no luck w/ ammonia

catfishbum

catfishbum

Large Fish
#1
Jan 29, 2006
161
0
0
bradford,NH
#1
i am having quite a problem with my ammonia right now and need some help. i have been reading for 3 days now on how to rid my tank of the ammonia it has and feel as though im more hopeless now than in the beginning.... My tank is cycled, been running for bout 2 1/2 months now with fish and my ammonia is reading 4-5 ppm, nitrite 0 nitrate 0. I did a 50 % water change yesterday and the day before after i lost 3 tiger barbs and it still reads 4 ppm. I had added ammo lock a few days ago but when it did nothing i started to focus on water changes. But no matter how much i search i cannot find anything or anyone with this problem. My water was dirty before the changes and has gotten clearer, and i reduced the amount of water in the tank to get more o2 in the water. I also cut back a bit on the feeding bout 50%. I need some serious help here before i lost my precious cats!!! should i possibly keep the water changes going, maybe buy a new filter? i cleaned the filter a few times in tank water bet is it time for a new one? argh.... what should i do??
 

G

Grymatta

Large Fish
#2
May 16, 2005
439
0
0
#2
Did something else die and is decaying on the gravel? did you gravel vac when you did the water changes? Its strange that the ammonia is still there even after water changes..
 

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#4
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#4
Definitely keep up with water changes and vacuum the gravel. I would not replace your filter cartridge at this point - you usually shouldn't unless it's literally falling apart. I would suggest moving as much of the decorations around as you can to vacuum everywhere - like grymatta said - maybe something is decaying.

Sounds like something happened to make your tank cycle again. Have you used any medications recently? Changed bio material in your filter?
 

catfishbum

catfishbum

Large Fish
#5
Jan 29, 2006
161
0
0
bradford,NH
#5
yes i did vacuum the gravel BOTH times, in fact i use the vac to remove water. im not missing any fish....to my knowledge i removed them the morning i found them dead. im going to do another 50% water change tonight, i just hope the water changes dont stress my fishes out too much....would the ammonia attatchments for the tops of the UGF work as well?
 

Limi310

Limi310

Superstar Fish
#7
Nov 30, 2005
1,101
5
0
46
Charlotte, NC
#7
I might be mistaken here - so someone please correct me.......Ammo Lock only detoxifies the ammonia, but doesn't get rid of it, so it may still register when you test the water because it is still present - only no longer harmful. Is that right?

However we still need to get to the bottom of why your tank is cycling again.
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#8
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
0
47
Florida
#8
Limi310 said:
Ammo Lock only detoxifies the ammonia, but doesn't get rid of it, so it may still register when you test the water because it is still present - only no longer harmful. Is that right?
Click to expand...
Yes, I've read that this is the case as well, although I don't have firsthand experience with it.

Limi310 said:
However we still need to get to the bottom of why your tank is cycling again.
Click to expand...
Absolutely!

Big Vine
 

G

Grymatta

Large Fish
#9
May 16, 2005
439
0
0
#9
What kind of test kits are you using?

I know that some ammonia-reducing chemicals might give a false positive reading on ammonia testing...

maybe its just reading ammonia when there isnt?
 

catfishbum

catfishbum

Large Fish
#10
Jan 29, 2006
161
0
0
bradford,NH
#10
the ammo lock detoxifys 3ppm per dose it doesnt get rid of it. but ive only put 2 doses in it. i am using a test kit from aquarium pharaceuticals i bought at petco, the freshwater master kit. honestly the fish dont look all that stressed or anything. my columbian shark flys around the tank at 55mph up and down but other than that the other fish are acting normal....with the exception of the 3 barbs that died. my cory is actively scrounging for food, the sun cats are fihstily eating and swimming in the ship. the only thing i noticed that is different is bruce (the shark) flickers every once in a great while like he wants to strech or swim reallllly fast. any other suggestions?
 

Brack-Man

Brack-Man

Large Fish
#11
Jan 18, 2006
267
3
0
52
In the cardboard box my fish tank came in
#11
Limi is correct, ammo lock only detoxifies ammonia it does not remove it, therfore you are probably just getting false positives, continue with water changes.

Are you aware that your Columbian Shark will eventually need to be moved into brackish water, and that they can reach lengths of up to 2 feet, and that they grow extremely fast as do most cats. he will sooner than later need a larger tank 20 gals is no where near big enough for him. Just a friendly FYI.
 

catfishbum

catfishbum

Large Fish
#12
Jan 29, 2006
161
0
0
bradford,NH
#12
yea i know he is going to be brackish and big. i am actually looking into a 76 gal right now but until i fix this problem i dont want to divert my attention any. I guess ill do water changes every night for a week or so or until ammonia goes down....thanks.
 

catfishbum

catfishbum

Large Fish
#16
Jan 29, 2006
161
0
0
bradford,NH
#16
well, i just finished about a 70% water change. found a biiiig messy spot in my gravel with a bunch if food in it. im hoping this will help my situation out since this has been a lot of work. everybody seems to look ok. i tested my water just in case today and all the readings were just fine so i ruled out the water i was putting in as the culprit. i will do another test tomorrow and see whats happening......its 12am here too tired to continue battle.....ugh*SLEEPING*
 

catfishbum

catfishbum

Large Fish
#17
Jan 29, 2006
161
0
0
bradford,NH
#17
well, i changed about 70% of my water but the readings are still around 4ppm of ammonia. i have just 2 barbs left and my pleco died today as well. im pretty mush at a loss...... Anyways im changing about 25% a night now to see how that fairs. i dont know what is up with my tank..... **very very frusterated**
 

catfishbum

catfishbum

Large Fish
#19
Jan 29, 2006
161
0
0
bradford,NH
#19
yes i tested my water and it had 0ppm of ammonia. i bought a hard water pillow today and some attatchments for the top of my ugf to help with ammonia. we'll see how this works....i am hoping to get to the bottom of this soon or i may lose everybody...
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#20
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
0
47
Florida
#20
catfishbum,

I know you just said you got new layers of filtration for your UGF, but I'm guessing that it is the UGF that might actually be a problem---Not what you wanna hear, right? Then again, you didn't want your fish dying either.

I once had a UGF and had a terrible time with it...admittedly, it was probably mostly due to the fact that I didn't maintain the tank as consistently as I should have (I have since changed that). I often ended up with all kinds of crud underneath the UGF, and so I decided to just remove it from my 10 gallon tank altogether and purchase an Aqua-Clear 50 (your typical 'run of the mill' "hang on the back of the tank power filter"), which made keeping the tank clean a great deal easier.

I'm sure that others have had better experiences using UGFs, but if it were myself in your situation, I'd pull it out completely, install a power-filter of some sort, and then immediately do a very thorough vaccuming job along the entire bottom of your tank.

That way you'll get everything that was under the UGF along the floor of your tank, and you'll see just how much crud was under there.

Sorry you're having so many difficulties with this tank at the moment. You'll figure something out, and your problems here will gradually pass...

Until then, best of luck to you.
Big Vine
 

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