Ammonia and Hematite Link?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
N

NeeNee

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 26, 2012
Messages
16
Location
Yorkshire, England
Hi,
I made my first post yesterday as a newbie starting up again after a 15 year fish-free life! Last time, I had no problems at all (but don't remember testing the water much either). This time round I have constant Ammonia readings through the roof. I established yesterday that I have too many fish in my tank but I think I may have found another cause.

The stone/gravel base I have used it is gemstone tumblechip mix from my Husband's place of work. The mix contains all sort of gemstone - amethyst, rose quartz, jade etc etc. It looks beautiful. However, I spy chips of Hematite in there too and I'm wondering if this could be contributing to my ammonia problems?

I took a handful of the stones out last night and gave them a good wash. I left them standing in fresh water over night and today the ammonia reading is high again. Could I have found my culprit? Does anyone have any knowledge of this - I'm about to start scouring the internet.

I'm anticipating the need to replace all the stones so tips on how to remove them, add new safe ones all while the tank is occupied would be greatfully received.

I've really messed this up!:(

Tank: 70l (15ish gallons)
Fish: 2 clown loach, 5 rosy barbs, 5 harlequin, 4 black tetra
Plants: 2 real
Stones: killer gemstone mix base :facepalm: piece of clear quartz, piece of rainbow moonstone.
 
Did u cycle your tank before fully stocking? If your ammonia is high it suggests it hadnt been properly established. Id return your fish or find somewhere to rehome them temporarily and let your water do its thing. Personally i found fishless cycling to be the best method with household ammonia. I have 2 tanks one was part cycled when we got it and had fish in when we cycled it and we seem to have lots of trouble with nitrates and poorly fish. My other tank i did with the fishless method and have had next to no problems with water quality or random fish deaths.

Oh btw your clown loaches will fast outgrow your tank and need more space when young cause they are soo energetic. ive got a 45g that came with one clown and it made me sad watching him darting around without enough space to have a real swim about. They are my favourite fish i just cant accomidate them in my tank :( there are other much smaller loaches which are just as fun i have polkadots in my 45g but id recommend you got 6 kuhli loaches (i have 10 in my 30gallon)
 
Have you been doing water changes? How much, how often? I would think the stones are inert and not exuding ammonia. Clown loaches are not an appropriate specie for that size tank unfortunately.
 
Thanks for your replies. I set the tank up in November and ran it fishless for 8 days then added 3 harlequin and 3 black tetra. I have gradually added more fish to reach it's current stock level. I confess I did not know about the cycling and do not remember doing this years ago. I should have read up more before starting this tank. At first I was just using test strips and when my fish started dying, someone suggested a seperate Ammonia test - otherwise I wouldn't have had a clue that there was a problem. I'm doing daily water changes up to 75% each time and still I have a problem. We brought this tank second hand and it comes with an inbuilt filter. There are 4 parts to the filter and we used the cartidges already in place. Should I replace these with new ones? I'm just worried about losing whatever bacteria has built up. Also the test of the stones last night has confused me. Could hematite be a problem or not?
 
Thats correct Fe2 O3 iron oxide. Im not as smart as scouse i googled it lol +1 for that tho. Its gotta be a cycling issue. I dont think people bothered 15 years ago i have alot of old timers telling me i over complicate the whole hobby... Ignorance is bliss i guess
 
lornajane89 said:
Thats correct Fe2 O3 iron oxide. Im not as smart as scouse i googled it lol +1 for that tho. Its gotta be a cycling issue. I dont think people bothered 15 years ago i have alot of old timers telling me i over complicate the whole hobby... Ignorance is bliss i guess
Click to expand...

Yea I've seen a lot of the older hobbyist talking about cycling like its a fad.

But I agree it has to be a cycling issue, or that the tap water has a high ammo count (always a likely candidate!)
 
Ha ha cycling does make sense though. When I test my tap water it apears to be ok? Getting desperate and looking at bigger tanks on ebay now!
 
Thats correct Fe2 O3 iron oxide. Im not as smart as scouse i googled it lol +1 for that tho. Its gotta be a cycling issue. I dont think people bothered 15 years ago i have alot of old timers telling me i over complicate the whole hobby... Ignorance is bliss i guess

Our tank was 2nd hand too that came with loads of fish and was a nightmare. Id rinse half of your filter media. If they dried out when u bought it then it will be dead bacteria which ultimatley is ammonia. Id return your fish or reduce to a bare minimum just keeping one thats hardier than the others to aid cycling. Fish in cycling takes longer than fishless cycling. Does nitrazorb detoxify ammonia aswell as nitrates? I think it does.. Id probably add a pouch to your filter
 
The base is made up of tumblechips of amethyst, rock crystal, carnelian, red jasper, hematite, lapis, agate, green aventurine and blue aventurine. Then we've got a large piece of rock crystal and a piece of rainbow moonstone. My Husband works for a rocks & Mineral importer! Looks beautiful but could it be responsible for the ammonia?
 
I doubt it but id change it for some tried and tested substrate you dont know whats in mixed rock/minerals and what nasties are leaching into your water
 
Thanks Scouser and Lornajane89 for your advice, I really appreciate you taking the time to help. Lornajane89 - what you just said about the filter drying out makes perfect sense. **** - should have been more careful.
 
Ive been there mate lol dont worry about it mistakes are there to learn from if u cant learn from somebody elses first. Hopefully uve not lost too many fish so far. I would definatley take them all back and trade them for a bottle of ammonia. I reckon you could be ready in 2weeks cause youve probably already started cycling but very slowly
 
That's the strange thing - the fish seems perfectly happy (although who knows what damage is being done). Apart from losing 3 black tetra and 4 harlequins right at the start, I've not lost any more so far. Chatting with my Husband just now, I think we are going to get a bigger tank (the whole point of having the fish is to enjoy a variety and quantity of fish after all), use the existing tank to house the existing stock while we properly cycle a new tank. Hopefully with daily water changes we can keep them going until the new tank is ready. What do you think - is that cruel?
 
No its just hard to keep up water changes like that. If your doing it that way id definatley get a nitrazorb pouch They need recharging with salt water every 10days that will detoxify the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates without actually removing them. Bigger is always better with tanks larger tanks take longer to be affected by change and are overall easier and much more rewarding. I hope it all goes well for you. Id try and get a long tank so your loaches can play they are awesome fish and loads of fun to watch
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
changing substrate
Replies
8
Views
241
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
P
All three of my tanks have 0 ammonia and 0 Nitrate.
Replies
4
Views
351
pettygil
P
C
Nitrates and Ammonia Problem
Replies
3
Views
476
Colin_T
C
L
My 1st big ammonia Spike-advice please!
Replies
3
Views
745
Aiken Drum
Aiken Drum
N
Can't get cycle back in order
2
Replies
29
Views
795
Andy Sager
Andy Sager

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom