Is my bacteria dead?

[Anna94]

I just tested my water and ammonia was 0.25. I did a water change on Monday and dosed with Prime. Could it be the Prime giving me a false reading? I also rinsed out my filter media in tank water on Saturday. Could my BB have died off? I was advised to use ATM Colony Freshwater.

 

[TMaier]

How did you rinse your filter media? Chlorinated tap would kill it.

Oops missed you did it in old tank water. Have you had anything decay in the tank? Bad plant or missing snail or fish? That can cause a spike.

 

[Anna94]

Not since I did my last water change (which was Monday)

 

[Anna94]

I did feed frozen Bloodworms yesterday and some sunk to the bottom of the tank and was left uneaten. Could that have caused the ammonia to spike

 

[TMaier]

Yes. Especially if you are still building up your bacteria in your filtration.