Using chlorine remover

[StevieJack]

Hi guys,

I have been using chlorine remover when doing water changes and instead of ‘One Drop’ per US Gallon, I have been squirting in a spray because the dropper seems to be malfunctioning so I have to squeeze the bottle pretty hard.

I have recently had an ammonia spike in both tanks, 10g with 10 small tiger barbs and a 30g with 4 black skirts.

My question is could using to much chlorine remover destroy beneficial bacteria?

I have recently over cleaned the tank (vacuumed too much gravel I think) but for both tanks to spike at the same time is interesting.

Stevie

 

[Sorrell]

The majority of your bacteria live in the filter media, and vacuuming gravel will just remove debris, so that should be fine. To keep your bacteria safe, only clean your filter pads every so often, the best way is to shake the media off in a bucket of tank water

It's better to overdue your dechlorinator, then to not use enough. If you are concerned, you can measure with a teaspoon instead of drops

 

[StevieJack]

Thanks for the reply Sorrell,

That was my thoughts as well, 2 drops are better than a half a drop, even if the instructions say 1 drop.

If the de-chlorinator didn’t cause the ammonia spike then I still have to be careful and watchful.

I have been cleaning regularly (each week) doing gravel vacuuming, maybe I just need to stick to water changes weekly. I know you said that the gravel media doesn’t play the biggest part of the beneficial bacteria, but at this point I am confused at what I done wrong if that wasn’t it.

P.S. I know I am pushing with 10 Tiger Barbs in the 10g but for the longest time the levels have been fine.
Do you think I could combine the 10 tigers with the 4 Black skirts in the 30g over time (3 to 5 at the time allowing for spikes)?

Thanks for the help,

Stevie

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

get yourself a product called 'cycle' by hagen (should be right beside the aqua plus in the store) it should help out your problem, it's basically bacteria in a bottle so if your lacking on beneficial bacteria in the tank it should help it out

i've never had to cycle a tank for 6-8 weeks like i've seen others have to you can't overdue that stuff either but using (way) to much will cloud the tank up a bit

 

[Sorrell]

Does your water have chloramines? When you use a dechlorinator that breaks down both chlorine and chloramines, the chloramines are broken down into ammonia. This could be the source of your problem.

If so, use a dechlorinator such as Amquel that also locks the ammonia.

This is actually something that I just experienced in my fishroom and I'm sorry I didn't post about it before. It's easy to test for as well. Take a bucket of water and add your dechlorinator, an hour or so later test the water for ammonia. If you have a reading then you'll know. It can't hurt to test your water straight from the tap either in case there is ammonia in your tap water

 

[StevieJack]

Wow, never would have though of that...

Does your water have chloramines?

Duno,

Will test straight away!

Thanks both of you for the help, will report back on the tap water condition.

Stevie

 

[newfishies]

THANK YOU sorrell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have been doing frequent water chages (20-40%) for 3 days to lower the salt concentration in my tank i couldn't understand why my amonia was .25 to .5 even after water changes. i had some media from another tank, so i expected it to cycle/mini-cycle quickly. anyways, i finally tested my water straight from the tap and it measures .25 in amonia...i can't beleive i didn't think to check my tap water for amonia.
i need to get some amquel, i guess. should i add that to the tank? i've de-chlorinated and dechloramined it (aquaplus) with each water change. the nitrate was between 10-20, nitrite 0. should i just let the bacteria do it's work or help it out with amquel?
thanks for all the great advice!!!

 

[StevieJack]

Unbelievable, mine tested positive too,

I have an ammonia reading of 0.25 after adding a de-chlorinator to the tap water and I tested the straight tap water and have the exact same reading! Both samples from a 1 gallon clean container.

Ok, bottled water for me from now on and I think I might test that too, lol

Wow, I tested the tap water a while back but I can’t remember if I tested for ammonia or not though.

We’ve had a lot of rain here in Georgia (USA) lately, I wonder if that or the season change had anything to do with it because I do check the tank water occasionally and this has never happened before (at least not after the initial cycling).

I checked this latest time after the fish started moving sluggishly and the Tiger Barbs started fading in color…

I am sure over time this would have been fatal,
You have saved my fish Sorrell, thanks a million!

Stevie

 

[Sorrell]

I would just keep up your water changes and maybe add a little more Amquel with the new water. Keep in mind though that you'll still have ammonia readings on your test kit even though the ammonia is locked. You can buy test kits that are more advanced that will test the different types of ammonia, but it's not necessary as long as your readings are constant and your fish are acting normal.

 

[Sorrell]

You're welcome guys, trust me I learned the hard way I had betta tanks that would show an ammonia reading of 3 after one day, scary stuff. Good luck with your fish

 

[ddm18]

An idea. (I haven't tested my tap water yet, but will later, should be fine though, I never have >0 ammonia). Couldn't you keep a small internal filter in your tank most of the time, keeping it well-stocked with bacteria, then when you do a water change, stick this small filter in the bucket/container for however long it takes (you'd have to experiment, obviously) to break down the ammonia (and nitrite), then dump it back in the main tank, before the bacteria all die off.