Levels spiking??? Emergency

A week ago my aunt got her 10 gallon aquarium water tested at petsmart, the employees said it was fine. But one of her fish died so, I brought my test kit over and did a water test. The nitrite was at 0. The ammonia was in between 0.25 ppm and 0.5 ppm. The ph was a at 8.0-8.2. The nitrate between 40 and 80 ppm. We have no idea what to do. We have been trying to figure out what could of spiked this and came up with two options: the fish dying or my younger cousins deciding to throw a ton of fish food into it. Any ideas or suggestions???

In the tank there is: 2 Julii-eyed corydoras and 2 mollies.

The tank has been up since June 26th, 2021.

 

both of those would cause an ammonia spike, though the tank is just not cycled. just keep doing water changes until the ammonia is down to 0 which is where you want it. you're going to have to do a fish-in cycle because cycles aren't finished in just a week. just do tests daily and if ammonia and/or nitrite is higher than 0, do a 50% water change with dechlorinated water (I use Seachem Prime and Stability). If you don't have Prime, I suggest getting it. it will keep your fish from dying from the ammonia.

 

both of those would cause an ammonia spike, though the tank is just not cycled. just keep doing water changes until the ammonia is down to 0 which is where you want it. you're going to have to do a fish-in cycle because cycles aren't finished in just a week. just do tests daily and if ammonia and/or nitrite is higher than 0, do a 50% water change with dechlorinated water (I use Seachem Prime and Stability). If you don't have Prime, I suggest getting it. it will keep your fish from dying from the ammonia.

Oh, okay thanks!!
Wait I forgot to mention the tank has been up since June.

 

Oh, okay thanks!!
Wait I forgot to mention the tank has been up since June.

Fish In Nitrogen Cycle Simplified this link is to another forum post that will break down the cycling process for you. That should help, though there's plenty of people you can ask here who can walk you through it if you get confused.

 

Fish In Nitrogen Cycle Simplified this link is to another forum post that will break down the cycling process for you. That should help, though there's plenty of people you can ask here who can walk you through it if you get confused.

Thanks, but the tank has been up for 8 months so, I’m confident it’s cycled.

 

It could be from overfeeding. Does excess food get vacuumed during WCs? Has your aunt changed out any filter media? How often and how much water does she change? It could have spiked from a lack of adequate WCs, overfeeding and/or if she replaced her filter media.

First things first she needs to do large WCs to get ammonia and nitrate down. Two 50% WCs should help.

 

It could be from overfeeding. Does excess food get vacuumed during WCs? Has your aunt changed out any filter media? How often and how much water does she change? It could have spiked from a lack of adequate WCs, overfeeding and/or if she replaced her filter media.

First things first she needs to do large WCs to get ammonia and nitrate down. Two 50% WCs should help.

Yes, she takes out roughly a gallon a week. She says she changes the filter every three weeks. I don’t believe she over feeds them. She feeds them once daily.

 

Thanks, but the tank has been up for 8 months so, I’m confident it’s cycled.

That's my bad! I misread your original post as she got the 10 gallon this week, whoops. I would just do 50% water changes if the ammonia isn't at 0. Daily testing until it is and you should be okay. I'd still get the Prime if you can, to save any fish from having issues with the ammonia spike.

 

I think the tank is cycled, I think the "spike" is mild considering a dead fish in the mix. I question whether the dead fish is the cause or a symptom though.

The nitrates are high, and should be dropped through a water change, the ammonia will go down with it.

Anything dead, or decaying uneaten food will release ammonia if left in a tank. either way the ammonia will turn over to nitrates as an end product. it's not the Ammonia that's under 1ppm that concerns me much, a test can read .25 ammonia in error. if a fish dies overnight and you fish it out in the morning,
or some kid dumps a jar of food in there and you clean it up the moment you notice it, it has little effect it's just not there long enough to dump out ammonia to the water is crazy amounts.

No offense, but I'm just saying, I test my water, I don't take it to the pet store to be tested. if the aunt had slacked off on routine water changes and switch to topoffs as "good enough" and the petsmart kid didn't catch it and spitballed the test just for ammonia and nitrites rather than really care and test it, well that's what it would likely look like as a test result.

Anyways, the "fix" is:
"do a partial water change, then do another, safe nitrates in drinking water for humans according to the government is 10ppm, aim for that or lower for the fish and you'll rarely have issues and happy fish!"

If you aim for 10ppm, and it goes to 25ppm and you water change it's not a big deal, if you are at 10ppm nitrates and you get busy and skip a waterchange, it's not a big deal at that point either.

She got 2 cory and 2 mollie, a 10 gallon tank, and doing a 10% water change weekly and has nitrates 40-80ppm.... no nitrites, and a little ammonia.... it really doesn't add up quite right.....

 

Yes, she takes out roughly a gallon a week. She says she changes the filter every three weeks. I don’t believe she over feeds them. She feeds them once daily.

That explains it. By throwing away her filter cartridges and replacing them she is throwing away the majority of her beneficial bacteria thus causing a mini cycle.

I would look into DIY media so that she doesn't have to replace it. Or at the very least have her cut off the the material from her old filters to seed new media she is adding. I would also increase the amount of water she changes weekly to 50% to keep nitrates low once you get them under control.

 

That's my bad! I misread your original post as she got the 10 gallon this week, whoops. I would just do 50% water changes if the ammonia isn't at 0. Daily testing until it is and you should be okay. I'd still get the Prime if you can, to save any fish from having issues with the ammonia spike.

It’s all right!

That explains it. By throwing away her filter cartridges and replacing them she is throwing away the majority of her beneficial bacteria thus causing a mini cycle.

I would look into DIY media so that she doesn't have to replace it. Or at the very least have her cut off the the material from her old filters to seed new media she is adding. I would also increase the amount of water she changes weekly to 50% to keep nitrates low once you get them under control.

Ah ok, thanks!!

 

I think FoldedCheese hit the nail on the head. Instead of changing the filter, just clean as best as you can in the water you take out during a water change. I've been known to run a cartridge filter in an Aqueon Quietflow 10 for months before actually changing it out.