New Filter..... Re Cycling?!

[Alex.]

Hi guys,

I carried out a fishless cycle on my fluval Roma 125 with the internal filter about 8 weeks back and stocked my tank once it was complete.

I had the opportunity recently to upgrade my filter from the small internal one that came with it to a tertatec ex1200 which would obviously offer far superior filtration and also be fit for any tank upgrade I want in the future. My concern was whether I'd cause any problems with bacteria loss etc, to which I was told if I just pop all the existing media into the new filter it should be fine.

However, I swapped filters around 9 days ago and for the last few days have been registering 0.25-0.5 ammonia. Nitrites are showing zero and nitrates were around 10-20. Ive carried out a water change every day since ammonia has been showing but every time I come back im still getting ammonia readings the day after.

What can I do in this situation? My worst fear is that I've totally lost all my good bacteria and will lose fish which I desperately don't want to do. Despite the old filter being tiny in comparison it was never showing the slightest bit of nitrite or ammonia, now I've got a filter that is much better and it's struggling to deal with it by the looks of it.

I've been overdosing on prime in water changes to help out, and also been putting some stability in that I have, but it doesn't seem to be doing much.

Any help is appreciated as I'm starting to worry now...

 

[fluttermoth]

I wouldn't worry too much. You're experiencing what's known as a 'mini cycle', where the bacterial colony has died back, due to being disturbed.

It's very unlikely that you've lost all the bacteria; I'd expect to be seeing much higher levels of ammonia, plus some nitrite if that were the case.

The bacteria should soon bounce back, but you'll have to continue to monitor and water changes as necessary until that happens.

 

[Alex.]

Just to give an update on this, I'm still registering ammonia as it is - came back today and it was between 0.25-0.5 so I've just done a massive water change.... Getting a bit fed up of this so hope it passes, but I do have a few questions...

While water changing today, I thought I might aswell gravel vac as much as I can in the tank. I usually do this - but today I lifted ornaments, uprooted plants the lot.

I noticed some elodea I have has brown leaves for pretty much half of the plant at the bottom. I have quite a bit of it in my tank so I've pretty much removed all of it bar a few pieces which are green and vibrant. Could this have been contributing towards the ammonia? I've noticed the elodea is an absolute nightmare for being covered in gunk all over, while my other plants are absolutely fine - has anyone had this before?

Anyway ive removed 99% of it and I'll take a trip to the fish store tomorrow and get some totally fresh plants - does anyone have any recommendations? I've no co2 etc just lights which I run for 8 hours a day - my other plants are growing fine.

Ive also noticed a few times now the shell of a few shrimps from time to time. I've read these should be left to let the shrimps consume, but this doesn't seem to be happening. Could this also be adding to the ammonia?

Anyway now after a few painstaking hours I've done a massive water change and cleaned the whole place - just waiting for the tiny bits floating round to settle and then add fresh plants tomorrow!

Any help and feedback is appreciated - I've only been fishkeeping a couple of months and I want to make sure I'm not making any mistakes here. I added a double dose of prime and some stability while I did the w/c too...

Many thanks...

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Dead plants in your tank will incrase ammonia readings, molting od shrimp will not

 

[This Old Spouse]

Yeah, what he said ^^

I got rid of my elodea some time ago, as it seemed to hang on to every bit of detritus in the tank, and I just got fed up with it.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree, dead plants will definately contribute to ammonia problems. Water changes with good technique are the right way to work out of the problems you describe. Keep testing and changing, that is good. In a low light tank you'll want "easy" plants - Java Ferns are an example. Don't be afraid to shorten your lighting hours if you begin to see any algae problems. You can work down to as low as 4 hours of light a day, although you probably won't need to go that low. Even a tank where fish food is going in can sometimes need some help with extra plant nutrients, especially when the tank is still young. Depending on where you live I'm sure the members will give you some advice in that department. It's hard to tell whether the temporary shock from your filter switch or the decomposition of the elodea might have been the larger contributor to your problem but either way I agree with FM that you will work your way out of it.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Alex.]

Back to 0.25 ammonia tonight 24 hours after a massive water change and clean

I'm seriously wondering why I'm getting this- even when I was fishless cycling once the first ammonia had dropped to 0 the bacteria rapidly multiplied and it was zero'ing within a week. Every day I'm coming back to levels of ammonia here.

I've tested my tap water just incase either the tap water had ammonia (which I know isn't true) or more likely the test kit is faulty - but nope it's showing 0 ammonia so its definitely in the aquarium.

I know it sounds mad but im wondering whether this filter is doing anything at all. Yes maybe higher amounts may be detectable if nothing was happening but I'm water changing every day so it's never getting chance to build up anyway!

I'm in 2 minds tonight whether to water change again or attempt to leave it and let the filter catch up... But that's a dangerous tactic. I put so much time into fishless cycling it to avoid this and now it's depressing me - I work 6 days a week and 55+ hours I can't be doing with spending hours messing about with the tank each and every evening

 

[Gilli]

Hang on in there all will come good. Although you swopped all your media over some of the bacteria would have been growing inside on the walls of the old filter and in the old filter pipes so you would have lost some on the change over- it will soon catch up. You say your smaller older filter was dealing with it better but its got nothing to do with the filters performance - its how much bacteria you have inside the filter that counts.

Cut back on feeding while you have ammonia readings and just carry on with your water changes. I personally wouldnt leave it without water changes but others might tell you different.

 

[Alex.]

I'll keep an eye on things - ammonia back to 0.25-0.5 tonight so another big water change here I come.

Could I get away with feeding them every other day while this is happening?

One thing that has crossed my mind is when fishless cycling I pretty much had nothing till I added some mature media and bicarbonate to up the ph. Once I put the fish in all was well but my ph is in the low 6's and I'm wondering if the bacteria could be struggling to develop because of this?

My nitrates are today between 0-5, which is the lowest I've ever seen them in my tank. I know the plants use some up and I've been water changing, but nitrates this low would also suggest to me nothing's happening? I'm literally only getting readings for ammonia. No nitrite and hardly any nitrate now......

Is there any way for me to safely up the ph to see if it kick starts something?

 

[OldMan47]

In the low 6s the ammonia is not toxic at that level. IF you want to improve the ammonia removal you can still use a bit of bicarb to raise pH but be careful with it. The fish will not like wild pH swings.