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[Fishyfish33]

I have a 75 gallon lightly planted tank with 20 fish. I had 21 but my pregnant molly died while giving birth.
When I test my water with the api master freshwater test kit the ammonia test turns blue within minutes instead of any shade of green on the reference chart. My ph is 7.8, nitrites show .50, amd nitrates show 20 ppm I have used several tests for all readings from the seachem ammonia monitor to tetra easy strips and the api master kit unfortunately I’m out of the tetra ammonia test strips at the moment. The easy strips show similar readings as the api kit for nitrates and nitrites but the seachem ammonia tester shows .02 ppm ammonia compared to the api kit which just turns blue. I’m confused and concerned by the readings being different. My fish all act fine. And I change a minimum of 5-10 gallons of water weekly and lightly vacuum the gravel with each water change. The tank is slightly brackish but that’s never seemed to cause issues with the tests before I only had issues with the tests after having a bacteria bloom and using api accu clear. I need ideas please

 

[Desperado070]

Do a water change and test afterwards? (if you change 30% it should decrease by 30%)

You said, after giving birth?

What kinda filter do you have?

Probably you filter is full with dead fry and that is causing the NH3 / No2 spike.

I've used JBL drip test but that was sh/t because it was very hard to read.
So most of the time you would be guessing, maybe this maybe that.
Now I'm using Colombo drip test and got no problems whatsoever.

 

[Fishyfish33]

Do a water change and test afterwards? (if you change 30% it should decrease by 30%)

You said, after giving birth?

What kinda filter do you have?

Probably you filter is full with dead fry and that is causing the NH3 / No2 spike.

I've used JBL drip test but that was sh/t because it was very hard to read.
So most of the time you would be guessing, maybe this maybe that.
Now I'm using Colombo drip test and got no problems whatsoever.

This has been a problem for several weeks. When it first occurred I changed 25 gallons and retested with the same results from the api kit I didn’t have the seachem ammonia indicators when this first became an issue. The molly just passed a couple days ago. As for filters I have a marineland power 350 hob and a top fin cf60 canister filter. I’ll have to look into the jbl drip test

 

[Kaneu]

I know people say to not fully clean your filters cause of beneficial bacteria and blah blah blah, but in this case, i would change out your filter cartridges and sponges. Because I am thinking if you have changed your water and the values are decreasing, you have something in your filter that is releasing toxins. Do that and then let it sit for awhile and see if that helps. Then do water changes and keep testing. Dose with prime or water treatment of some kind to keep fish at lowest stress levels possible.
Sorry you are going through this mate. But the only think i can think of is something died and is decomposing in your tank somewhere?

 

[Fishyfish33]

Filters had been changed in the marineland hob and rinsed in the canister filter after this had started I also add api stress zyme and quick start with water changes along with the api stress coat + to dechlorinate and all fish even my two kuhli loaches are accounted for also I have decreased feedings from twice a day to once a day. Looking at the seachem ammonia monitor it appears that is starting to show a slight drop in ammonia and my water has become slightly cloudy hopefully indicating a bacteria bloom that will lower the ammonia further that is if the api master kit is even reading correctly which is my main concern

 

[Desperado070]

that is if the api master kit is even reading correctly which is my main concern

It is, it is just the sensitivity

Would trust API above JBL and above test strips.
Don't forget those test strips are what you should be afraid for.

Let us know if anything changes...

 

[Fishyfish33]

If the api kit is indeed reading correctly then my ammonia level is off the chart shouldn’t the fish be showing signs of stress. The molly that died had a partial fry hanging out of her and had been oddly large since I got her she was one of the original fish I started with.

 

[Desperado070]

Do you see clamped fins and or gasping for air at the surface?

 

[Fishyfish33]

I had one platy die between last night and this morning. He was the only fish acting strangely yesterday he was lethargic and did have clamped fins the platys have been in tank less than two weeks. After finding him dead and floating I changed 25 gallons of water and again added the api stress zyme and stress coat. The remaining 19 fish all are acting perfectly normal and the seachem ammonia monitor is showing less than .02 ppm ammonia while the api kit still reads off the chart for ammonia. Also during this water change I did a deep vacuum of half the gravel in the tank which pulled up some nasty looking stuff. I know it’s not advised to vac the gravel but desperate times call for desperate measures plus with only doing half it should leave plenty of bacteria to handle the problems. As a side note I run 4 cartridges in my marineland 350 hob filter to give more surface area for bacteria and allow me some freedom in case a cartridge does have to be changed and during today’s water change I rinsed all 4 cartridges in the removed tank water

 

[earhtmother]

Who told you not to vaccuum? I use a Python system for my water changes, my tanks get vacuumed about once a week with no issues.

 

[Fishyfish33]

It’s commonly stated on here that vacuuming gravel can remove the essential bacteria because it lives on the hard surfaces and the filters when I say vacuuming I mean many posts refer to vacuuming the gravel deeply they do say to lightly skim the surface of the gravel to remove surface debris

 

[earhtmother]

*as far as I know* the bacteria is NOT going to be sucked off the gravel by vacuuming it, only by removing it from the tank and *cleaning* it. I'm sure somwone will be quick to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[jason19]

*as far as I know* the bacteria is NOT going to be sucked off the gravel by vacuuming it, only by removing it from the tank and *cleaning* it. I'm sure somwone will be quick to correct me if I'm wrong.

I've also never heard of the gravel vac taking away the BB. I am only new to the game but have done lots of research about tank maintenance and have yet to come across anyone saying gravel vacs remove BB, only the excess food waste/biomass.

 

[Aiken Drum]

It’s commonly stated on here that vacuuming gravel can remove the essential bacteria because it lives on the hard surfaces and the filters when I say vacuuming I mean many posts refer to vacuuming the gravel deeply they do say to lightly skim the surface of the gravel to remove surface debris

Unless you are relying solely on the gravel as biological media, a gravel vac will have a negligible effect to the beneficial bacteria colony.

If you are in the process of cycling a tank, i would caution against a deep gravel vac because "some" will be removed and you need to retain as much as possible during those early stages.