Trace Ammonia in Established (?) Tank

[Grymatta]

I have a 6 gal. Eclipse tank thats been up and running for about 7 monthes now. I have 6 Neon Tetras and 1 Amano Shrimp in it.

I change the water weekly..two weeks if I'm busy. I used to do water tests regularly but stopped. Then yesterday, I decided to test the water. I was surprised that there was trace amounts of Ammonia in the water! Nitrite level was zero but there was a bit of ammonia.

I would have thought that a tank thats been running for 7 monthes would have cycled already? Is there something that I'm missing? Should I do anything or try to wait it out? I'm thinking of doing another water change and a very thorough gravel vac this weekend to see if it helps. Does Amquel or any of those ammonia locking products work?

thanks

 

[Lotus]

Your tank should definitely be cycled by now.

Have you tested your tap water once it's dechlorinated to make sure the ammonia isn't coming from the tapwater or from chloramines?

Are you certain that the test tube was clean and that the testing was accurate?

 

[Grymatta]

Thanks Lotus,

Yes, I did a separate test on my tapwater and it showed no ammonia.

Before i tested for ammonia, i rinsed out the test tube with water from my fish tank and then added a fresh batch of tank water. Then I added the chemicals in.

Could this be some sorta ammonia spike..i do see some dead leaves from my plants floating around the tank bottom. I'm sure I havent been overfeeding and I dont see any dead fish.

Any suggestions as to what to do?

thanks

 

[FroggyFox]

I think I'd probably do just what you said you were going to...do a pretty thorough clean this weekend and see if its still there.