Dirted tank ammonia out of control?

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Ruutah

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
134
Location
Tampa Bay Area
So.... I bit the bullet the other night, and bought a bag of Miracle Grow Organic Choice potting soil, put about an inch of it down the new tank I was setting up. capped it with Carib sea sand, and planted a about 10 plants/cuttings in it, and filled it with distilled water. Put a pair of guppies in it, and have been watching the ammonia steadily rise. Even with TSS the ammonia is not coming under control. When it hit 2PPM, I did a 30% water change, even though it says not to on the tetra site. that brought it down some. but it started climbing again. so I dosed it with API Ammo Lock.

I checked it this morning, and it was climbing again so I checked it again about 2 hours ago, and it was off the chart. The fish look fine, no signs of stress, they're happily chasing each other around and surfing the current when not chasing each other (2 boys in a 14 gallon tall tank)

Filtration is via, a sponge filter that was running in my cory tank for a month before I moved it over (PERFECT numbers on that tank ) and a Cascade 300 HOB.

So is the Ammo lock just playing hell with the ammonia test, or what am I missing? I get off work in 20 min and I'm going to do another large water change. I threw a huge handful of floating plants (pretty much covered the surface of the water) in while I was on break and checked it 2 hours ago. I'm kind of curious if they help my readings at all.
 
So.... I bit the bullet the other night, and bought a bag of Miracle Grow Organic Choice potting soil, put about an inch of it down the new tank I was setting up. capped it with Carib sea sand, and planted a about 10 plants/cuttings in it, and filled it with distilled water. Put a pair of guppies in it, and have been watching the ammonia steadily rise. Even with TSS the ammonia is not coming under control. When it hit 2PPM, I did a 30% water change, even though it says not to on the tetra site. that brought it down some. but it started climbing again. so I dosed it with API Ammo Lock.



I checked it this morning, and it was climbing again so I checked it again about 2 hours ago, and it was off the chart. The fish look fine, no signs of stress, they're happily chasing each other around and surfing the current when not chasing each other (2 boys in a 14 gallon tall tank)



Filtration is via, a sponge filter that was running in my cory tank for a month before I moved it over (PERFECT numbers on that tank ) and a Cascade 300 HOB.



So is the Ammo lock just playing hell with the ammonia test, or what am I missing? I get off work in 20 min and I'm going to do another large water change. I threw a huge handful of floating plants (pretty much covered the surface of the water) in while I was on break and checked it 2 hours ago. I'm kind of curious if they help my readings at all.


There's a lot of organic breakdown going on in the soil. This is very common in dirtied tanks. Floating plants are very good shout but water changes are better. Between the two you should be fine. Ammonia production will slow eventually and you will have a nice bacterial colony capable of processing the ammonia in a few weeks.

Keep the water column well oxygenated. Sounds like you have good flow. Keep that water moving round. The heavy breakdown of organics is taxing on the oxygen content.

Good luck


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40% Water change, test still reads 8ppm. A little bit lighter than that green, but still that green. Dosed with Ammo lock again. I'm filling jugs and getting ready for tomorrows water change. I'm running out of store bought water, and the PH is going to start going up on these guys, as my Tap PH is in the range of 8.4ish. Currently tank is showing 7.4.
 
40% Water change, test still reads 8ppm. A little bit lighter than that green, but still that green. Dosed with Ammo lock again. I'm filling jugs and getting ready for tomorrows water change. I'm running out of store bought water, and the PH is going to start going up on these guys, as my Tap PH is in the range of 8.4ish. Currently tank is showing 7.4.


Water changes and ammo-lock you just gotta keep doing this until the ammonia comes down. Fast growing Stem plants as well as floating plants will help. Limnophila, Hygrophila.


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Post 20% water change numbers tonight.

PH 7.2
Ammonia 4.0
Nitrite 2.0
Nitrate 10

Dosed Ammo Lock again. Guppies still look good. They're eating well, and playing tag. No visibly damaged fins.
 
Pulled the guppies from the tank today. I ran out of Ammo lock last night, and I won't be able to get more till Saturday. Rather than risk it, I'll ask my 5gal to flex it's bacteria muscles a bit more.

AQ advisor now says I'm 200% stocked on the tank but with 150% filtration yet with 2 cories, 3 otocinclus, and 2 guppies. It's temporary till the numbers stabilize in the bigger tank. My wife wanted to find more guppies this weekend, and I told her she'll have to wait. (hate telling her no)
 
Post 5 gallon water change numbers this evening.

Ammonia 8ppm (honestly matches the green tonight vs the dark blue/green it has been)
Nitrates 10ppm
Nitrites .25ppm

I actually put an AngelsPlus active sponge filter in it yesterday, so I was curious as to what it would read. We'll see what tomorrow's water change brings.
 
Post 5 gallon water change numbers this evening.

Ammonia 8ppm (honestly matches the green tonight vs the dark blue/green it has been)
Nitrates 10ppm
Nitrites .25ppm

I actually put an AngelsPlus active sponge filter in it yesterday, so I was curious as to what it would read. We'll see what tomorrow's water change brings.


If you know anyone else with a fish tank you could ask them to cut a piece of their filter sponge off and give it to you. This will help speed things up.


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Did an early WC today as we're going to town (1.5hrs each way)

Pre WC

Ammonia .5
Nitrite 5
Nitrate 40

Post WC numbers

Ammonia .5
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
 
Patients is golden in this hobby, you will get there and you should love the results of a dirted tank. Lots of root feeders to really get the benefits.

How big is the tank? what plants did you already plant and plan to plant?
 
It's a 15g show tank that I picked up for 20$ used. Was going to be used for my wife's classroom next year, but it looks like we're moving so she may not need it for that.

Plant wise, I've got an Amazon Sword front and center, some rockwork hardscape that I sourced from local rocks (vinegar tested), a pair of seeded sponge filters off to the left with a large Marimo Ball on it, the centerpiece flat rock has a bunch of java moss superglued to it. a Ruffle amazon sword, anubias congensis, anubias barteri, java fern, elodea, some bacopa, frogbit, dwarf water lettuce, bladderwort, water spangle, and cobomba, last but not least some dwarf hair grass. (and yes, if it seems like I just threw everything I had at this tank, that is what happened. I had 3 tanks I was going to plant, but most of it was melting away, so I threw what hadn't melted into the tank to try and kick start it with a heavy plant load)

Lighting is just by the LED's in the hood for the moment, was planning on a finnex ray 2 but I might wait for after the move. I was also planning on DIY Co2 as an experiment over the summer, but again it may wait till after the move.

The cobomba has probably grown 4-5 inches in the last few days. The Amazon sword was starting to come back really well, but I had to move it to make room for the second sponge, the one tall shoot that came up is starting to melt back, with lots of new growth down low. Elodea is happy and growing but it will grow in anything. (I've seriously seen this stuff grow in limerock quarries back home in FL) Patiently waiting on everything else to kick in, but I may need to give it more light, especially with all the floating plants.

It's planted in OCMG capped with Carib Sea Tahitian Moon sand.

I let it go 48 hours without a water change, saw a slight bump in nitries last night, but water parameters as I typed this came out to:

Ammonia .50ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Nitrates 40ppm
 
Are you set on the Ray2? That is a lot of light for that tank. You would need a generous amount of CO2 to keep the algae at bay. If you are set on a Finnex fixture, then I'd suggest the Planted+ 24/7 (or simply, the 24/7). Aside from the 24/7 mode, which is a neat feature, you can dim the intensity.


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It's a 15g show tank that I picked up for 20$ used. Was going to be used for my wife's classroom next year, but it looks like we're moving so she may not need it for that.

Plant wise, I've got an Amazon Sword front and center, some rockwork hardscape that I sourced from local rocks (vinegar tested), a pair of seeded sponge filters off to the left with a large Marimo Ball on it, the centerpiece flat rock has a bunch of java moss superglued to it. a Ruffle amazon sword, anubias congensis, anubias barteri, java fern, elodea, some bacopa, frogbit, dwarf water lettuce, bladderwort, water spangle, and cobomba, last but not least some dwarf hair grass. (and yes, if it seems like I just threw everything I had at this tank, that is what happened. I had 3 tanks I was going to plant, but most of it was melting away, so I threw what hadn't melted into the tank to try and kick start it with a heavy plant load)

Lighting is just by the LED's in the hood for the moment, was planning on a finnex ray 2 but I might wait for after the move. I was also planning on DIY Co2 as an experiment over the summer, but again it may wait till after the move.

The cobomba has probably grown 4-5 inches in the last few days. The Amazon sword was starting to come back really well, but I had to move it to make room for the second sponge, the one tall shoot that came up is starting to melt back, with lots of new growth down low. Elodea is happy and growing but it will grow in anything. (I've seriously seen this stuff grow in limerock quarries back home in FL) Patiently waiting on everything else to kick in, but I may need to give it more light, especially with all the floating plants.

It's planted in OCMG capped with Carib Sea Tahitian Moon sand.

I let it go 48 hours without a water change, saw a slight bump in nitries last night, but water parameters as I typed this came out to:

Ammonia .50ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Nitrates 40ppm

Are you sure it's cabomba and not hornwort? I don't know if cabomba grows as fast as you mention and I believe it requires high light. Hornwort on the other hand grows so fast you could grab a chair and observe it doing so.
 
Yeah, pretty sure it's cabomba, I've been looking for hornwort to put in due to the high nitrate numbers I've been getting. I'll attempt to post pictures tomorrow.

As for the finnex ray, nah, I'm not set on it. but for the money it's a lot of light, and I'm trying to stick to LED. That and it's a quite tall tank, almost as tall as wide. It's only about 8, maybe 9 inches deep though.

The cheapie LED light I picked up off of Amazon for my 5 gallon, is causing me no end of headaches with pea soup, though the Hairgrass is loving it.
 
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