Ammonia won't go away..

[fargodenny]

I started an aquarium (freshwater) about 5 weeks ago. After approximately 2 weeks I decided to change my Aqueon filter for an AquaClear filter. I stupidly just took out the old one and put in the new. NOT GOOD. Any bacteria that was in the old was removed with the filter. Of course the Ammonia spiked and the tank was in turmoil for quite a while. It has been more than 3 weeks now, with very frequent water changes. Still, the ammonia is high. Just did another water change this morning!. I have moved stuff around in the tank to see if anything was dead but haven't found anything. Why would the tank continue to have this ammonia spike? Should i treat it chemically??
It is a 38 Gal. tank. I have about 9-10 fish in it- 1 mini-crab and 1 cobalt blue lobster (everyone seems happy-eating--). I did have 2 Columbian sharks but the cobalt lobster had (part of them) for dinner so they were removed.
Any suggestions, comments?? continued water changes or chemicals for the ammonia problem? THANKS!

 

[jlk]

Hi! When you switched to a new filter, you started your cycle over again. So, your only 3 weeks into a cycle right now. Perfectly normal to still have ammonia spikes at this point in time. A fish-in cycle can take anywhere from 4-8wks or possibily longer. Just make sure your not overfeeding and that you stay on top of your water changes to keep toxins in check during the cycling process. Chemicals are not necessary but a good water conditioner (such as Prime) will help limit the toxicity of ammonia & nitrite. If you can acquire any cycled media, this will speed up the process. Angelsplus sells 'active' (cycled) filters if your interested in trying this route (Sponge Filters for aquariums). Have some patience!

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

 

[bobc4d]

I just got my ammonia level down, fish in cycle, by getting an active filter from angelsplus

Sponge Filters for aquariums=

it helped jump start my cycle 36g tank 8 weeks old