athom
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hi folks, first timer here,
I have a 3 month-old, 46 gallon freshwater tank. Everything was fine until about a week ago, when the ammonia level started driving up. In the span of 5 days, it went from 0 to >8ppm. I've been pouring in enough ammonia detoxifier a couple of times daily to clear 2ppm, without any effect (the detox claims to be compatible with the salicylate-based test, and the fish are looking bad, so I don't think it's the test kit). I've done 25% changes every 2-3 weeks with a gravel filter, and every couple of days since the problem started. Since I got the tank, I've swapped the carbon twice (filter is rated to 60gal) and otherwise done as instructed by the pet store. When I noticed the ammonia creeping up, I started cutting back on the food, to the point where I hardly feed them now. One of my guppies gave out this morning, with another looking ready to do the same. In a panic, I've just changed out 75% of the water, and I'm now down to 1.0ppm. I realize this is a drastic and potentially dangerous measure, but I didn't see any alternative.
I would really like to avoid this kind of incident in the future, but I don't know what I've done wrong. According to Petsmart's guidelines my tank is understocked, but browsing through the forums I get the feeling they may have been overselling. I have 3 guppies left (<1 in. each), an orange swordtail (1.5 in.), a danio (1.5 in.), four tetras (<1-1.5 in. each), four dwarf gouramis (1.5-2 in.), a red platy (1.5in.), and a plecostamus (2.5in). That's about 20 inches, and the store says I'm ok with 1 inch per gallon. Is that a gross exaggeration? (i.e. am I overstocked?) Does anyone have any advice on how to prevent future catastrophes like this?
Thanks,
Adam
P.S. If somehow important, other vital statistics have been fairly constant: pH 6.9-7.2, temp 76-80F. Nitrite was 0.0 while running normally, up to 0.25 when ammonia problem was at the peak. At its worst, the tank was also quite cloudly; I tried a single enzyme treatment two days ago, but it made the cloudiness worse.
I have a 3 month-old, 46 gallon freshwater tank. Everything was fine until about a week ago, when the ammonia level started driving up. In the span of 5 days, it went from 0 to >8ppm. I've been pouring in enough ammonia detoxifier a couple of times daily to clear 2ppm, without any effect (the detox claims to be compatible with the salicylate-based test, and the fish are looking bad, so I don't think it's the test kit). I've done 25% changes every 2-3 weeks with a gravel filter, and every couple of days since the problem started. Since I got the tank, I've swapped the carbon twice (filter is rated to 60gal) and otherwise done as instructed by the pet store. When I noticed the ammonia creeping up, I started cutting back on the food, to the point where I hardly feed them now. One of my guppies gave out this morning, with another looking ready to do the same. In a panic, I've just changed out 75% of the water, and I'm now down to 1.0ppm. I realize this is a drastic and potentially dangerous measure, but I didn't see any alternative.
I would really like to avoid this kind of incident in the future, but I don't know what I've done wrong. According to Petsmart's guidelines my tank is understocked, but browsing through the forums I get the feeling they may have been overselling. I have 3 guppies left (<1 in. each), an orange swordtail (1.5 in.), a danio (1.5 in.), four tetras (<1-1.5 in. each), four dwarf gouramis (1.5-2 in.), a red platy (1.5in.), and a plecostamus (2.5in). That's about 20 inches, and the store says I'm ok with 1 inch per gallon. Is that a gross exaggeration? (i.e. am I overstocked?) Does anyone have any advice on how to prevent future catastrophes like this?
Thanks,
Adam
P.S. If somehow important, other vital statistics have been fairly constant: pH 6.9-7.2, temp 76-80F. Nitrite was 0.0 while running normally, up to 0.25 when ammonia problem was at the peak. At its worst, the tank was also quite cloudly; I tried a single enzyme treatment two days ago, but it made the cloudiness worse.