Please Help! My ammonia is up again

[freshy]

Hi, it's me again. Oh man, I'm getting discouraged. After fishless cycling for over a month I found today that my ammonia was at 1.5ppm after being down at 0 ppm for 11 days. Does this mean that the building bacteria died somehow and I have to start all over again Please tell me it isn't so. or I'll cry!

Nitrites and nitrates are off the chart still. GH is 8 and KH is very low (less than 2). PH has dropped as well, now PH is 6. I think my whole tank is a mess and I don't know what could have happened to it. I have added some water to make up for evaporation but I dechlorinated it first.

I was thinking about getting some live plants for the tank this Saturday, but now I don't know.
What should I do? Can anyone help?

 

[jrd77]

It's probably going to go through a mini cycle from the sound of it. That's weird though. I'm not sure about adding live plants or not (someone else will have to answer that).

If you're sure the tank cycled all the way, why not do a 25% water change and see what that does? Also, have you tested your tap water to see what it's levels naturally are? Testing the tap is something I never thoguht to do but once I did it, most of my tank issues were much more understandable and fixable.

If it were me, and this is just me, I would do a significant water change (leaving the gravel or substate alone and make sure your ammonia and nitrites are down) and buy 1-2 hearty fish like danios or something and have them help you out with remainder the cycling. If you do not want to do that (for fear of losing a fish or two), try using "cylce" or something to help you out a little bit. I wouldn't worry. It'll work itself out soon.

 

[luxum]

Did you cut your ammonia dose in half when the nitrites showed up? And what ppm of ammonia was your target, 5ppm?

Atm there is no need to panic over the ammonia, you still have to wait for the nitrites to come down. When that happens, if there is still extra ammonia, do some water changes to bring the ammonia level to zero, add your half dose, and see if it is completely converted within 24 hours. Don't do water changes now, that will only slow the cycle, and with no fish in the tank it's a completely unneeded hassle.

And yes, live plants should help, provided you get the correct type for your light levels.

There is no need to switch to with fish cycling at this point, and you'd have to do significant water changes to get the parameters to something fish can tolerate with your nitrites off the chart.

 

[freshy]

Hi, thanks for the replies.

Yes, I have both tested my tap water (ph=7.5, no NH3, nor NO2) and cut in half the ammo dose. My target was 5 ppm but went a bit overboard with that. The color of the tested water turned so dark it wasn't even in the chart! that's why I was so happy when I saw it come down to 0ppm.

I must say I feel a little relieved after reading your posts

So, should I keep on adding my daily half dose of ammonia until the nitrites start to come down, and keep everything as it is now?

 

[luxum]

Yes, continue to add the daily half dose for now.

 

[Apopli]

It's frustrating, but don't give up! I was at 2 1/2 months cycling my 55 gal. Then I had to move to a new house... I actually took ALL the water with me

Then I was another month of cycling. I was tempted to throw the whole thing out the window and forget about it. But I kept with it and now I have my beautiful fish tank with my fish

I don't have any better advice than what was given. Just words of encouragment. You'll be glad you kept with it in the end.

 

[freshy]

Hi! Thanks for your post.
I certainly feel better after reading it. I'll have to be patient I guess and yes, I'll keep on with the plan. I really want to build a happy home for the fishies.
Thanks for the words of encouragement!