Ammonia in 55 gallon peacock tank

[DaDdyJustin]

I have 11 peacocks in my 55 galllon aquarium, and 1 ft long pleco, they seem to have plenty of room and all active, but one o my peacocks keeps rubbing itself, I checked for spots, and all the signs of disease, nothing, so I checked my levels and my ammonia was pretty high so I did a 25% water change and vacuumed the gravel, Any other suggestions????

 

[Elkairos]

Keep observing the fish.. Specifically the behavior of fish other than the one you saw scratching to see if they scratch as well.. Scratching is not always a bad sign... Clean water is obviously best move to make.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

What do you class as petty high ammonia? High ammonia, nitrite or nitrate can cause flashing. What is the tank parameters now?

 

[DaDdyJustin]

Well my ph is at 8.0 and last time I did the ammonia test(before I did a water change this afternoon and added ammonia lock from API) it was reading 6.0, I did it again after the water change and the same reading, on the ammonia lock bottle it states that the test will still read the same until its completely gone, they seem as if there breathing hard every once in a while, and 2 of my other fish do the same, not as constant like the one I spoke about earlier but they do, thanks for the help

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ideally you need to keep changing the water to get it down. Those ammonia lock products only work up to a certain ppm of ammonia and only last 24-48 hours. If they are still struggling to breathe then that's a sign that you need to do a water change ASAP. Change 50% rather than 25%. A 25% water change won't bring ammonia levels down very much.

 

[DaDdyJustin]

Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it, first thing tomorrow after work ill change the water, also would ammonia make the fish run on gravel, and yur opinion, is 11 peacocks to much for a 55 gallon ?
Thanks

 

[Mumma.of.two]

It can make them flash (scratch on things) because it irritates them. 11 peacocks in a 55 is fine with proper filtration and water changes IMO but the pleco has to go. You can replace it with a bristlenose pleco. They stay much smaller.

How old is this tank?

 

[DaDdyJustin]

I've only had the tank for about a month, no clue on how old it Actually is, does the pleco HAVE to go? I've holm for about a year now and can't see me getting rid of him

 

[DaDdyJustin]

Also, my filtration is 2 aqueon quite flow 30's, should I be adding anything besides declhorifier and marine salt on top of the water changes? I appreciate the help

 

[DaDdyJustin]

Also is there anything else at all I can add to keep my peacocks healthy?

 

[Jmedic25]

I think you could be underfiltered. The other problem is if your tank is a month old you may not be all the way cycled. 2 hang on back filters may not have enough area on your filter media to grow enough good bacteria to eat all the ammo your fish produce. Getting the Pleco out is good advice because they get too large for a 55. Research the ammonia/nitrate cycle and try and increase the ammount of bio media you have. You can add something like matrix or bio max to your filters to increase the good bacteria, however it takes time for the good bacteria to colonize. You will just have to test daily and be prepared to keep changing water. Start planning to get a better filter system or a sump. Keep asking questions and doing research. Lots of good information on here. Remember the key is water changes, and Prime. Ditch the ammo reducing additives as stated above they are a band aid.

good luck
Justin

 

[Elkairos]

You have to be strict with the water changes every week with a new tank. Try feeding once a day. Skip one day of the week.

The member above is correct in suggesting better filtration. Hangover filter or canister filter should be above and beyond ( e.g. 50G tank = 150G/hr filter).

Hope all turns out well. Post pics?

 

[DaDdyJustin]

So I took your advice on the filter situation, and place both of the aqua 30 quite flows on one side and baught the marineland penguin 350 and places that on one side and it seemed like everything was fine but they started doing the same thing again scratching and breathing hard

 

[Mumma.of.two]

That's because your tank is cycling.

Please read this:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[DaDdyJustin]

So what do I do now?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

So what do I do now?

Water changes and rehome some of the fish especially the pleco