in need of some help

[Brad M]

Media is just a term for the filter stuff that looks like a brilla pad you would clean with. If you walked into any pet store and asked for an ammonia reducing media they would show you a good chunk of it for 10 to 13 bucks.

Dont do it just yet. If we take your gravel out to fully clean the tank then the media you have in your filter now is your only biofilter that will destroy the ammonia. Removing that would equat to having to fully cycle your tank again.

 

[dman0617]

**UPDATE**
Pic of ammonia test after 5min
Heres a vid of me doing the test
20131012_194638.mp4

 

[Brad M]

**UPDATE**
Pic of ammonia test after 5 min

DMan I think its time for my idea if your up for it. Its either something in your gravel producing to much ammonia for the biofilter to handle or you BB is all dead in the filter.

At this point I would remove my gravel cleaning the tank while doing it and do a massive water change.

Anyone have any ideas or other options?

 

[dman0617]

DMan I think its time for my idea if your up for it. Its either something in your gravel producing to much ammonia for the biofilter to handle or you BB is all dead in the filter.

At this point I would remove my gravel cleaning the tank while doing it and do a massive water change.

Anyone have any ideas or other options?

i think ill take you up on it

 

[PAwrangler08]

Idk if this will help or not, but I had a similar problem. And forgive me if I am wrong with this comment since I'm pretty new to e hobby yet, t I used Nite Out II. My ammonia was up to like 3-4ppm and nitrites 0 and nitrates 160ppm. I did a 30% WC and did a double dose of nite out 2 for one week and it put my tank back on track. Now I don't know if it would help or not with his tank since his nitrates are lower than mine, but figured I would let ya know what worked for my tank. Good luck.

Btw I have pool filter sand substrate.

 

[Brad M]

i think ill take you up on it

Let me know what you do and test the water 1 hour after you remove gravel or water change.

 

[usarng2000]

Just from my experience when my girlfriend put 5 goldfish in a 10 gallon tank , the ammonia spiked insanely off the charts...

I went out bought (3 weeks ago) an AC20 put the ammonia media filter with charcoal, bio-max, and sponge in the AC20 HOB

I removed about 4 gallons, in 18 hours the water was (and still is) crystal clear and the ammonia (just checked it) is at 0.25 ppm. Yes ideally it should be 0; however she put 5 in a 10 gallon ......... One she has had for 7 years living is a 3 gallon bowl, now he is in the tank...

Just throwing that out there

 

[Jmunroe]

Did you check the expiration date on the test kit? Just because it's only been bought a few months ago doesn't mean it's good. Have you tested a bottle of water bought at the store to see if your kit is performing? Tested your tap?

 

[dman0617]

Did you check the expiration date on the test kit? Just because it's only been bought a few months ago doesn't mean it's good. Have you tested a bottle of water bought at the store to see if your kit is performing? Tested your tap?

did you see my video

 

[Brad M]

Dman what did you do with your tank today?

 

[dman0617]

Dman what did you do with your tank today?

nothing as of yet on monday ill take out the fish and gravel and clean the bottom of the tank the tetras are acting weird when i come close to the tank they are actually trying to jump out the tank and getting stuck on the tank walls where theres no water and i have to pluck them back into the tank i guess its all a matter of time

 

[Brad M]

Please do a water change tonight to save them. Dman I want to work with you on fixing this rather than helping you re cycle your tank...

 

[dman0617]

Please do a water change tonight to save them. Dman I want to work with you on fixing this rather than helping you re cycle your tank...

Brad i appreciate you helping me but i think thats where its gonna end up being re cycling the tank

 

[Brad M]

Dman it is not to late. As long as you can have daily water changes done we can beat this or re cycle the tank without losing your fish. .. unless you would like to choose a new direction for your tank.

My main tank would not be a brackish tank if I had a choice. I bought a bunch of fish and a majority of them that didnt die from my un cycled tank ended up being brackish.

As I learned more I did everything in my power to keep them alive and it resulted in the knowledge I have now as well as a brackish tank as my main tank.

Wouldnt trade my experiences or what I have gotten for anything however.

 

[dman0617]

Dman it is not to late. As long as you can have daily water changes done we can beat this or re cycle the tank without losing your fish. .. unless you would like to choose a new direction for your tank.

My main tank would not be a brackish tank if I had a choice. I bought a bunch of fish and a majority of them that didnt die from my un cycled tank ended up being brackish.

As I learned more I did everything in my power to keep them alive and it resulted in the knowledge I have now as well as a brackish tank as my main tank.

Wouldnt trade my experiences or what I have gotten for anything however.

Brad could you explain to me what does brackish mean

 

[rbeland]

Brad could you explain to me what does brackish mean

Simply stated, brackish water is less salty than salt water but more salty than fresh water. You would find brackish water where freshwater rivers dump into the ocean near the mouth. Someone could correct me if I missed something.

 

[Brad M]

I would love to. Everyone knows there are freshwater and saltwater fish. But what about areas where a freshwater river flows into the ocean? The water becomes a 50 50 mix of salt and fresh. This water mix is called brackish.

There are fish that can live in both fresh and salt water like monos and fish that only live near the coast. It can be difficult to build a community brackish tank but I have managed with the following.

5 mono a's
1 mono s's
1 freshwater lionfish
1 freshwater snowflake eel
1 unknown brackish converted fish

 

[dman0617]

**UPDATE**
Ive taken the neons out of the tank and placed them in a clean bucket with heater, I removed gravel. I couldnt believe how much debris kicked up when I started to remove gravel, I found uneaten food and god knows what else was flying around in the tank. I removed most of the water I would say 90% and replaced with water that i had sitting for two days. Currently tank is empty letting it run for a hour or two and then i would test for ammonia. But the tank is extremely cloudy im hopping it would clear up.

 

[Jmunroe]

It will clear up if your filter is good. So it looks like you were over feeding and not gravel vac'ing enough or properly. Sounds like you found your excess ammonia source

 

[dman0617]

It will clear up if your filter is good. So it looks like you were over feeding and not gravel vac'ing enough or properly. Sounds like you found your excess ammonia source

i try not to over feed but i thought i was doing a good job cleaning my gravel but i read if you clean it to much your getting rid of the BB that resides in the gravel and the filters