Ammonia Issues

[romanadvoratelundar]

Hi,

We purchased a rekord 96 about 3 months ago, we ran and feed it for a week before adding 6 5-striped barbs to cycle it, all went well and according to our test results it fully cycled with the help of filter media and gravel from our mature rekord 60 which the fish came from.

We then added the 5 black neons, tested the water for about a week, with no change to the results, so we added the 4 remaining fish, a bristlenose catfish, borneo sucker and 2 neons. All seemed ok.

About a month later, ammonia started to rise to 1ppm whilst nitrite and nitrates were 0, the fish were fed one tiny pinch of flake food, and 1 algae tab for the catfish and sucker once a day.

Its being going on now about a month, and it just sits at 1parts per million. The first week we did water changes every day trying to reduce it, from a 10% change to a 50% change. That weekend we went to the LFS, they suggested we leave the water alone for that week, no changes, reduce feeding, and we should see the ammonia reduce. It didnt, we went back a week later and they suggested we add some revolutionary new product, SafeStart, and add ammonia remover, we did all that, ammonia was reduced but it bounced back again to 1ppm.

Last week I email tetra care as they had been helpful in the past, and they said just carry on as normal and all should be ok and thats where we are now, still at 1ppm.

All the fish are alive and seem ok even the neon tetras, the tank has 2 air pumps, and the current is quite strong. We cant move them back to the 60 as the ACF will eat them!

Does anyone have experience with juwel rekord 96 filter housing as to whether there should be a hole at the
bottom, because one idea is that the water isnt flowing through the filter.

Can anyone suggest anything that can be done?

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks

Romana

 

[confusion]

Is the water actually going through the filter, or is it all going through the hole? I'm not at all familiar with that fitler, so I can't be of help on that, but if it's going through the hole, I think you're on to something.

Have you tried testing your tap water for ammonia? What level of nitrates do you have?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if you happen to have a spare filter lying around I'd suggest putting your mature media into it and running it on the tank and turn the old filter off. Test the water over a week or so and if it drops then you know there's a problem with the original filter.

 

[romanadvoratelundar]

Ive got a tiny spare filter, which i shall do as you suggests Miss Wiggle, nitrates are 0, tap water ammonia is at 0, as is the frog tank, also at the LFS they were on about a safe alternative to ammonia which still registers as ammonia, but isnt harmful, has anyone heard of that?

Thanks

Romana

 

[OohFeeshy]

What brand and how old is your test kit? Is it liquid or test strips?

 

[00mitomk]

i have tht tank and my filter makes no noise and doesnt have much flow going out so like i think its ok and my levels are all fine ??

M i l e S

 

[romanadvoratelundar]

Hi,

Ive been playing with the filter, and basically the pump is 200 litres per hour faster at 600 l/h than it should be (should be 400 l/h), and the heater is twice the wattage at 200 watts, which is why there is a fast current, we were wondering if the pump is pulling the water too fast through the filter?

On the particion, there are 2 holes, one at the bottom between the filter and the pump tube, and one half way up, so we have blocked off this second hole, hoping the pump will draw the water all the way from the bottom, we dont know what else to do other than this.

Is there any other possible ill effects of having a too powerful pump, the current is very strong, and the pump gets very hot heating the water.

Forgot to mention the test kit is about 9 months old and it liquid, it tests high and low range ph, ammonia, nitrate and nitrites. We had the ammonia level confirmed at the LFS due to its constant results as we thought the test kit might be off, but its not. In the early days we did use tablets, but quickly got the liquid tests.

Thanks

Romana