Cloudy Tank - Ammonia Increasing!

[guppie]

Hi Everyone
I've been reading through the thread on the ammonia level at 4 as well as the cloudy tank thread. Here is what is happening.
15 gallon tank
all new rocks
new fish hiding spots and plants
new filters
distilled water
used the stress zyme and let stand for 8 days
bought 3 fish
all is well - waited 7 days
bought 3 more
still holding up - very proud of how nice the tank looks
Bought 6 more (3 were neons)
lookd great for a week and my water level started to go down
I added a new gallon of distilled and some StressCoat so as not to freak out the fish
Everything was going great up until then
The ammonia level started to rise - like a 2-3 so I added some AmmoLock as directed (I hyper about the direction due to my past experience)
Now the ammonia level has spike to 4-5 (Aquarium Pharma kit)
Tank looks like someone added water to a half a glass of skim milk.
I just added some more ammo lock but I'm terrified of using too many chemicals. So I took a gallon of water out and I replaced it with a new gallon of distilled.

After reading thru the previous threads I'm afraid I did the wrong thing.
I was going to change 25% of the water tomorrow and now I'm not sure I should

Oh yeah - Nitrites are fine (I'm sorry I don't know how to check the nitrates with the kit I have yet)
PH - which was originally slightly - has now dropped down and is a tiny tiny bit low -- well at least lower than it was

Any help or advice I would so appreciate - I love the fish tank and would like to just get past this hurdle

 

[guppie]

SOS Super High Readings!

Latest Vital Stats:
Ammonia: 6-8 (oh my god)
PH - 6.0
Nitrate: 0
GH & KH: 143.2 ans 107.4 respectively - the book with the kit said between 50 -100 for tetras.

I did some additional research this morning throuh a chemsitry link on the site concerning cloudy water:
"White cloudiness is usually the result of a bacteria bloom. Keep a careful check on ammonia levels, if the bacteria is a result on bacteria die off, you may experience increased ammonia levels and your tank maybe recycling. "

The solution presnted was:
"If your tank is recycling and filled with expensive fish, you may want to consider the use of zeolites to absorb the ammonia while your tank finishes the cycle."

what is a zeolite?

Fish boy from NY said in another thread about high ammonia:

"I would just do the water changes until it decreases without touching the gravel or filter system in order to not disturb the bacteria."

Do you think I should change some of the water today? I really doesn't look good.

What about Bacteria additives?
I may have a hard time finging it where I live but I can try this exotic pets store up the road

Would it help if I posted a disaster recover photo of the tank?

Honestly any help from someone whose had a tank before would be so helpful... getting alittle nervous about the fishes now

 

[webmoose]

Hey guppie welcome to AA.. The cycle can be a tricky and potentially stressful time. I would be tempted to stay away from chemicals like AmmoLock. You have to allow the water and bacteria to 'do it's thing'.

The only chemical you should be using is declorinator in your replacement water. Make sure the water you are adding to your tank is as close to the same temp as the tank.

Remember you are trying to get to a second stage in the cycle which will be registering Nitrites in your tank.

moooooose

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi guppie, Webmoose has given you good advice! Chemicals like Ammo-Lock and Stress Zyme will interfere with your cycle and slow it down in the long run. But you have to get the ammonia down, so I would do a large, about 50%, water change. Do a water change every day if necessary in order to get the ammonia down. As the ammonia level falls, your water change doesn't have to be as large as 50%. Here's an article on the cycling process: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21
You have 0 nitrites now because you haven't come to that point in your cycle yet. It's the second stage, as webmoose said. You also will have 0 nitrates now for the same reason -- it's the third and last stage in your cycle.
What other fish do you have besides the neons?

 

[TankGirl]

You have overloaded your tank too quickly, without allowing the bacterial colonies to increase gradually with the addition of new fish. You will have to just do very regular partial water changes and keep the ammonia low until the cycle completes. Next time if you cycle with fish, and using the 15gal as an example, 3 fish would be a great start. They would be in there alone for the whole cycle, 4-6 weeks. Then 3 more, wait several weeks, then 3 more. That will allow the bacteria to keep up with the increased waste produced by the fish.

What kind of filtration is on this tank?

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi guppie,
I answered your distilled water question in your other topic, since I saw the question over there. Did you read the cycling article? You'll have to do your water changes, like TankGirl said, until your ammonia comes down. Then you'll also have to continue with the regular, perhaps daily, water changes to get the nitrites (the second stage of the cycle) down. When you see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 20-40 ppm nitrates, the cycle is complete! Good luck, and let us know how things are going!