HELP! Betta fish tank keeps having ammonia spikes

[Ashwate20]

My 5 gal beta fish tank keeps having ammonia spikes. I cycled the tank first and he’s been in it almost 3 weeks. There’s a lot too of debri on the bottom and I can’t figure out why because he eats all his food and I siphon the bottom once a week. I’ve also been change out the water half every week.

 

[OliveFish05]

Hi! Do you have any driftwood in the tank that may be rotting? Any dead plants? Do you have any snails or a lot of shrimp? Is it filtered?

 

[UnknownFishies]

My 5 gal beta fish tank keeps having ammonia spikes. I cycled the tank first and he’s been in it almost 3 weeks. There’s a lot too of debri on the bottom and I can’t figure out why because he eats all his food and I siphon the bottom once a week. I’ve also been change out the water half every week.

do a 75 percent water change immediately. keep doing water changes until the ammonia is 0. is there a separate tank you could temporarily move the betta to? hospital/quarantine tank?

 

[Ashwate20]

Hi! Do you have any driftwood in the tank that may be rotting? Any dead plants? Do you have any snails or a lot of shrimp? Is it filtered?

There’s two Marino moss balls and a Java fern. They all look healthy. I have a filter.

 

[OliveFish05]

I agree with UnknownFishies, I would do a large water change while you figure it out. How often do you change the filter media?

 

[Ashwate20]

I agree with UnknownFishies, I would do a large water change while you figure it out. How often do you change the filter media?

I change it about once a month

 

[OliveFish05]

How often does the ammonia spike?

 

[Abaddon]

I change it about once a month

More than likely that's the problem - especially if you're changing all the media at once, or rinsing under tap water. You're removing the beneficial nitryfying bacteria so there's nothing in the tank (other than water changes) to stabilise and detoxify the ammonia.