HI,
My 55 gallon tank has been fishless cycled (thanks to the help of people here) and has had fish in the tank for at least 4 months (after the fishless cycle was complete). All of a sudden I started getting an ammonia reading of .25. This time I'm struggling with getting the level down. I've been doing frequently water changes (all along weekly about 25% and just recently every 3 days about 25% to get try to get the ammonia levels down). The nitrite are 0 and have not moved. The Nitrate level hasn't gone above 20ppm since the tank cycled. The water is pretty clean and there is not much coming up when I siphon (vacuum) the gravel. I do use a tap water conditioner before adding new water into the tank. The temperature stays stable at around 75 degrees.
I noticed last month a similar thing happened that the ammonia rose but then went back down to 0 after a filter media change (it was time anyway). Last weekend since it was time I changed the charcoal and and floss in the filter but the ammonia still hasn't dropped to 0. It's still around .25. Could the carbon (there are 2 bags in the canister filter) be pushing the ammonia back out? Could my ammonia test liquid be bad? I didn't see an expiration date on the bottle. Should I try a new set of bottles?
I have to admit the tank is slightly overstocked (based on the full size of the fish though they aren't there full size). In the tank are 5 bosemani rainbow fish (who surprisingly seem perfectly fine and happy), 6 tiger barbs (one seems to be affected by the ammonia level and is struggling), 2 fan shrimp (who even with the ammonia level have been molting. One has even molted twice now in less than 4 weeks) and a black ghost (who seems perfectly happy as well. No slits in the fins).
Does anyone have any ideas as to why the ammonia increased and why I can't get it back down to 0? What should I do? I want to avoid using Ammo Lock or anything else if possible.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thank you!
My 55 gallon tank has been fishless cycled (thanks to the help of people here) and has had fish in the tank for at least 4 months (after the fishless cycle was complete). All of a sudden I started getting an ammonia reading of .25. This time I'm struggling with getting the level down. I've been doing frequently water changes (all along weekly about 25% and just recently every 3 days about 25% to get try to get the ammonia levels down). The nitrite are 0 and have not moved. The Nitrate level hasn't gone above 20ppm since the tank cycled. The water is pretty clean and there is not much coming up when I siphon (vacuum) the gravel. I do use a tap water conditioner before adding new water into the tank. The temperature stays stable at around 75 degrees.
I noticed last month a similar thing happened that the ammonia rose but then went back down to 0 after a filter media change (it was time anyway). Last weekend since it was time I changed the charcoal and and floss in the filter but the ammonia still hasn't dropped to 0. It's still around .25. Could the carbon (there are 2 bags in the canister filter) be pushing the ammonia back out? Could my ammonia test liquid be bad? I didn't see an expiration date on the bottle. Should I try a new set of bottles?
I have to admit the tank is slightly overstocked (based on the full size of the fish though they aren't there full size). In the tank are 5 bosemani rainbow fish (who surprisingly seem perfectly fine and happy), 6 tiger barbs (one seems to be affected by the ammonia level and is struggling), 2 fan shrimp (who even with the ammonia level have been molting. One has even molted twice now in less than 4 weeks) and a black ghost (who seems perfectly happy as well. No slits in the fins).
Does anyone have any ideas as to why the ammonia increased and why I can't get it back down to 0? What should I do? I want to avoid using Ammo Lock or anything else if possible.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thank you!