What is happening?!

[vao71]

Okay! So I got a 125 gallon about 2 weeks ago, right after my 55 had basically crashed. Fish were dying, the ammonia tests were basically black, my ray died, fish were getting fungus it was chaos! I moved all my living, non sick fish to the 125 including one established penguin 350 filter. Also on the 125 I have a fluval fx5 with two trays of biomax and carbon in the bottom tray. Also a few live plants. The stock in this tank is 2 angels, 4 platinum tetras, a BGK, 3 clown loaches, a 3 spot gourami, and a gold gourami. Now yes I know this way too much fish for a tank that's supposed to be cycling but I had no choice, they would have surely been dead in the 55. Now here's my dilemma, the ammonia WILL NOT GO DOWN!!! The fish all look very healthy, the clown loaches have their full color and are extremely active, I use them as an example because I know they're sometimes called indicator fish. My theory is that I'm getting false readings because there's just no way its been the same color on the test after so many water changes and very very light feedings (one feeding every 3 days). Now the reason I bring up false readings is because until a few hours ago I had a bag of ammonia remover in the penguin 350 when I had the 55 in a desperate attempt to save it, therefore the ammonia remover was also in the 125. Could that have been providing false readings? Because according to my lfs the established filter should've established this new tank "immediately" what do you guys think? I just want this nightmare to be over

 

[Mrs.h2012]

What is your pH reading?

 

[vao71]

About 6.8, I have some driftwood in there in an attempt to convert it into a discus tank.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

About 6.8, I have some driftwood in there in an attempt to convert it into a discus tank.

Had your pH been stable? I would keep a close eye on it, if it gets much lower your cycle could stall.

 

[vao71]

I've been testing it everyday along with the ammonia, and they're both completely stable. The ammonia being consistently green

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I've been testing it everyday along with the ammonia, and they're both completely stable. The ammonia being consistently green

Is it the .25 green or the darker ones? If its the .25 light green than I wouldn't worry all that much. Since your doing fish in now it takes a couple to a few weeks for ammonia to drop, I know it did when I fish in cycled my 10g with two platies. Since your cycling you want some ammonia or else the BB has no food.

 

[vao71]

It's one of the darker ones :/, and the fish waste is a producer of ammonia no?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

It's one of the darker ones :/, and the fish waste is a producer of ammonia no?

Yes it is. As is food that doesn't get eaten. Since you have a good many fish it will probably just take PWC 's to keep ammonia at a safe level and just wait it out. Just do your best to keep levels at .25, definitely no higher than .5 if you can help it.

 

[vao71]

See now I do do PWCs but my lfs recommends against that and says just let the filters do their job and do your once weekly water changes, I mean both sides make sense and I have been doing water changes but it's just the same shade of green always doesn't go up or down

 

[MacDracor]

First, water changes generally won't harm the cycle. The bacteria are surface colonizers, and don't swim in the water.
Second, what test kit are you using? Have you tested say, your tap water, as a baseline? You could also bring a water sample to the lfs to test.
If you can confirm ammonia is present, I'd recommend a 50% change and then using a bottled bacteria additive.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

See now I do do PWCs but my lfs recommends against that and says just let the filters do their job and do your once weekly water changes, I mean both sides make sense and I have been doing water changes but it's just the same shade of green always doesn't go up or down

That's one thing that LFS will tell you that you need to not listen too. When doing fish in cycles you don't want ammonia over .25, if you get to high ammonia it will kill your fish. Just letting a filter run doesn't take away fish poop. A filter wont help remove the poop that settles in the crevices of gravel or poop that falls and sits on sand. The only way to get it out is by water changes and vacuuming your substrate. Removing poop and old food will in turn lower ammonia since poop and un eaten food is where ammonia comes from. That's why people highly stress that fish in cycles take a lot of dedication and time and if you don't have the time to dedicate to it don't do it, but I do know your case is different and you had to have some where to house your fish. Fish in cycles can be done properly without harming fish, but as I stated before it takes time and dedication to be done properly.

 

[vao71]

Okay so how often would you say to do a water change?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Okay so how often would you say to do a water change?

During a fish in cycle, you need to be testing your water everyday (you can test daily if you want) is best, but don't go any longer than testing every other day. Anytime ammonia is above .25ppm time for a water change! And I would say since you said your levels are the darker green ones you may need to do a large water change to get levels down to .25ppm.

 

[vao71]

Okay so first thing tomorrow I'll start those huge water changes, thanks for all your help guys!

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Okay so first thing tomorrow I'll start those huge water changes, thanks for all your help guys!

No problem! I would do one very large water change, like probably around 75% to get your ammonia level down to .25ppm. I know the shades of green are hard to distinguish between, but can you atleast give us a guess of what you think your ammonia is? That would help us tell you what percentage of a water change to do to get levels in check then hopefully after that it won't take huge water changes everytime you have to do one.

 

[Rivercats]

If you consistantly get the same level of ammonia readings on your liquid tests you could have ammonia in your tap water. Test your tap water to see what it is reading for ammonia. If the tap water does indeed contain ammonia then you might have to look into an alternative source of water for WC's.

Another thing is when you moved the filter over to the 135 you seeded the new larger tank but it wasn't/isn't instantly cycled. The old filter with media gave the tank a jump start so you could actually still be cycling, especially if you tap water doesn't contain any ammonia.