three months and still have ammonia?

[stephenpjenkins]

OK, 10 gallon tank, three platies, three months, and I still have ammonia. I started off with a cheap filter that came with the tank about a month ago, I ditched that for a Penguin Mini with the biowheel. I did save the old filter from the first filter and floated it in the tank so I would not lose any bacteria that I had gained at first.

I do about a 20% water change every two-three days to keep the ammonia out of the way high zone (2 ppm) but even then it only brings the ammonia down to about .5-1.0 ppm after the water change. I only vacuum the substrate once every two weeks to avoid damaging any bacterial growth on the gravel.

I have been feeding very sparingly and scooping out the one or two flakes that don't get eaten.

The fish seem ok... no clamping, no gasping at the surface, eating healthily, etc.

I am using a test tube kit. I have also tested treated tap water to see if there is something wrong with test kit but the treated water comes up with no ammonia so I know it is coming from the tank. I have also tested the water at the bottom, middle, and top of the tank to see if there was a difference but there was none.

Then only chemical I use in the tank is Stress Coat to treat the tap water. I have tried some Cycle but so far that has been a waste of money as a month of it has made no difference.

Tested today after 20% water change, no vacuuming: 1.0 ppm ammonia and 20 ppm of nitrates. I have never seen nitrites.

Any ideas where I went wrong?

 

[chasgood]

Hmmm.
2.0 ppm ammonia is in the stress zone but not close to fatal. Let it go up to 3 or 4 ppm before doing a pwc. You need to have a fairly high ammonia count to get the bacteria to multiply. It will be stressful on the fish but there is no other way.
It is odd that you have a such a high nitrate reading never having gotten a high nitrite level. Does the tap water have nitrate in it?

lets hope it was just over doing the water changes that slowed this cycle down.

 

[krap101]

yeah...i think biospiras coming out soon again unless it was delayed again. so you could use that. but i think i mighta heard somewhere its coming back in july. i havent read the biospira report recently.... someone else'll know..

 

[tetrin]

i would suggest adding a few plants like hornwort ar ancharis to your aquarium...they would help bring the levels down...though i can't find any plausible reason why ammo is so high, whereas nitrite is nil and nitrate is low...definitely is odd...

 

[Cafe Jeff]

Just as an experiement, try testing your tap water in its untreated state. If they are using Chloramine in your area, as they are mine, that gives me a positive for ammonia. Jeff

 

[TankGirl]

I too suspect a faulty test. Is your test one that has two bottles or one?

 

[BrianNY]

Stephen, this actually sounds impossible to me unless you're dumping an entire can of fish food in every night, or cleaning the inside of your tank with chlorox. LOL

Bring a sample of your water to your lfs and ask them to test for ammonia.

 

[stephenpjenkins]

Thanks for the replies so far... The test that I was using was the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals two bottle test. Looking at Tankgirl's response, I went and bought a Jungle Laboratories strip test tonight (I know, not as accurate as the other but I wanted something to check against quickly). It looks like the first test was faulty in that it was overly sensitive to ammonia. It was telling me 3 ppm when the test strip said .25 ppm.

My entire testing procedures is as follows:

1- Tested both tank water, tap water, and Stress-coat treated water with both tests. Tank water showed 3 ppm with the test tube and .25 ppm with the strips. Both the untreated tap water and treated tap water tested at 0.

2- Added two drops of Amquel+ (just purchased tonight for this purpose) to some tank water and then tested with both tests. Both tests then responded with 0 ppm for ammonia although I think the strip was actually just a tad above 0.

So my conclusions are that the tap water seems to be free of ammonia before and after treatment. Also, the original test was overly sensitive. Last but not least, dangit, I still have at least .25 ppm of ammonia in my tank the day after a 20% water change and three months of running the darn thing. I agree with BrianNY that this should seem impossible. I swear chlorine has not come within 100 ft of the tank and I literally count out three flakes of food morning and night, one flake per fish.

I am going to take some water down to the LFS tomorrow and see what they come up with. Suggestions on what to take it down in so as to not contaminate the water?

 

[TankGirl]

Put it in a Ziplock freezer baggie. I think that is a good plan.

Also, ask them for the exact reading, or read it yourself, because if it is under 1ppm they will say your ammonia is "fine." I hate that.....

 

[stephenpjenkins]

OK... back from the LFS. They measure the ammonia at between .25 and .5 ppm. So obviously my first test kit was measuring way high, but that still leaves me with asking why I have any in the first place. These are my original fish, I would like to add two or three more for a total of 5-6 platies. I think that is reasonable and not overstocking but I am afraid of adding fish until I can figure out this ammonia issue. I asked the guy at the LFS and he just scratched his head and then tried to sell me more chemicals (I didn't buy any).

At this point, I will try letting the ammonia climb a bit higher before doing the pwc... it kills me though as I hate the idea of torturing the fish. I wish I would have known about fishless cycling before I started After spending all this time with the fish, I have gotten rather attached to the three.

Any other ideas, let me know.

 

[Menagerie]

he just scratched his head and then tried to sell me more chemicals (I didn't buy any).

Kudos to you!!

How often do you do water changes with a gravel vac?

 

[stephenpjenkins]

How often do you do water changes with a gravel vac?

I always use the gravel vac to do the water changes. Most of the time lately I have not been putting it into the gravel... trying not to disturb any possible biological growth down there.

Another person mentioned adding another fish or two... he said that the limited number of fish may not be enough to create enough ammonia to kickstart the bacteria growth. Not sure about this... thoughts anyone?

 

[BrianNY]

Something is not allowing the nitrifying bacteria to establish. When you change water, are you treating with a chlorine and chloramine remover? It might be as simple as that.

IME, the best bio filter is a sponge type powered by an air pump. A sponge has the alot of surface area making it ideal for that. Flowing water through the sponge shortens the time needed and increases the bacteria colony. They are very inexpensive. Give that a try for awhile too.