40 Gallon Tank Ammonia trouble please help

Hi I’ve had fish for quite a few years and have about 10 tanks. We have issues but usually fix them, however I’m having an issue now.
My 40 gallon tank which was Well cycled and checked. I went away for a few days and the pump stopped working. The ammonia levels spiked a lot. We immediately did a water change and got the levels down.
The Next say the ammonia was spiked again. Changed filter did another water change added bacteria
Next day same thing. The only way to keep the levels down was a water change every day. Finally I realized that now I probably have new tank syndrome.
bought some ammonia lock and a ammonia filter insert and haven’t changed the water for over a week.
now my ammonia levels are at about .5 to 2 ppm. But nitrates are 0 and so are nitrites but still can’t get the ammonia down and I’m worried about my fish.
any ideas or advice would be helpful
Tank 40 gallon
2 pearl gaurami
3 panda corys
1 tiny polka dot pleco

 

When you say you changed the filter what did you do? Did you completely replace all of the media inside?

I think the best option though is to keep going with large regular water changes using Prime, as if you are doing a fish-in cycle, rather than ammo-lock. I’ve seen threads on here of people using ammo-lock and having issues with it.

 

Yes changed the entire filter as the filter that was on it wasn’t working. However the media for the filter has been used and dried. Replaced with new media three days ago
How long should I continue water changes. It was stressing my fish a lot changing the water everyday. Was also told that that is what caused the new tank Syndrom

 

Yes changed the entire filter as the filter that was on it wasn’t working. However the media for the filter has been used and dried. Replaced with new media three days ago
How long should I continue water changes. It was stressing my fish a lot changing the water everyday. Was also told that that is what caused the new tank Syndrom

I think the filter and media being replaced is what has caused the ‘New Tank Syndrome’, which is basically another name for an uncycled tank. Water changes won’t cause that as nitrifying bacteria isn’t free-floating in the water. Nor should water changes stress your fish - if anything staying in the water that they are in is more stressful for them.

You will need to keep up with the water changes to ensure that your ammonia and nitrite levels remain as low as possible until your tank is fully cycled again - I’d definitely recommend reading up on fish-in cycling too.

 

Ok thank you for the advice