning on doing another larger one today. Yes, I do have Prime and have been using that. As for the fish, I have one Dwarf Gourami and 4 Guppies. Thanks.

 

Are you not vacuuming your substrate? Overfeeding on days when family wasn't over? These could also be contributing to high ammonia.

Also, just in case it wasn't mentioned to you before, your DG is too active for a 10g. You may want to consider rehoming or upgrading in the near future.

 

Are you not vacuuming your substrate? Overfeeding on days when family wasn't over? These could also be contributing to high ammonia.

Also, just in case it wasn't mentioned to you before, your DG is too active for a 10g. You may want to consider rehoming or upgrading in the near future.

Ah, I was under the assumption that the DG was fine for my size tank. It seems to be happy in the environment I have provided for it, but eh... I don't speak fish language. I'll see what I can do.

At first I did think that I may have overfed the fish, but usually I stop the feeding once I see them slowing down with their intake (never lasts longer than a minute or so). As far as the substrate... Yes, I vacuum it as best as I can. In fact, I did another water change just now and vacuumed portions of the substrate. I plan on doing the same on the other side on the next water change today.

 

Yeah, I'd be more watchful to make sure they're not overfed and then just do larger water changes w/ gravel vacs. Let us know how things go.

 

Yeah, I'd be more watchful to make sure they're not overfed and then just do larger water changes w/ gravel vacs. Let us know how things go.

Thanks. Should I hold off on feeding them today to see if this makes a difference overnight?

 

Are they bloated or look overweight to you? If not, just feed sparingly (and just once today). Do your water change of at least 50% and then see what your water parameters look like afterwards.

 

They don't seem bloated, but I'll keep a close eye on them. I'll post an update later today. Thanks.

 

Okay, I hope I am getting somewhere. Here is what I did today:

- Performed a 30% water change this AM and after an hour or more I checked the water again for Ammonia and Nitrates: 0.50 ppm Ammonia, 5.0 ppm Nitrates.

- Re-checked water again early in the afternoon: Ammonia 0.50 ppm, 5.0 ppm Nitrates.

- Performed a 50-60% water change in the after (after checking the previous levels). An hour or so after I checked my levels once more: Ammonia 0.25 ppm ~ 0.50 ppm, Nitrates 5.0 ppm.

In the water changes I performed I also vacuumed my substrate, trying to get as much waste as possible. One question I do have is, on an established tank, should I expect to see my ammonia levels be 0 ppm at some point when my water source has 0.25 ppm of ammonia?

Thanks.

 

It should be 0 though members here have also reported getting a 0.25 ammonia reading even though they've had a cycled tank for months. IIRC, the reading is actually ammonium which the API test can't differentiate.

 

Interesting. OK... I'll keep monitoring again and hopefully tomorrow my ammonia level is more stable (i.e. Reading of 0.50 ppm and not 1.0). Thanks for the help el337

 

Once your tank is cycled, it should easily be able to process the ammonia in your source water within 24 hours. And if you are using Prime, that ammonia will be detoxed for 24 hours. So your fish will never be exposed to ammonia in a toxic form.

 

I think I may have figured out the source of my ammonia spike. I have the suspicion that it was a combination of me overfeeding the fish at times and not cleaning the substrate well enough.

One thing I've come to notice is that the first time I performed a 50-60% water change when I noticed the ammonia spike... I moved the substrate as I was vacuuming the substrate to get as much waste as possible. Ever since I started maintaining the tank to control the ammonia level... my tank water has been a bit cloudy.

Am I accurate with this suspicion? Thanks.

 

Did you test the water after the large water change? If ammonia is now 0 or close to it, then your assumptions are correct.

The water will appear cloudy for a bit right after a water change since you've disturbed the substrate.

 

I did test the water this morning for ammonia and it was between 0.25 ppm to 0.50 ppm. The water has been cloudy for consecutive days now. I've done some water changes in between to maintain my ammonia level and each time the water has been cloudy (before and after water changes).

 

If it's continuing to be cloudy, it may be a bacterial bloom. It should go away on its own. Once the cycle is established, it will process that ammonia as mentioned before. Just keep testing daily and adding Prime until the ammonia is fully processed.

 

You might find this link helpful:


One thing it explains is that water changes can actually prolong a bacteria bloom. But it is better to have cloudy ammonia free water, than it is clear water with elevated ammonia.

 

+ 1 on the probable bacterial bloom. Annoying but harmless. Keep doing what you are doing until your tank is cycling the ammonia in your tap water within 24 hours.

 

Just wanted to give a final update on my status. It seems like I was able to get things under control and all the fishes seem healthy. I did a deep cleaning of my tank yesterday and the water is much more clearer. I think I avoided a brown algae outbreak. Also, my ammonia has been stable at 0.25 ppm. Pretty happy with the outcome.

Thank you everyone who assisted me with this process!