extreme need of help

[USMCfishcrzy]

]For those of u that have been helping me. Didn't feed any of my fish yesterday and it spiked again! I did a second pwc lastnight and woke up to another spike. I'm clueless never had this problem other than I started adding plant growth additives that's the only change I have made.

My 125g tank water
Temp 84
Ph 6.4
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
Nitrite 1.0ppm

My tap water
Temp 76
Ph 7.6
Ammonia between. 25/.50ppm
Nitrite 1.0ppm
Nitrate 5.0ppm

I have gravel vacuumed each water change. I did have a bacterial bloom two weeks ago when I switched put fake coral rocks for driftwood. The water took about a week to clear up. So this week I lost one discus and gourami. And I'm having spikes 2-3 times a day even without feeding them. Only thing I have been adding is Kent pro plant to help growth. Right now I'm stupped on this issue

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

To treat the tank I have been using seachem prime, api stress coat, and kordon AmQuel plus ammonia detoxifier. Wat may be my problem. I actually have less fish than ever cuz I wanted it to be a planted discus community tank. So I'm not to sure wat is my huge problem and need help before my fish pay the price

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

125g
2 hob emperor 400s with the Bio wheel 2 smaller whisper filter. I'm limited on space with only 8 inches behind thh tank to put anything I cannot drill holes for a canister filter

Stock
7 discus
5 gbr
1 bolv ram
1 Cory cat
2 pleco
4 blk skirt tetra
1 dwarf gorami
1 tiretrack eel
2 pictus cats
2 kribs
4 mystery snails

I change 20/30% every other day sometimes everyday depending on my schedule
I have a power compact light with 2 10k and 2 actinic lights
It is half way planted so far

 

[eco23]

How quickly and how high is the ammonia rising in a 24 hour period? Remember the Prime doesn't remove the ammo, it only detoxifies it for 24-36 hours while the bio-filter consumes it. The water will still test positive for ammo even if you added Prime. You'll have to forgive me because I haven't seen any of your previous posts, but the tank has been up and running for some time? Have you made any changes like switching filter media? I know you said you added plants, but did you remove a ton of other deco to make room, or just the DW you mentioned? A mini-cycle can take different amounts of time depending on how much the beneficial bacteria needs to adjust. I'm sure you've seen it, but check out this guide to help you through-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html

 

[dskidmore]

Can you provide a link to the previous thread where people were helping you? More background information could be useful.

Kent Marine » Pro-Plant | Products

Kent plant food provides nitrogen. If you were not previously nitrogen limited, then your plants may have stopped taking up nitrite in favor of the plant food.

The recent clouding when you swapped out decor could be improperly cured driftwood, or running your tank too close to biological limits.

Discus are very sensitve fish, you might consider trading your remaining discus in if you don't have your water parameters stable. If you really want a planted discus tank, foccus on the planted side for now, enjoy it as an aquatic garden, and add fish when it's all stable and running for a few months.

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

Yes tank has been up for six months. I removed alot of rock and after the bacterial bloom looked like it was gone I added a couple place TS and started dosing with the pro-plant. I've removed quite a bit of fish since I had it set up. At one time I had over 70 fish. I wasn't smart and put the others in my extra tanks. It doesn't even take 24 hours to spike mainly its the nitrate and nitrite spiking more than the ammonia. But usually with 12 hours it spikes at least in the last few days. I was doing pwc almost everyday but I was slightly over feeding which now I haven't fed any of the fish for a day and a half so now I'm wondering why my water keeps changing like this

 

[eco23]

Beneficial bacteria are surprisingly delicate little things. It doesn't take much to remove too many and throw things out of balance. The only real option is to keep up what you're doing and always have the bucket and bottle of Prime nearby.

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

Is there any way to help the beneficial bacteria along at all. I mean so far the fish seem fine but I dont want them to go hungry for to long either

 

[eco23]

Is there any way to help the beneficial bacteria along at all. I mean so far the fish seem fine but I dont want them to go hungry for to long either

Fish can go a week without eating...I assume Discus too but I'm really not familiar with them. TBH, I don't think a light feeding would have much of an effect as long as you're not overfeeding and the food is getting into the substrate. The only real option to get this problem knocked out is to get some established filter media from a friend. With enough donated media...you can get the mini-cycle knocked out instantly.

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

I may just steal it from my other tanks.

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

Would it help leaving my 10k lights on more and not dosing co2 or algafix. Wat causes my good bacteria to bloom

 

[dskidmore]

If you have enough plants, and you stop supplimenting nitrogen, keeping the lights on will help the plants absorb more nitrogen. It's quite likely to get you green water, but green water is just unsightly, not dangerous to the fish.

It just takes time for the bacteria to multiply.

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

Wouldn't green water be an easier and safer fix in the long run. Are the chemicals I add for plants full of nitrates and nitrites? Stupid ? But id rather ask a pro

 

[dskidmore]

Green water is the safest way out for the fishies. Plants might complain if they don't get enough light, but you'll be able to easily see how much water you need to change to make the murk less murky.

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

So far I'm still having spikes in levels. I'm beginning to think it may be under filtration

 

[HUKIT]

That's why I advised you a look into a large canister filter like the Fluval FX5, last I heard you were thinking about the issue with the stand.

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

Yeah that's the only issue right now

 

[HUKIT]

I would just buy it and throw it next to the tank for now, it will take a couple of weeks for the biofilter to catch up to the bioload.

 

[USMCfishcrzy]

I'm just worried about my kids messing with it then

 

[HUKIT]

The thing is the size of a small shop vac, I don't think there's alot they could do besides use it as a stool.