Help Ammonia!

I apologize I have asked this in another forum but not getting an answer to my question. I have a 55 gallon with 2 small common goldfish. An aquaclear 110 power filter on one side and a marineland penguin bio wheel 200 on the other side. Both have carbon media that came with them. After several months the carbon particles was getting in the water. I took one out and replaced with sponge media and the next week I took the other out and replaced with spong media and then started having ammonia problems. With both filters I am told that I am suppose to replace the carbon media every six weeks or so. I didn’t want to do that and thought that sponge would be more beneficial for bacteria growth. After continuing to have ammonia problems my LPS owner advised I put back in a carbon media meant for the marineland filter so I did but 2 weeks later and I’m still having ammonia problems. Should I put the carbon media back into the aquaclear filter? It originally came with layer of sponge, layer of carbon, layer of ceramic rings. Please help me!! I don’t want to harm my fish and am not able to do every day water changes after Tuesday. I am also double dosing with Prime every day and daily dosing with pristine and stability.

 

If you replaced both filters with new sponge filters, that process will have removed a ton of bacteria your tank was using because bacteria lives there. So you are in essence recycling your tank.

So now you're going to have to monitor this tank like a hawk (readings daily) to give the bacteria enough time to build up on these new filters.

If you want to stick with the sponge filters (I love mine), put them back in, but monitor the ammonia levels daily and do water changes often to keep your ammonia levels at <=0.25 ppm to give the tank time to build up beneficial bacteria on those new filters.

What are your readings on ammonia/nitrite/nitrate right now?

 

Ammonia 1ppm, nitrate 10, and nitrite 0.
If the carbon components to the filters are suppose to be replaced every 6 weeks how does that restart the cycle? That means I would be restarting the cycle every time I replace those.

Should I add nitrifying bacteria?

 

Bottom line....Filter cartridge manufacturers want to sell more cartridges thus the recommendations to change them often. Most of what keeps your tank healthy lives in the fiber on that cartridge.

You can keep using one until it is literally falling apart or until it get so clogged up the water will no longer flow through it freely. What I do when that happens. I cut the fiber off of the worn out cartridge. I then put in a new cartridge along with the fiber I have just cut off the old one.

You never want to change out all of your filter media at the same time. You never want to replace the media in both of your filter housings at the same time. Do one of them one month and the other one the next and ALWAYS cut the old fiber off and keep it in the filter housing for at least a week or so after changing out the cartridge. .

 

So I’m hearing that replacing them within the same month was not right. Makes sense. And it sounds like I should keep the sponge in that I replaced the carbon media with in the aquaclear filter? I guess I should keep doing what I’m doing and maybe add some nitrifying bacteria to boost the cycle process?

 

So I’m hearing that replacing them within the same month was not right. Makes sense. And it sounds like I should keep the sponge in that I replaced the carbon media with in the aquaclear filter? I guess I should keep doing what I’m doing and maybe add some nitrifying bacteria to boost the cycle process?

Right. Just leave it alone for now as in don't take anything out. Personally I have never used any kind of bottled bacteria but it seems some folks do have some success with it.