Ammonia is up

[MamaPish]

I have been treating my Angles with Maracyn, they are now doing great I think no more corner crowding, and clamped fins, and the white film is mostly gone.....one still has a couple of tiny cottony spots...it was a large spot, and yesterday, I noticed a couple of them have a hole in their fins....like someone took a hole puncher to them...just not near as big .....yesterday was the 6th day, so I put in new filters and cleaned the tank and did a 25% water change.....
Should I treat the tank again since the one angel still has that spot, or will it go away? Why did the holes appear in their fins this late in the treatment?

Anyway...

I checked water before I made the water change and
pH was @7.0
Nitrates & Nitrites @ normal
ammonia @ 0

I made sure the water I put back into the tank had the same pH.

Today I get up and check the water again...

pH ...same
Nitrates & Nitrites...same
ammonia was up a little to .5-1.0

Anyone know why? Is that enough of a spike to worry about?
Could it be because I vacumed the tank last night?....I wasn't very dirty at all, but I did take out all decorations and clean them in hot water and then re-arranged everything.

How long will it take for the tank to clear up from the medication?
It looks tons better than it did.....but it is still a bit cloudy, can't see the background very well. 8)

My fish are finally nice to look at again .....I just want to make sure nothing goes wrong...... again!!

Thanks everyone!

 

[EddieW]

Oops - you shouldn't change all of the filter material at once and especially when you are also cleaning the decorations......

The friendly bacteria that clean up the ammonia and nitrite live in the filter, on decorations and on all of the surfaces in the tank. By far the biggest concentration is usually in the filter.

It sounds like you will have killed off most of your bacteria which has putt your tank back to the beginning of the cycle.

I would reduce feeding (to cut down on fish 'waste' produced) and keep a very close eye on the ammonia.

There are products to help reduce ammonia but this will slow down the growth of the bacteria in your filter, etc.

If you have another filter you could borrow from a running tank set this up alongside your existing filter. If you have a friendly LFS see if they will loan/rent you a filter that pad that has been in use replace ONE pad in your filter with that.

If you have a LFS that stocks a product called Bactinetts buy some - the boss of my LFS swears by them and I have had good results. Bactinetts are a live culture of the three different bacteria that will develop over time - if you add them to the filter media of a tank with fish it can reduce the cycling time to hours rather than days/weeks. Make sure you follow the instructions - if the LFS is any good they will go through them with you.

HTH, Eddie

 

[Angel Lady]

I have been treating my Angles with Maracyn, they are now doing great I think no more corner crowding, and clamped fins, and the white film is mostly gone.....one still has a couple of tiny cottony spots...it was a large spot, and yesterday, I noticed a couple of them have a hole in their fins....like someone took a hole puncher to them...just not near as big .....yesterday was the 6th day, so I put in new filters and cleaned the tank and did a 25% water change.....
Should I treat the tank again since the one angel still has that spot, or will it go away? Why did the holes appear in their fins this late in the treatment?

Anyway...

I checked water before I made the water change and
pH was @7.0
Nitrates & Nitrites @ normal
ammonia @ 0

I made sure the water I put back into the tank had the same pH.

Today I get up and check the water again...

pH ...same
Nitrates & Nitrites...same
ammonia was up a little to .5-1.0

Anyone know why? Is that enough of a spike to worry about?
Could it be because I vacumed the tank last night?....I wasn't very dirty at all, but I did take out all decorations and clean them in hot water and then re-arranged everything.

How long will it take for the tank to clear up from the medication?
It looks tons better than it did.....but it is still a bit cloudy, can't see the background very well. 8)

My fish are finally nice to look at again .....I just want to make sure nothing goes wrong...... again!!

Thanks everyone!

if your fish still has a spot on it do not stop the medicine it will just come rite back I have learn this the hard way.The next time it will be worse.

 

[MamaPish]

I didn't take out the gravel, and I didn't vacume the whole floor, because I just wasn't picking up much....and I left the smaller rocks in without cleaning them...I really don't think I killed off all the bacteria.....

But I do still have the filters I took out last night....should I put one back in?

As for the medication...... ....shouldn't I give them a break from it for a couple of days. It says not to use it for more than 5 days.... or would it be wise to go ahead and add it now, should I stay with the maracyn or use something else?
Can I use maracyn and maracyn 2 at the same time....seems like I read somewhere you could.

 

[Angel Lady]

I didn't take out the gravel, and I didn't vacume the whole floor, because I just wasn't picking up much....and I left the smaller rocks in without cleaning them...I really don't think I killed off all the bacteria.....

But I do still have the filters I took out last night....should I put one back in?

As for the medication...... ....shouldn't I give them a break from it for a couple of days. It says not to use it for more than 5 days.... or would it be wise to go ahead and add it now, should I stay with the maracyn or use something else?
Can I use maracyn and maracyn 2 at the same time....seems like I read somewhere you could.

the maracyn product are made to use with each other I have done a lot of research with these fish and they are one thing that I have learned that if they still have the spots on them and if you stop the medicine it will on prolong the problem.Try the tri sulfa that is made by the people that makes the maracyn I think it works better on the white spots better than the maracyn you can use all the products made by mardel with each other.

 

[fishme2death]

An ammonia spike happened to me too after treating a 55 gal tank with Erythromycyn for 4 days. It spiked one day then went back to normal. I now use a hospital tank so this wont happen again in the future. I am curious how this goes so it gives me information to use in the future if I would happen to have to treat the main tank again.
I am also curious about the Maracyn product too. I have seen it at the LFS, but havent used it yet. I do have an anglefish that I am treating for fin rot but am using a different med. I have also bought Melifix (sp) and placed in the tank too. So I am looking forward to finding out how it will treat the almost non existant biological.

 

[Angel Lady]

An ammonia spike happened to me too after treating a 55 gal tank with Erythromycyn for 4 days. It spiked one day then went back to normal. I now use a hospital tank so this wont happen again in the future. I am curious how this goes so it gives me information to use in the future if I would happen to have to treat the main tank again.
I am also curious about the Maracyn product too. I have seen it at the LFS, but havent used it yet. I do have an anglefish that I am treating for fin rot but am using a different med. I have also bought Melifix (sp) and placed in the tank too. So I am looking forward to finding out how it will treat the almost non existant biological.

those mardel products are the best by far in my book I know the maracyn works everything I have used by them has worked great and jungle makes good products to those 2 are the only thing i will bye. You can get stuff for fish a lot cheaper if you order this catalog call this number and tell them you want the catalog it is free and they are by far the cheapest the name of it DOCTORS FOSTERS &SMITH 1-800-826-7206 I HOPE THIS HELPS

 

[cichlidmaster]

It is very safe to do a second treatment!! Simply do a 25% water change the day after the first treatment is over and start the second treatment the next day!!

Mardel products are very good indeed!! Maracide by mardel is IMO the best ich medication there is (on this side of the pond anyway!!)

Drs. Foster and Smith are good, but Big Als online is better for pricing Big Als Online

CM

 

[MamaPish]

Thanks for all the info

I just put the old filters back in and used the last of the medication I had.

I guess it is back to the (not so) LFS today!
Wish I would have got the 100 pack last week!!

I do have the Doctors F&S catalog....but I didn't know about Big Als....I just ordered a catalog from them and looked around a bit online......and their prices are better....Thanks CM

My ammonia is still rising....it is @ 2.0-3.0 today, Nitrates and Nitrites are still fine..........any sugestions?

I will let you know how it all works out fishme2.....

Thanks again!

 

[MamaPish]

Just got back from (not so) LFS and I have started my 2nd round of maracyn
after a 25%water change and also started maracyn-two.

My question is about the ammonia spike.....I got a couple of different things,
1. Zeolite Granules......will this take the meds out of the tank or just the ammonia?
2. Ammo lock

Which one should I use??
I would like to get it under control soon......

any suggestions welcome and needed....I'm an idiot at this!!
Thanks

 

[cichlidmaster]

MamaPish,

Where to start???

Ok,

It sounds like you are indeed going thru a mini cycle!! By cleaning your filter and replacing the filter media with new, this lost your entire bacteria colony.

EddieW was correct in this respect. I don't think placing the old filter material back in your filter will help either...reason.....once the media dries out, and the lack of oxygen, the bacteria die off thus rendering it useless. Even if it remained wet, without a flow of oxygen to it, the bacteria will die!!

The Zeolite, as long as it is straight zeolite and not a carbon/zeolite mix should not remove the meds. The ammo lock....well I have heard mixed reports on this.

The problem however is threefold.........

1. If your tank is indeed going thru a new cycle, then using either of the ammonia products will delay the cycle from completion!!!

2. If you don't use it, you risk loosing fish to high ammonia levels!!

3. If you simply do water changes to keep the ammonia levels in check, you remove portions of the medication!!

What to do?

Here is my advice.............

After going back and reading all your posts....it sounds to me like the remaining "spots" are not life threatening!!

Discontinue treatment, carry out daily 20% water changes until the ammonia levels have zeroed out. You will also want to keep a close eye on the nitrites!!

By doing the water changes you will accomplish two things....

1. Diluting the ammonia...and

2. Pristine water conditions should keep the remaining spots in check or clear them up altogether!!

Keep the Maracyn on hand and once the ammonia has bottomed out and as long as the nitrites don't peak you can always redose for the spots.....if they are still present.

Hope this is not to confusing!!

One more thing......obviously if you decide to do the above....and the spots worsen, then by all means start the treatment back up and let us know!!!

CM

 

[MamaPish]

Well,
I got up this morning and read your post.....
checked the ammonia, and it was back @ 0,
I had added some old zeolite cartridges yesterday,before I went to the LFS I guess these may have reduced it.
Nitrate and Nitrites are still normal.................

I also added a couple of live plants last night, could that have helped?
These are the first live plants I have in the tank.

I am going to continue treatment since I have already started, and everything checks out ok, but I will take your advise on water changes if any problems arise with the water.


Thanks so much for sharing your expertise.....and time