Need help with ammonia problems.

[Stephanie]

Hello. I just set up a 55 gallon fish only tank. I moved everything from my 20 gallon into the 55, and added 35 gallons of new water and some more live sand. I did this on Wednesday night. Since then, the ammonia has been rising. It was at .25 on Wednesday, 1.0 on Friday, and it jumped all the way to 4.0 today. Why could this be happening? There are no dead fish, I haven't changed anything, and I have the protein skimmer running just as before. The nitrites are very low and nitrates are lower than before we switched everything. The ammonia is the only problem.

Also, what can I do besides water changes to control the problem? I have been adding Ammolock and "Cycle," but I was wondering if there is a way to actually get rid of the ammonia that I don't know about. I'm still learning about water chemistry so please be kind

Thanks!

Steph

 

[sokhamik]

i think that turning on your protein skimmer during cycling is only going to slow the process down... if you're a patient person, i think you should remove the fishes and do a fishless cycle like everyone recommends..

 

[Stephanie]

But isn't it already cycled? fishfreek told me that if I moved everything from the existing 20 gallon into the 55 gallon, the tank would already be cycled.

 

[Barney]

did you change filters?

If it is the same, then your filter is working to maximixe, meaning grow.

If it is not the same filter , then it is starting over.

Stay away from chemicals as much as possible. Try to keep changing some water to help lower the ammonia.
Be cautious, that adding chemicals will affect your water test results.

 

[sokhamik]

doesn't changing water slow down the cycle also?.. i switched my 55g setup to a 95g setup.. the 55g was already cylced before i did so.. my 95g still needed time to adjust.. basically it was trying to "recycle"...

 

[Barney]

to some yes it will slow down the cycle but not much. if there is fish present, you do want to change water to bring down the high level of harmful concentration.
If no fish , leave it alone and it will cycle completely. It also depends on your filter capabilities.

 

[cal91666]

I have been adding Ammolock and "Cycle,"

Isn't this "Cycle" product nothing more than ammonia to help feed the good bacteria??

 

[fishfreek]

Cycle is supposed to be 'bottled bactera'. I really question its effectivness given that bactera needs food and oxygen to live. It can get food from other bactera in the bottle dieing off but i wonder where it gets the oxygen at since the bottle is sealed.

The older the bottle the less effective its going to be in my book.

ammolock will convert your ammonia to a non toxic form but on MANY test kits your water will still test positive for ammonia.

I would do a 20% water change every few days for a week and discontinue the use of ammolock. This way you can slowly remove that product from your water and at the same time you should see your ammonia drop.

 

[Stephanie]

Thank you for the advice. I will continue to do water changes although I'm confused as to why I'm having such a problem. I only have two false perculas, a blenny and a cleaner shrimp in a 55 gallon tank. The previous 20 gallon had been set up for over two years and I used all of the water from that. Last night my ammonia level jumped to 8.0, and that was after a water change a day before. I'll keep changing it though (what a pain!) and hopefully it will stabalize soon.

~Steph
P.S. Why should I remove Ammolock from the water?
P.S.S. Cycle claims that the bacteria are dormant in the bottle and stay that way until the conditions are right (when you put them in the aquarium.)

 

[fishfreek]

If your test kit does not differenate between 'free' ammonia and 'total' ammonia then constatly adding ammolock is going to keep giving you a FALSE positive reading for ammonia.

This is because ammolock just converts toxic ammonia over to non toxic form.

 

[Barney]

P.S.S. Cycle claims that the bacteria are dormant in the bottle and stay that way until the conditions are right (when you put them in the aquarium.)

because they are in "hibernation" until it is feed.... by means of fish waste, fish food...

 

[Stephanie]

Oh, I see. Are there any kits that just test for free ammonia?

 

[fishfreek]

Seachem ammonia has the ability to test free ammonia and total ammonia.

Im not sure difinitivly if it will not false detect the ammolock as I do not use that product but in theory the free ammonia is what is dangerious.