Ammonia 2ppm?

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Ellenquacker72

Ellenquacker72

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
May 30, 2011
Messages
295
Location
Canada
I Just went on a one week trip. Before I left the levels where 0 ammo, 0 trite and 5 nitrate. I got my neighbor to feed my fish once during this time, (I gave her a container with the correct amount) and when I got back today, there was 2ppm of ammonia?!? I did a water change and now it's back down, but does any one have any ideas why this happened? The tanks been cycled since the beginning of June, and haven't had any problems since, which is why I'm slightly confused. I have the no nitrite and the same amount of nitrates as when I left.
 
Hm, odd. JColon asks a good question; did you use any bacteria products when setting up the tank? They can cause an unstable filter where the tank appears cycled for a while but then the cycle crashes and toxins start rising.

If not, then it might just be overfeeding by your neighbor or something else that went wrong when you were away. Doing the pwc to get it down is good; keep monitoring daily and see what happens.
 
I agree with the others...I think Ellen was doing a fishless cycle, then at the advice of family/friends she added a cycling product and stocked the tank. I've seen plenty of bio-filter crashes from those things. The solution definitely is constant testing and water changes as necessary until the tank stabilized. Good luck :)
 
I didnt add any cycling products. Ever. I just added fish at the advice of family. And my neighbor didn't overfeed, since 1) she only fed them once 2) I gave the proper amount for one regular days worth of food. Anything else it could be?
 
Guess I got mixed up, sorry. The solution is the same though regardless of the cause. Have you switched filters or redecorated the tank recently? Any chance a fish has died and you haven't found him?
 
It's ok Eco, I've read so many threads you've sorted out, I'm surprised you remembered anything about my cycle!

Haha, I only have 2 fish... And they're both there. Nothing has changed at all... I was away for a month and got my mom to take care of them, she only did what I asked her to (it was a vey long email haha) and then I got back, everything was great, went away for a week, and wadda ya know, ammonia. It seems really weird to me. I rinsed out the filter media a bit to make sure they were all right, everything seems to be working.
 
A large increase of ammo in an established tank comes from
1. Decrease in BB - Either by removing / rinsing with tap the established media or bacteria crashing
2. Decomposing stock / Plants / Food
3. Ammo in tap during PWC's or added directly (ace ammonia for example)
4. Inaccurate testing - By chance, are you using test strips? Those tend to be notoriously inaccurate.

You mentioned rinsing the filter to make sure they were all right ... I'm assuming you just did that after your week return and used tank / treated water?
 
Yes I rinsed the filter media after i found the raised amount of ammo, to make sure the filter was working and not clogged or something, and I rinsed them in the water I took out from the water change.
I use API master test kit, since that's what every one else uses. I also have the nutrafin liquid test kit which I use for backup. And there was ammo in the tank, both the tests and the fish show it. I don't think my tank falls into any of those choices, which is what got me concerned in the first place, since it makes no sense to me :( My plants are doing very well, and I have had diatoms and have now moved on to green algae. Algae wouldnt do anything that would affect ammo would it?
 
Yep ... I have to agree with you... makes no sense. Ammo just doesn't increase out of the blue in an established tank. Unless your neighbor did somehow add more food without telling you? I'm not accusing btw ..just idk on this one.
Sorry .. I'm out of ideas.
 
Yeah, me too :( I guess il just keep checking the levels. Maybe it was just a fluke? Thanks for the input guys!
 
jetajockey said:
It'd be worthwhile to check your pH level also, if your water is soft you may have had a drop that would slow down the nitrifiers also and end up showing ammonia readings.
Click to expand...

Well, my ph is a steady 8.3 and liquid rock... As far as I can tell, if the time it takes scraping the minerals off every week has anything to do with it. I don't have a hardness test, I wish I did. But I've already spent so much money... It's painful :( but worth it! But my water that I put in the tank isn't put through a softener, so it's straight from the ground basically.
 
it's hard to say then, could be anything, just have to treat it like a minicycle and do water changes as needed. One other thing to consider is the amount of biomedia in the filter, sometimes if the tank is lacking in biomedia it can cause minicycles by the slightest changes since the bacteria has basically maxed out its colonization area and needs more room to grow.
 
Hmm... I have a fluval U2 which supposedly is good for much larger aquariums. It has lots of biomax, 2 carbon pads (I know they're not the best, but oh well), and 2 mechanical filtration sponge things. I figured that there would be plenty of room for some bacteria with the gravel :( maybe not. Ive heard that sands creates more surface area for bacteria, so when I upgrade, (hopefully soon!) will having sand help if this is indeed my problem? Because I was just going to use the same filter.
I'll check things again in the morning. G'night!
 
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