ammo wont budge!!!!!!!!

[allaboutfish]

every water change id do it wont change!!! here are the results
ammo-1.0 (after every water change and before every water change while using seachem prime)
nitrites-0
nitrates-10.0 (last time i checked)
why wont the ammo change!!!!!!!!!

 

[Sarcothelia]

Do you have any source of nitrifying bacteria in your tank? If not, the ammonia won't budge anyways.

 

[allaboutfish]

yes i've been cycling for 3 or 4 weeks and have seen ammonia nitrites and nitrates but i havent seen ammonia until i added prime. i thought i was cycled bc i had nitrates and no nitrites but now i have ammonie.

 

[Sarcothelia]

Did anything die or did you put anything dead in there? There's some source of ammonia if it stays elevated after PWC

 

[allaboutfish]

nope all fish are very active and look healthy (counted the fish to make sure) the only thing i could think of is that my melon sword has some dead looking leaves but it's still alive and healthy too. i just dont get it. i'll be doing many PWC's and testings tomorrow.

 

[Chelseachuy]

Ugh I have been having the same problem in my ten gallon and there's no fish in it and the ammonia is off the chart!

 

[allaboutfish]

it sucks!!! especially since a couple days ago i was "cycled" but now nope

 

[eco23]

Just so I understand...this is a fish in cycle, not fishless...correct? I'd have to bet that the ammo is from chloramines in the tap water added during pwc's. The API kit will still register it as a false positive until the bio-filter eats it. How often have you been doing pwc's? I know you said in a PM that there's no ammo in the tap when you tested it, but it'd be worth checking again. Levels can fluctuate, and it's possible the test was wrong in some way.

Unless you forgot to dechlorinate during a pwc, didn't match temps anywhere close, removed some filter media, had a serious pH crash I don't see it "un-cycling". Actually a light bulb just went off...test your pH for me.

 

[Sarcothelia]

All I can suggest is to step up your filtration. Perhaps bioload is too much for the bacteria to keep up with. Do you have a lot of places for bacteria to colonize?

If you are overloaded you either need to get rid of some fish or step up filtration.

____edit.

If it is recently cycled it's probably going through a mini cycle yet again. You're probably pushing the bioload faster than you should. Like above said, are you using reverse osmosis or dechlorinated water? That's a definite source.

 

[allaboutfish]

Just so I understand...this is a fish in cycle, not fishless...correct? I'd have to bet that the ammo is from chloramines in the tap water added during pwc's. The API kit will still register it as a false positive until the bio-filter eats it. How often have you been doing pwc's? I know you said in a PM that there's no ammo in the tap when you tested it, but it'd be worth checking again. Levels can fluctuate, and it's possible the test was wrong in some way.

Unless you forgot to dechlorinate during a pwc, didn't match temps anywhere close, removed some filter media, had a serious pH crash I don't see it "un-cycling". Actually a light bulb just went off...test your pH for me.

yes fish-in. just today, but i added the prime yesterday and the day before to make sure the levels were right and then now it's 1.0. i will test the tap again tomorrow and report it. i can test it tomorrow, but last time i checked it was around 7.4 to 7.6 but will report that tomorrow too.

 

[allaboutfish]

All I can suggest is to step up your filtration. Perhaps bioload is too much for the bacteria to keep up with. Do you have a lot of places for bacteria to colonize?

If you are overloaded you either need to get rid of some fish or step up filtration.

____edit.

If it is recently cycled it's probably going through a mini cycle yet again. You're probably pushing the bioload faster than you should. Like above said, are you using reverse osmosis or dechlorinated water? That's a definite source.

i have an aqua tech 10-20 now. yea alot i have a huge rock structure a log thing and some plants plus the filter and sand substrate. the fish i have have been in there since the beginning.

 

[Chelseachuy]

what size is ur tank and what do u have in it ?

 

[Sarcothelia]

Driftwood can be problematic. Get it out of there for a bit and see what happens

 

[allaboutfish]

what size is ur tank and what do u have in it ?

10 gallon
1-male betta,
1-chinese algae eater (baby that im finding a home for),
3-juli corys(going in my 29 gallon when i get it ready).

 

[allaboutfish]

Driftwood can be problematic. Get it out of there for a bit and see what happens

whered driftwood come from? i dont have any.

 

[eco23]

If the pH is stable, that removes one of my theories. Regardless, if you have 1ppm of ammo in a tank with fish...it's time for a massive water change. Double check one more time that the tap water reads 0 ammo, and do either a 75% or two back to back 50% pwc's. Make sure you add your Prime and try to match temps as close as possible.

Try to update us on the levels after the pwc is done. If there is no ammo in the tap water and the giant water change doesn't lower the parameters...then somebody's gonna have to call the Baltimore Aquarium and have them send some scientists over to your house.

 

[librarygirl]

Just my two cents (and I'm fairly new at this, so perhaps someone else will validate or refute what I'm saying).... When you got 0 ammo readings before, were you using Prime then, or did the ammo readings start after using Prime? I use Prime and I also get mild ammo readings and I was informed that it could be the chloramine (?) that the Prime turns ammo into giving a false positive and this result could last upwards of 36 hours before it wears off. And if you're doing frequent water chanegs with Prime you wouldn't see the levels drop. Just my two cents (to be safe though if you have fish in that tank definitely keep changing the water until you know for sure). Just a thought.

 

[eco23]

Just my two cents (and I'm fairly new at this, so perhaps someone else will validate or refute what I'm saying).... When you got 0 ammo readings before, were you using Prime then, or did the ammo readings start after using Prime? I use Prime and I also get mild ammo readings and I was informed that it could be the chloramine (?) that the Prime turns ammo into giving a false positive and this result could last upwards of 36 hours before it wears off. And if you're doing frequent water chanegs with Prime you wouldn't see the levels drop. Just my two cents (to be safe though if you have fish in that tank definitely keep changing the water until you know for sure). Just a thought.

You're right about seeing a false positive when testing after adding Prime. However you need to have chloramines present in the water which itself will show up as ammonia on a test kit. What happens is the Prime binds with the ammonia in the chloramines and renders it non toxic, but as fas as the API kit is concerned...it's still ammonia until the beneficial bacteria converts it.

That was my first though too, but the OP says the tap tested 0 for ammo...that's why I'm scratching my head right now, lol.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

You're right about seeing a false positive when testing after adding Prime. However you need to have chloramines present in the water which itself will show up as ammonia on a test kit. What happens is the Prime binds with the ammonia in the chloramines and renders it non toxic, but as fas as the API kit is concerned...it's still ammonia until the beneficial bacteria converts it.

That was my first though too, but the OP says the tap tested 0 for ammo...that's why I'm scratching my head right now, lol.

Yep, when I was having him try some different things last night, the ammo in his tank wouldn't budge and it sounds to me like there has to be "something" in his tank that's resistant to the PWC. Ammo 1ppm+50%PWC= ammo .50%ppm, but not in this situation. I don't get it.

 

[eco23]

Yep, when I was having him try some different things last night, the ammo in his tank wouldn't budge and it sounds to me like there has to be "something" in his tank that's resistant to the PWC. Ammo 1ppm+50%PWC= ammo .50%ppm, but not in this situation. I don't get it.

I told him we're gonna have to call in NASA if he can't get that stuff to drop...mathematically it doesn't make sense. I'd still have to place my money on the tap water having ammo. Maybe just a faulty test from the tap. I've missed the tube with drops before...gotta be something like that.