ammonia spike

[AiresCosta]

My tank has been doing just fine since I set it up just before Christmas. But all this week I have been battling a terrible ammonia spike
doing daily testing it’s constantly in the dark green with my water testing kit even after changing my water daily (recommended to me by a fellow fish keeper)
I went to the pet shop to buy some ammo lock and the fish lady was convinced the 50-70% water changes were causing the ammonia to spike because it was getting rid of my beneficial bacteria that was in the tank (this confused me since I thought the bacteria was in the filter media?) so I did as she said and didn’t do any water changes the last few days and used quick start and a bit of ammo lock but nothing worked and my fish are starting to look worse for wear
my tank was fully cycled before putting the fish in.
its a 20gal with 2 baby bristle nosed plecs in it. Less than 5cm each.
i only feed them once every second day and i feed them veggies as well as 1/4ish of a algae water. I clean the tank and remove the wafer as soon as the water starts to break up and drift around and my plecs dont seem interested anymore.
I don’t put my hands in the tank. I use a repurposed fish net to remove the wafers.
my filter is one of those overhead ones that come with the tank.
please help I don’t wanna loose my fish

 

[Colin_T]

I went to the pet shop to buy some ammo lock and the fish lady was convinced the 50-70% water changes were causing the ammonia to spike because it was getting rid of my beneficial bacteria that was in the tank (this confused me since I thought the bacteria was in the filter media?)

Most of the good bacteria is in the filter media and gravel.
Most of the bad microscopic organisms are in the water and the gunk that is in the filter media and gravel.

You can change all of the water every day and it will not affect the filter bacteria, as long as the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it goes into the tank.

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The ammonia is probably from the fish food. You should remove algae wafers and uneaten veges within 30-60 minutes of being added to the tank. If you leave it in there overnight, you will get an ammonia reading.

The best way to deal with an ammonia or nitrite problem, is to reduce feeding and do a 75% water change & gravel clean the substrate every day until the levels are back on 0ppm.

I assume you feed the algae wafers on different days to when you feed veges, or are you giving them the wafers and veges at the same time?
Because this will cause ammonia problems.

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Have you changed any of the filter media in the last 2 weeks?
If yes, that might explain the ammonia problem.

How often and how do you normally clean the filter?

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You can stick your hand in the tank if you want. Just make sure you don't have any cream, grease, perfume, residue from disinfectant wipes, etc on your skin.

And don't put your hands or arms in the tank if you have open wounds (cuts, scratches) on the skin because you can get infections from the water. They are rare but it can happen. So just avoid tank water if you have cuts, and wash with soapy water after working in the tank.

 

[AiresCosta]

I clean the filter media in some excess tank water once every few weeks or when it starts looking gunky. I alternate feeding days usually every 2 days I feed them and I swap between veggies and wafers.
I try to get the food out within 30 minutes but they usually don’t eat during that time. Usually within 2-3 hours they have their fill and leave They still aren’t used to coming out and eating. and I don’t wanna starve them .
I knew that lady was just talking nonsense. when she said that. She also told me to do 30ml of quick start every day for a week and 20ml of slime coat to get rid of the ammonia But that wasnt what was on the back of the bottles so I got scared

 

[AiresCosta]

Oh and I havnt replaced my media. Its a sponge and I read they last a while

 

[Essjay]

Sponges last for years, they only need replacing when they go into holes or won't go back to shape after squeezing. The instructions will say to change sponge every few months which is to get you to spend money.

 

[Colin_T]

Sponges last for years and only need replacing when they start to fall apart so they are the best type of filter media to have. You simply squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water once a month (or more often if needed) and that is it.

You can add some liquid filter bacteria supplement to help get the filter going again if you like. It certainly won't harm anything and might help settle the ammonia down.

Have you checked the tank for a dead fish?
Even a small fish that has died and is stuck somewhere can create a lot of ammonia.

 

[Fishfinder1973]

I know a 40 stone man who caught a flesh eating bug from his fish tank,Luckily the doctor gave him 60yrs to live

 

[Slaphppy7]

What kind of test kit are you using?
What kind of water conditioner?

 

[AiresCosta]

Sponges last for years and only need replacing when they start to fall apart so they are the best type of filter media to have. You simply squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water once a month (or more often if needed) and that is it.

You can add some liquid filter bacteria supplement to help get the filter going again if you like. It certainly won't harm anything and might help settle the ammonia down.

Have you checked the tank for a dead fish?
Even a small fish that has died and is stuck somewhere can create a lot of ammonia.

I only have two fish. Two baby bristlenosed plecs and neither have died so it can't be that. I have been adding quick start Which is supposed to be good bacteria

 

[AiresCosta]

What kind of test kit are you using?
What kind of water conditioner?

I'm using quick start. Slime coat. And my testing kit is the API tester.
I'm not using a chlorine conditioner or anything because I live on a farm directly off rain water from a tank. The rain water reads as 7.3 and 0 on everything and we don't add any chemicals to it.
We use the same water in my mums tank and it's fine (she has 10 glowlight tetras and one guppy. The guppy was an accident)

 

[Slaphppy7]

Slime coat (?)

Water conditioners do more than just dechlorinate (the good ones, anyway)...they detoxify heavy metals, and render ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte to a non-toxic form

 

[AiresCosta]

Slime coat (?)

Water conditioners do more than just dechlorinate (the good ones, anyway)...they detoxify heavy metals, and render ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte to a non-toxic form

Sorry stress coat.
I think I found the issue. While cleaning my tank I found a big pile of about 12-15 decomposing leaves in the corner of my tank from my plants, I don’t usually take out this big rock in my tank when I clean since it’s flush to the bottom of the tank but just behind it in a small crevice was this collection.