Ammonia not going away

[Bwanny]

Hey guys I've made numerous posts about my ammonia issues I'm having in my 55 gallon tank. I've now had ammonia in my tank that day by day spikes higher and higher. I have done 50% water changes every day for the past 2 months. If i skip a day it will spike from zero to .50ppm in a single 48hour period or less. Its getting a bit much for me to grasp and deal with. Its actually quite frustrating.

I lost my beautiful jack dempsey and I don't want to lose the rest of my fish. I have a large oscar, a jewel cichlid and a silver dollar left. I've been using prime to detoxify the ammonia which seems to work well considering theyre safe and healthy looking. Once my jack dempsey died I almost lost my oscar as well due to the very low pH that comes from the prime.

To offset the primes low ph to keep it from killing my fish, I bought crushed coral in which I stick in a mesh bag and hang it in the tank. This raises the ph to where it is safe for the fish and has worked great. I've been adding melafix and stress relief to repair the damages to my fish from when it killed my other fish.

Now that it has been 2 months and my cycle should have been good a long time ago I don't know why this isn't working. I've added numerous doses of bacteria to my tank to help even before I put my UV sterilizer back in since the water was getting greenish.

I recently bought another 75 gallon canister filter which gives me a total of 150gallons of filtration for my tank to offset the large bioload of my tank. I literally don't know what to do anymore. If someone could please help me I'd appreciate it. I've tested the tap water here and nothing is out of order. So I don't know where its coming from. I'm about to start resorting to less common methods of removal like the ammonia remover mesh cubes by Penn Plax. Please help!

 

[dcutl002]

What are your Nitrite and Nitrate levels? Strange that after two months you have an ammonia problem.


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[Delapool]

Did you ever solve why the tank went into a mini-cycle?

Is the uv filter still running and/or are you getting green water still? I would reduce lighting down to 5 hours if so. The uv filter will be killing off the green water and this dead algae will be feed for heterotrophic bacteria producing ammonia. And as you know I think the uv filter will be killing off any bacteria in a bottle dosing where it is free-floating for the first day or so. So I'd work on stopping the green water in the first place and then try cutting out the uv filter while the tank re-cycles.

Also I'd cut out the melafix. While regarded as a weaker medication, it is still an anti-bacterial and won't be helping the nitrifying bacteria. I do find that as tanks mature, the bacteria get tougher so not saying you can never dose it. Also there is a chance bacteria are using the melafix as it breaks down as a food source.

http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Melafix

Overstocking - do you know anyone that can look after a fish for a month or so? Or sell. Tough as that is, reducing stocking will let you enjoy the tank faster imo.

Ammonia reducing chips / zeolite I have used and they will work (noting you need some ammonia for the nitrifying bacteria to re-establish so have to manage carefully eg as emergency when ammonia levels very high).

I would only get bacteria in a bottle that contains purely nitrifying bacteria (no heterotrophic or sludge destroying bacteria).

 

[Bwanny]

What are your Nitrite and Nitrate levels? Strange that after two months you have an ammonia problem.


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Both are at zero

 

[dcutl002]

OK, good. The advice given by Delapool pertaining to cutting the antibiotics sounds legit to me.

 

[Bwanny]

Did you ever solve why the tank went into a mini-cycle?

Is the uv filter still running and/or are you getting green water still? I would reduce lighting down to 5 hours if so. The uv filter will be killing off the green water and this dead algae will be feed for heterotrophic bacteria producing ammonia. And as you know I think the uv filter will be killing off any bacteria in a bottle dosing where it is free-floating for the first day or so. So I'd work on stopping the green water in the first place and then try cutting out the uv filter while the tank re-cycles.

Also I'd cut out the melafix. While regarded as a weaker medication, it is still an anti-bacterial and won't be helping the nitrifying bacteria. I do find that as tanks mature, the bacteria get tougher so not saying you can never dose it. Also there is a chance bacteria are using the melafix as it breaks down as a food source.

Melafix - The Free Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium Encyclopedia Anyone Can Edit - The Aquarium Wiki

Overstocking - do you know anyone that can look after a fish for a month or so? Or sell. Tough as that is, reducing stocking will let you enjoy the tank faster imo.

Ammonia reducing chips / zeolite I have used and they will work (noting you need some ammonia for the nitrifying bacteria to re-establish so have to manage carefully eg as emergency when ammonia levels very high).

I would only get bacteria in a bottle that contains purely nitrifying bacteria (no heterotrophic or sludge destroying bacteria).

Finally sounds like ive found a solution. This is really good information. I never thought of any of that and no one has ever told me that. Ill stop using melafix and ill try to work out the UV sterilizer. It just stinks because i dont want green water. Thats another issue i dont want to have
Unfortunately i really cant give my fish to anyone to look after. I honestly couldnt bring myself to doing that in the first place haha sounds crazy like im the crazy fish guy but theyre therapeutic to me. Cant see them go anywhere even for a month. I figured the UV was killing the added bacteria but i was hoping maybe even a bit of them would plant themselves in a filter piece it would help. Any other suggestions. I added the ammonia cubes and they seem to have raised my ph to a manageable level for now which is nice.
Although the tank is overstocked i have 150 gallons of filtration wont that help?

 

[Bwanny]

OK, good. The advice given by Delapool pertaining to cutting the antibiotics sounds legit to me.

Yea in hoping thats the issue. I was simply trying to help grow his fins back. He was in really bad shape when the ph crashed for a single day. He nearly died. I couldnt help but try to boost his recovery in any way possible. This is fantastic info.

 

[Delapool]

Sure - the extra filter will help and I like the idea of having two separate filters.