Ammonia Spike

[lfckopite]

Can enyone tell me wy i am having a ammonia spike my tank as been set up for 5 months with no problems but the last 2 days my ammonia has gone up yesterday it was 0.50ppm so i done a 25% water change and today it is reading 0.25ppm nitite is fine 0ppm and nitrate is 20ppm the only thing i done diffrant is last week i swilled the sponge in filter in tank water thanks

 

[kj23502]

maybe you swirled it to vigorously? The spikes don't look too bad, although any trace is bad for fish. Eventually you'll see a rise in nitirites as ammonia processes and then it'll eventually be ok. Did you add any new fish after you cleaned your filter?

Just keep up on the water changes to keep the levels at or below .25ppm and it'll work itself out.

 

[lfckopite]

maybe you swirled it to vigorously? The spikes don't look too bad, although any trace is bad for fish. Eventually you'll see a rise in nitirites as ammonia processes and then it'll eventually be ok. Did you add any new fish after you cleaned your filter?

Just keep up on the water changes to keep the levels at or below .25ppm and it'll work itself out.

No i have not added enything since i cleaned filter shall i do a 25% water everyday?

 

[kj23502]

Test the water every day, twice a day to be on the safe side, and change as much water as is required to bring the levels down. You can start w/ 25% and see where that gets you

 

[waterdrop]

I've always assumed that swishing your sponge can give you a mini-cycle but that its a good thing because you are cleaning out the debris and your bacteria will bounce back rather quickly and be better afterwards for it. Kind of interesting watching the mini spike with your tests and doing water changes as needed. Your 25% water change sounds more conservative than I would have done - 50% would have had a quicker effect without harming anything I think.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. as the tank/filter gets more and more mature it should be less and less likely that cleaning will cause a mini-cycle

 

[lfckopite]

I've always assumed that swishing your sponge can give you a mini-cycle but that its a good thing because you are cleaning out the debris and your bacteria will bounce back rather quickly and be better afterwards for it. Kind of interesting watching the mini spike with your tests and doing water changes as needed. Your 25% water change sounds more conservative than I would have done - 50% would have had a quicker effect without harming anything I think.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. as the tank/filter gets more and more mature it should be less and less likely that cleaning will cause a mini-cycle

After i done the 25% water change the ammonia fell to 0ppm then i tested today and it was back up to 0.25ppm
P.S i think everybody shud have a rainbow shark because i only knew there was a problem when he went pail his color is coming back now so this is a good sign i think

 

[lfckopite]

Just done a 40% water change and ammonia is still 0.25ppm is it worth me going to get some ammo lock or something like that?

 

[kj23502]

Naw, just keep doing wc.

 

[lfckopite]

Naw, just keep doing wc.

When shall i do the next wc the last one was done about 1 hour ago

 

[kj23502]

When you test the water and it's above .25ppm


Don't be afraid to do a large wc if you have to. If you do a large one just make sure there isn't a huge temperature difference.

 

[lfckopite]

When you test the water and it's above .25ppm


Don't be afraid to do a large wc if you have to. If you do a large one just make sure there isn't a huge temperature difference.

How much can the temp drop. I use a hose pipe to put water back in so i can only add cold water the temp dropped from 24c to 21c in the last wc

 

[rabbut]

Depends how quickly it drops.... as a rule, aim for a drop of no more than about 5 degrees per hour.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[lfckopite]

sorry to be a pain everybody but i need to ask I have not feed fish today to help with the ammonia but shall i feed fish in the morning?

 

[rabbut]

The fish will be fine for upto a couple of weeks without food, so no, you don't need to feed them in the morning

All the best
Rabbut