Fish in Cycled? Ammonia 1.0 - 1.5PPM

[rdaggett]

75G tank set up with a bio filter (up to 60g) from a tank that was up and running for 6 months. It also has a DIY submerged 4" x 14" PVC canister (2" 30ppi foam, 2 liters of Matrix, active carbon pouch and an ammonia blocker pouch) pushing 370gph. Left it up for about a month and it went through a bloom and then cleared up on its own.

I have put fish in and I cannot get the Ammonia to drop below 1.0ppm. LFS said to add some aquarium salt and Safe Start. Locally I could only get the small bottles of SS so I added 3 small bottle since I already had the foam bio filter from an established tank. Thoughts? Ideas?

Water specs:
Temp 79.7
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - .5
PH 7.0
KH 40
GH 60
Ammonia 1 - 1.5ppm

Thank you all in advanced!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Sounds exactly like a fish in cycle situation.

What fish and how many are in the tank?

Water changes to lower ammonia is the best course of action, but with the TSS added, you'll likely need to wait a few days to give them a chance to,colonize surfaces. The salt addition will help with nitrite poisoning, as I see that is starting to show up as well. But, you can't use salt with all fish, and you need to use the proper level of salt for the sake of the fish... and the best method is the least amount necessary (and no more).


You'll want to check out our help thread on fish in cycles. I'll link that here.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il.433778/

 

[rdaggett]

7 barbs
3 Bala Sharks
2 Pictus
2 sword tails

 

[rdaggett]

additionally my NH3 calculates to .0155

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd be concerned keeping bala sharks.
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/balantiocheilos-melanopterus/

They should only be kept in HUGE tanks, and 75 gallons doesn't quite get to that size. 8feet x 2 feet is an absolute minimum for these fish. But, even then I'd still feel the tank were too small. They are very active fish (despite their large size) and need space to be able to swim, AND have a tank wide enough to be able to turn around.

Some of these fish can grow well over a foot long.