Betta Tank - High Ammonia

I have a 5.5 gal tank with one betta, a plant and a moss ball. I clean the tank weekly and do a 25-30% water change. The last couple weeks I changed the water and tested parameters the ammonia was 2ppm. This week the ammonia reading was 4ppm. I changed 50% of the water and the ammonia went down to 2ppm. I plan on doing another water change tomorrow. I also used some ammo lock. The betta seems fine. I’m not sure if I did my readings incorrectly or what could be causing so much ammonia. Nitrates and nitrites are both 0ppm. We feed pellets and blood worms and he eats most...a couple bloodworms he misses and I’ve seen them sink to the bottom. I vacuum the gravel when I do weekly cleans.

One possible issue:
Moss ball is sort of brownish gray so could it be dying? Should I remove it and try to revive it? Any reason it could be dying? I’ve only had it a few weeks.

 

Not sure about the ammonia, but the moss ball seems sick. In the wild they are kept tumbling by the current. You should try to turn the moss ball around and make sure all parts of it get light.

 

A few questions
How long has the tank been set up?
Did you cycle?
What do you add when you change water? i.e Dechlorinator
How do you test your water?

 

Not sure about the ammonia, but the moss ball seems sick. In the wild they are kept tumbling by the current. You should try to turn the moss ball around and make sure all parts of it get light.

Ok, I will try that!

A few questions
How long has the tank been set up?
Did you cycle?
What do you add when you change water? i.e Dechlorinator
How do you test your water?

I’ve had the tank for about a month but did not cycle it. I wasn’t really aware that was a thing until I already had the fish. When I change the water I use API water conditioner in my tap water. I’ve tested my tap water alone and it is 0ppm ammonia. I use API test kits with the vials and drops to test all parameters.

 

Ok so you're going through a fish in cycle. I think Ammo lock is what people usually recommend which you're using and 50% changes every day or 2. I also think a product like Tetra safe start would be helpful at this point to give the BB a kick start.

What is your PH?

 

PH is right around 7. Is a high ammonia like this typical when cycling? And what does tetra safe start do?

 

Yes, because there isn't Bacteria present to convert it to Nitrite and Nitrate. I believe Tetra safe start adds the bacteria you need to start the process.
It can take anywhere for 2-8 weeks for the cycle to complete, TSS should reduce that.

With the tests make sure you shake them really well, both the bottle and the tube. It can effect the results otherwise.

 

Ok, I will try that. I shake the test vials back and forth hard for at least 5 seconds. Hopefully that’s sufficient. Thanks for the help!

 

So I’ve been doing 50% water changes daily, and the ammonia is definitely going down, but yesterday it was .25ppm and today it was .5ppm after my water change. It’s been over a week and I was confident it would be 0ppm by today and now it’s going back up! I removed the moss ball days ago because it’s definitely dying. He eats most of what he is fed but sometimes a couple of the bloodworms will sink before he sees them. I’m fairly sure he grazes along the bottom though too. The live plant does have some brown spots on it so I don’t know if it could be dying and causing ammonia to go up. Any other tips or dk I just need to stick to daily water changes until I get a 0ppm reading?

 

Ok, I will try that. I shake the test vials back and forth hard for at least 5 seconds. Hopefully that’s sufficient. Thanks for the help!

For the nitrate test, you need to shake the Bottle #2 for 30 seconds before adding the indicator solution to the test tube. Then you have to shake the test tube for 60 seconds, then let it sit for five minutes to read the results.

For a fish-in cycle, add the ammonia and nitrite test readings. Do water changes to keep the total ppm number at 1 or below. Your fish will be fine and your cycle will progress.

After a month your tank should be well on the way to being cycled, especially after adding the moss ball. Live plants will provide seed bacteria. Not a lot, but enough to get things started.

I've never used bottled bacteria. If you use it your test readings won't make sense, and you can't do water changes for a period of time. I prefer to be able to read my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and control it with water changes.

 

For the nitrate test, you need to shake the Bottle #2 for 30 seconds before adding the indicator solution to the test tube. Then you have to shake the test tube for 60 seconds, then let it sit for five minutes to read the results.

For a fish-in cycle, add the ammonia and nitrite test readings. Do water changes to keep the total ppm number at 1 or below. Your fish will be fine and your cycle will progress.

After a month your tank should be well on the way to being cycled, especially after adding the moss ball. Live plants will provide seed bacteria. Not a lot, but enough to get things started.

I've never used bottled bacteria. If you use it your test readings won't make sense, and you can't do water changes for a period of time. I prefer to be able to read my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and control it with water changes.

I should have added for the nitrate test I do shake longer. I follow the instructions on the card in the test.

 

I would also like to add, a tank flush is a good idea here, it is just 5 50% water changes with 30 min periods inbetween changes.

 

I would also like to add, a tank flush is a good idea here, it is just 5 50% water changes with 30 min periods inbetween changes.

No FF, a tank flush IS NOT a good idea. Why would you think it is in a cycling tank?? And where did you ever get that idea from??

 

I couldn't find any information about your filter in the comments. Do you have a filter?

 

Actually a tank flush is perfectly fine. It is not harming bacteria or anything. It is just 50 percent water changes.

edit- plus it will help remove ammonia, it is literally a 100% water change broken up to make it easier on the fish.

 

I couldn't find any information about your filter in the comments. Do you have a filter?

Yes, there is a filter and a heater in the tank.

 

Actually a tank flush is perfectly fine. It is not harming bacteria or anything. It is just 50 percent water changes.

edit- plus it will help remove ammonia, it is literally a 100% water change broken up to make it easier on the fish.

Five 50% water changes 30 minutes apart? Really?

Any water change produces stress on fish. Three hours of invasive water changes doesn't make sense.

I've never heard of this "tank flush" thing. Where did you hear of this procedure?

It sounds like you're being aggressive with water changes, which is good.

From reading about your situation, it seems you have two problems, ammonia buildup and the cycle is not progressing.

The ammonia is coming from somewhere. If your tap does not have ammonia, and there's not a large dead thing in your aquarium, the culprit is probably overfeeding. Try cutting food back by half and see what happens. Test readings are the best way to determine whether you're feeding an appropriate amount.

You say you're cleaning the tank once a week. Are you cleaning the filter? If so, it's not going to cycle. The majority of bacteria resides in the filter.

A small tank is more difficult to cycle and keep stable.

 

Yes, but the ammonia is on the tank, even more stress. The fresh water will help make it's immune system stronger.

Many discus owners do 50% every day. Do you see the discus stressed?

I found that procedure on another forum.

 

You'd have to have an ammonia level of 8 ppm to support doing 5 50% water changes. 8 ppm x 50% = 4 ppm x 50% = 2 ppm x 50% = 1 ppm x 50%= .5 ppm x 50% = .25.

If your ammonia was that high, I think one 90% water change would be less stressful than 5 50's.

Edited to tone it down a bit. Sorry.

 

One 90% would shock the fish too much. You don't have to do it every thirty minutes.

I forgot to mention, with the 50% add 25% then wait a bit then add the rest of the 50%.

 

Actually a tank flush is perfectly fine. It is not harming bacteria or anything. It is just 50 percent water changes.

edit- plus it will help remove ammonia, it is literally a 100% water change broken up to make it easier on the fish.

No FF, 5 50% water changes back to back are unnecessary. What happens to an uncycled tank if ammonia is constantly removed?

 

What happens to a fish when ammonia is never removed?

 

Let’s not let the Op’s question get overlooked here, if you want to continue your discussion on tank flushing then please start a new thread

 

Instead of the API conditioner, I would suggest using Seachem Prime. It not only dechlorinates the water, but it makes up to 1ppm of ammonia much less harmful to the fish. Use that, and I would do 50% water changes daily until you get this under control.

 

Part of the reason your tank has been running for a month and you still aren't processing ammonia may be because your pH is so low. Nitrosomonas grows best at a pH over 7.5. You could encourage faster bacteria replication by temporarily raising your pH safely with crushed coral or another carbonate rock source.