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Posted by Kyle on February 19, 2006, 7:29 pm
Please log in for more thread options I have had a 20g aquariam since about thanksgiving... I've followed all
of the instructions, letting it cycle for about 6 weeks with starter
fish, when i started introducing more fish in (about 4 at a time) my
ammonia is still very high... its about 2.0 ( I tested it with the
freshwater master test kit from aqarium pharmaceuticals, inc.).... its
on the edge of being very bad for the tank... One of the fish that I
have put in the tank is an angel... (temp is at 81, i have a bunch of
the plastic plants, gravel and driftwood, i have a bubble wand and i do
a consistant water change every month) The angel lasted 2 days in my
tank and then died... we tried another angel and the same happened....
there are no signs of the dead angels or other fish in the tank as
being ill. I cannot get my ammonia down after doing water changes and
using ammo-lock. I do not want to put another pair of angels in the
tank until the ammonia is down... what should I do?!
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Posted by NetMax on February 19, 2006, 9:42 pm
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>I have had a 20g aquariam since about thanksgiving... I've followed all
> of the instructions, letting it cycle for about 6 weeks with starter
> fish, when i started introducing more fish in (about 4 at a time) my
> ammonia is still very high... its about 2.0 ( I tested it with the
> freshwater master test kit from aqarium pharmaceuticals, inc.).... its
> on the edge of being very bad for the tank... One of the fish that I
> have put in the tank is an angel... (temp is at 81, i have a bunch of
> the plastic plants, gravel and driftwood, i have a bubble wand and i do
> a consistant water change every month) The angel lasted 2 days in my
> tank and then died... we tried another angel and the same happened....
> there are no signs of the dead angels or other fish in the tank as
> being ill. I cannot get my ammonia down after doing water changes and
> using ammo-lock. I do not want to put another pair of angels in the
> tank until the ammonia is down... what should I do?!
1. stop adding fish, they add to your problem and cannot handle the water
shock
2. complete the cycling (until you have zero ammonia and zero nitrites)
3. stop adding ammo-lock (this can perpetuate the natural cycle)
4. dilute the ammonia level through aggressive water changes (30% a day
if needed)
The cycling is completed when the waste processing capability of the tank
= the amount of waste the fish produce (ammonia is their waste, mostly
released through respiration). This waste processing is done by two
types of bacteria (commonly called aerobic nitrifying bacteria) which
will take up residence everywhere in the tank (a bio-film which coats
everything) but primarily inside the filter media (so don't mess with
your filter). Don't overfeed (decaying uneaten fish food releases
ammonia) and use your gravel vacuum (organic solids or detritus in the
gravel should be removed so it doesn't dissolve into ammonia).
Some more info here:
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html
hth, cheers
--
www.NetMax.tk
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Posted by Kyle on February 19, 2006, 10:35 pm
Please log in for more thread options I have not put new fish in the tank because of the ammonia levels. I
feed twice a day and there is no uneaten food on the gravel. I
performed a 25% water change three days ago. I have only added
ammo-lock twice once since the water change. I have 9 fish in my tank
(5 starter fish and 4 others) that have survived... Since the tank is
about 3 months old i figured it would be through with the beginning
cycle... am i wrong?
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Posted by NetMax on February 20, 2006, 12:12 am
Please log in for more thread options
>>>I have had a 20g aquariam since about thanksgiving... I've followed
>>>all
>>> of the instructions, letting it cycle for about 6 weeks with starter
>>> fish, when i started introducing more fish in (about 4 at a time) my
>>> ammonia is still very high... its about 2.0 ( I tested it with the
>>> freshwater master test kit from aqarium pharmaceuticals, inc.)....
>>> its
>>> on the edge of being very bad for the tank... One of the fish that I
>>> have put in the tank is an angel... (temp is at 81, i have a bunch of
>>> the plastic plants, gravel and driftwood, i have a bubble wand and i
>>> do
>>> a consistant water change every month) The angel lasted 2 days in my
>>> tank and then died... we tried another angel and the same
>>> happened....
>>> there are no signs of the dead angels or other fish in the tank as
>>> being ill. I cannot get my ammonia down after doing water changes
>>> and
>>> using ammo-lock. I do not want to put another pair of angels in the
>>> tank until the ammonia is down... what should I do?!
>>
>>
>>1. stop adding fish, they add to your problem and cannot handle the
>>water
>>shock
>>2. complete the cycling (until you have zero ammonia and zero nitrites)
>>3. stop adding ammo-lock (this can perpetuate the natural cycle)
>>4. dilute the ammonia level through aggressive water changes (30% a day
>>if needed)
>>
>>The cycling is completed when the waste processing capability of the
>>tank
>>= the amount of waste the fish produce (ammonia is their waste, mostly
>>released through respiration). This waste processing is done by two
>>types of bacteria (commonly called aerobic nitrifying bacteria) which
>>will take up residence everywhere in the tank (a bio-film which coats
>>everything) but primarily inside the filter media (so don't mess with
>>your filter). Don't overfeed (decaying uneaten fish food releases
>>ammonia) and use your gravel vacuum (organic solids or detritus in the
>>gravel should be removed so it doesn't dissolve into ammonia).
>>
>>Some more info here:
>>http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html
>>
>>hth, cheers
>>--
>>www.NetMax.tk
>I have not put new fish in the tank because of the ammonia levels. I
> feed twice a day and there is no uneaten food on the gravel. I
> performed a 25% water change three days ago. I have only added
> ammo-lock twice once since the water change. I have 9 fish in my tank
> (5 starter fish and 4 others) that have survived... Since the tank is
> about 3 months old i figured it would be through with the beginning
> cycle... am i wrong?
I pasted back the previous posts for continuity. This is important if
you want others to see the data to help you.
What you're doing sounds correct, but you have an ammonia measurement.
You should not be able to detect any ammonia in an established tank. The
ammonia is converted to nitrites and then to nitrates. Zero ammonia and
zero nitrites means it is a cycled tank. If the tank already cycled,
then you have either upset something, or you are seeing a mini-cycle from
increasing the bio-load suddenly, however, a measurement of 2ppm (quite
high) suggests the filter got nuked. Also you have to do water changes
to clear the ammo-lock out. It messes with your readings and your
cycling. I think the method API testers use is to measure NH3 + NH4, and
ammo-lock puts NH3 into an NH4 ammonium ion state (non-toxic but
available for bacteria in theory), so your 2ppm could be much safer than
would appear. Unless you have a tester which measures only NH3 (toxic
ammonia), you will not know what is really happening in there, so follow
the directions 1,2,3 & 4 and you should be fine. Also check your pH.
Anything from 6.8 to 7.8 is fine. Under 6.8 and the situation starts
changing (less bacteria, little NH3). Over 7.8 and maybe Angelfish
should not be your first choice ;~). Patience, it'll settle with water
changes.
--
www.NetMax.tk
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Posted by Amateur Cichlids on February 22, 2006, 7:10 pm
Please log in for more thread options
>I have not put new fish in the tank because of the ammonia levels. I
> feed twice a day and there is no uneaten food on the gravel. I
> performed a 25% water change three days ago. I have only added
> ammo-lock twice once since the water change. I have 9 fish in my tank
> (5 starter fish and 4 others) that have survived... Since the tank is
> about 3 months old i figured it would be through with the beginning
> cycle... am i wrong?
>
>
Cycling in a tank doesn't only refer to the start up process as NetMax
eluded to. It's a constant cycle of ammonia to nitrites to nitrates to
plants to rot and decay to ammonia to nitrites, etc, etc, etc
Without plants and natural nitrate loss like you'd see in natural
environments, water changes serve the purpose of removing nitrates.
Drop feeding down to once ever other day until your cycle is stable.
It sounds that you have too many fish in too small an aquarium with too
small a filter. If the bio-load capability isn't enough to keep up with your
fish, the tank will never cycle. There needs to be filter media that gets a
constant flow of oxygenated water over it where the bacteria can grow
happily. This colony needs to be large enough to handle the waste load your
fish is making. This obviously isn't the case in your tank. Make sure
there's no dead fish anywhere, rotting in the drift wood, etc. This will add
to the ammonia levels.
If you get a chance, go to http://www.fishaholics.org and read the cycle
article on our site. If you don't like our site, do a google search on the
nitrogen cycle. Reading as many and as much as possible will help you
understand more than just the basics of the process.
I hope your ammonia problems get under control with minimal fish loss.
Good luck,
Tim
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> of the instructions, letting it cycle for about 6 weeks with starter
> fish, when i started introducing more fish in (about 4 at a time) my
> ammonia is still very high... its about 2.0 ( I tested it with the
> freshwater master test kit from aqarium pharmaceuticals, inc.).... its
> on the edge of being very bad for the tank... One of the fish that I
> have put in the tank is an angel... (temp is at 81, i have a bunch of
> the plastic plants, gravel and driftwood, i have a bubble wand and i do
> a consistant water change every month) The angel lasted 2 days in my
> tank and then died... we tried another angel and the same happened....
> there are no signs of the dead angels or other fish in the tank as
> being ill. I cannot get my ammonia down after doing water changes and
> using ammo-lock. I do not want to put another pair of angels in the
> tank until the ammonia is down... what should I do?!