ammonia problem

[dmk6]

I have an ammonia problem. On the day before or of my weekly water change my ammonia is registering at .25-.5 ppm for the last 2 weeks before that not much if any readings of ammonia also my nitrate is kind of high in the 40 ppm range. It is an Malawi tank with mbuna. I am going to add a aquaclear 110 hob to go along with my eheim 2128 canister filter. Will this help? My tank is a 120 gallon and the current canister is rated @ 156 gallons but I believe the flow rate is 227 gph. I might add some kind of ammonia absorber but i have never had to do that before.
Could someone give me some pluses and minuses about how to attack this problem. I dont want to start losing fish.

 

[CraigMac]

How long has your tank been running? Was it properly cycled? Do you clean the filter during water changes?

The filtration is low for sure, but let me know some more info and go from there.

 

[dmk6]

Tank has been fully cycle for a year plus. The tank is slightly over stocked to reduce aggression. Water changes weekly 1/3 to half. Carbon pad pad, white pad replaced and filter cleaned once a month. Just started using a UV sterilizer a couple weeks ago, Alge was a problem.

 

[dmk6]

Oh nitrates are a little high between 20-40ppm.

 

[CraigMac]

Definitely need more filtration, especially if overstocked. I would increase the water changes until your parameters are normal. Also, when you say white pad replaced in the filter, do you mean you throw out the filter media and replace with new? If so that is one of the major reasons, you are getting rid of the bacteria on the filter media and having mini cycles. Don't throw out the filter media just rinse it in a bucket of fish tank water. Re-use the same media until it literally falls apart.

 

[Labenator65000]

Definitely need more filtration, especially if overstocked. I would increase the water changes until your parameters are normal. Also, when you say white pad replaced in the filter, do you mean you throw out the filter media and replace with new? If so that is one of the major reasons, you are getting rid of the bacteria on the filter media and having mini cycles. Don't throw out the filter media just rinse it in a bucket of fish tank water. Re-use the same media until it literally falls apart.

Agreed. Keep your mechanical filter until it is hopelessly clogged. Just infrequently rinse gently with tank water in a bucket (not tap water).

 

[bcurlacher54]

ditto ditto and ditto if you are changing the filters the way the stores recommend then youre killing your filter and losing bb in the process thus leaving you with high ammonia readings.