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Water Parameters Through The Roof!

T

Toadeh

Member
Joined
4 May 2009
Messages
44
Location
N.Wales (Buckley)
And I do mean through the roof!

PH: 6
Ammonia: 4.0
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite:2.0

The tanks been running for over 12 months now, has been stable around 0 on all these and my PH is around 6.5-7 normally. THe fish stopped eating about 2 days ago, one tried to leap out and hit the lid and died so I checked the water and ammonia was up at .25 so I did a swift 25% change, added ammolock and did the same the following day.

Today I have just taken the above readings so I have changed 50% of the water, checked the filter and stired the sand to make sure there is nothing nasty in there. Tanks a little cloudy now but am assuming its from the sand being disturbed.

Tank is a 55 litre with a fluval internal filter, temp is 26 deg. Has a few ferns in there and a bit of grass (less now, I pulled most out cleaning just). Has got CO2 from fermentation but the checker says its low level.

Anyone think of anything I can do? or suggestions as to why its happened? The fish are quite happy to swim about in it mind 🙂
 
Those readings say something's happened to the nitrification cycle in your tank or you have dumped a load of waste in the tank somehow. Are there any dead fish hidden away somewhere? Has the filter stopped working or is it really dirty? Sounds like daily 50% water changes and checking the filter and tank might be in order then re-test.

My only other thought is the ammo-lock may be affecting the results from the tests kits, but fish jumping suggests some real issue rather than a test kit one.
 
Disturbing the substrate is only going to aggravate things. Leave it alone and up the water changes, 50% per day would not be too much until you get parameters under control!

Just my opinion, others may be more specific/helpful.

EDIT: Ed beat me to the daily 50% w/c. but disturbing the substrate will create lots of problems unless you do large W/Cs.
 
From what I remember, doesn't the ammolock stuff just change the ammonia into something that is ok for fish but will still show up on test kits?
The best way to remove ammonia is water changes and not using any products.
Just keep up with the 50% water changes each day and if you can, try and do more.
Try not to disturb the substrate but have a look in the filter to make sure nothing's clogged up in there.
 
Nice one folks. I checked the filter yesterday, its about a year old and is regularly cleaned in the tank water once a month. I am considering changing it for a U3 but I could do with sorting this out first.

So, back to daily changes with just decholorinator in and will keep you all posted.

Ta folks
 
Yes, as Clark said, because you've used ammolock, it binds the ammonia into a safer form but does not remove it, so it will still show up on test kits as having a high ammonia level because it is still in the tank. As the others have said, keep doing your 50% water changes until the ammonia has gone.
I would personally never used ammolock, hate the stuff, would much rather do a daily 50% change until its gone
 
On occassion when Ihave triggered my tank to start cycling agian it has takenup to two weeks to settle down again. Hang in there with the WC's 🙂
 
What's the fluval internal filter? I'm guessing something like a 2+? It might be worth considering a larger filter if you can aford it 🙂 If so, now would be a good time to get it in there IMO, so it cycles at the same time as your old filter...
 
When I had a fluval3+ (in a 160l) I triggered the tank to cycle on many occasions (usually following some major uprooting\rescaping). I switched to a Tetratec ex1200 and have never had this happen since.
 
Cool 🙂 Does your missus know that if your ammonia is high you should also buy an ADA tank and glassware as well? :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
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