Cloudy with a high probability of ammonia

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shaman97

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 13, 2007
Messages
5
55 gal - non planted
XP2 canister filter
Fishless cycle completed ~ 1 month ago
PFS substrate

2 weeks ago, added 10 blue neon tetra. 4 died within a week - others fine. Feeding flake food, breaking into smaller bits. Note 'film' on water surface.

1 week ago, added two tiger barbs, and two hatchets. Seemed the hatchets were not eating, so I changed to freeze-dried tubifex worms. All fish seem to enjoy these, though the hatchets still seem to be picky eaters.

This past Thursday, water crystal clear in AM at feeding time. In afternoon, very cloudy. Also noted all fish at surface. 'Not good' sez I to self. Performed 30% PWC. Fish behavior returns to normal. Still cloudy.

Friday AM, still a bit cloudy, fish behavior normal. Friday afternoon, decidedly cloudier than the morning. Fish at surface, again. Ammonia at 8.0 (or more). 50% PWC. Added air pump, and air stone. Changed microfiltration padding.

Saturday (today) AM - Very cloudy, again. 75% PWC. Water still a bit cloudy, but better than previous days' condition.

Present readings:

pH -7.0/7.2
Ammonia - 1.0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0

What is causing the cloudiness - the ammonia? After all these water changes, I would expect the water to be clear and the ammonia to be at zero.

The rapid change in cloudiness (8 hours!!) is causing me concern. Seems the PWC's are helping, but not to the level of clarity I had earlier this week.

I plan on another PWC this evening or tomorrow AM.

What am I missing? What to do next?
 
I'm not an expert, but it sounds like you're going through another cycle, if you have ammonia and no nitrates. It sounds like there were two weeks between when you finished the cycle and when you introduced the first fish... Was there anything in the tank then? Were you dosing ammonia? If there was no ammonia source, I'd assume your beneficial bacteria died off for lack of it.

For now, I would guess you should:
* keep up PWCs as much as needed to keep the ammonia as low as possible
* try to get some filter material from an established tank to seed your filter, if you can.
* feed very lightly
 
It sounds like there were two weeks between when you finished the cycle and when you introduced the first fish... Was there anything in the tank then?

No - nothing in the tank. It's a mystery.
 
I'm assuming you fishless cycled, right?

Then,when you're cycle was complete, you waited 2 weeks before getting fish?

If that's the case, your bacteria died off if you weren't continuing to add ammonia to feed them, and now you are cycling over again.
 
If I'm beginning to cycle all over again, and I have fish in the tank, what precautions should I take to help the existing fish survive?
 
if that is the case, you'll need to test your water params often, and PWC any time the ammonia or nitrIte gets above 0.5ppm or so. Stick in the 50-60% PWC range as needed based on your readings, and don't gravel vac more than once or twice a week.
 
That film you are referring to is normally caused by over-feeding (a protein film). This will cause ammonia as the uneaten food rots causing your ammonia level to go up.

Your 2 tiger barbs will most likely cause BIG trouble in your tank. They are aggressive fish that do MUCH better in larger numbers (6-8 minimum). In smaller numbers they will pick on your other fish, sometimes to the point of death (I had it happen in my tank EVEN with 6 of them).

Are you positive all fish are accounted for? Crazy ammonia levels and cloudiness are indicative of an ammonia spike. Most times in cycled tanks this is due to a fish that dies and rots in the tank releasing tons of ammonia. But it sounds like you starved your bacteria during the 2 week wait period.

What are you using to test with? I doubt you had 8.0ppm ammonia (most of your fish should have been in DIRE straits, so I'm wondering if you're using strips. I see you said:

Changed microfiltration padding.

What exactly do you mean and how much of your total filter media was this change?

I would highly recommend you review the fishless cycling thread. There have been several mistakes made that pretty much means you're starting with an uncycled tank.

My honest recommendation is to return all of the fish and start from scratch. You are fighting an uphill battle right now....
 
Well, things are much better at this point, after having done many PWC's, the last of which was last Sunday. I scaled back on the feeding without any noticeable bad consequences. The fish are doing much better, and the ammonia level is under control. I'm using the AP Master test kit.
 
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