Odd water parameters

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jc555

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 14, 2017
Messages
24
I am trying to fix up a fish tank I kind of didnt take the greatest care of Ive just kept a few fish including some guppies, mollies, platies and corydoras in a 60 gallon and all of them have lived for almost a year or more now in these conditions however I decidied to measure water parameters using API’s freshwater master kit and got .25-.5ish ppm of Ammonia, and 0 ppm for nitrites and nitrates. I did two tests to make sure this was accurate. This is very odd to me because I have ran this tank for over 3 years now and the only explanation I knew of for these readings would be an uncycled tank. It doesnt really make sense for it not to be cycled but rather inaccurate readings or something I am doing that kills the beneficial bacteria possibly every water change or maybe just a source im not cleaning enough these are guesses.Could my tank possibly still not be cycled or is there another more likely explanation?
 
I am trying to fix up a fish tank I kind of didnt take the greatest care of Ive just kept a few fish including some guppies, mollies, platies and corydoras in a 60 gallon and all of them have lived for almost a year or more now in these conditions however I decidied to measure water parameters using API’s freshwater master kit and got .25-.5ish ppm of Ammonia, and 0 ppm for nitrites and nitrates. I did two tests to make sure this was accurate. This is very odd to me because I have ran this tank for over 3 years now and the only explanation I knew of for these readings would be an uncycled tank. It doesnt really make sense for it not to be cycled but rather inaccurate readings or something I am doing that kills the beneficial bacteria possibly every water change or maybe just a source im not cleaning enough these are guesses.Could my tank possibly still not be cycled or is there another more likely explanation?

Is your test kit expired? This can cause false readings that don't make any sense. No matter what could possibly happen, a tank that has successfully kept fish alive for longer than a year with minimal loses would in all likelihood have 0 ammonia. Are you adding water conditioner during water changes? How do you clean your filter? Also, what is your feeding schedule like?
 
Is your test kit expired? This can cause false readings that don't make any sense. No matter what could possibly happen, a tank that has successfully kept fish alive for longer than a year with minimal loses would in all likelihood have 0 ammonia. Are you adding water conditioner during water changes? How do you clean your filter? Also, what is your feeding schedule like?

Thanks for the response. Its not expired I just bought this kit also I remember the expiration date being in 2024. I do add water conditioner of course, my filter is long overdue for a cleaning (idk if its possible this could cause a buildup of ammonia or something) but usually I just clean my HOB biowheel filter with tank water and leave the wheels be because ik they store most of the beneficial bacteria. I feed them once a day in the morning usually, maybe a little too much.
 
Glad to hear you use tank water to clean your filter. That is helpful because using tap has the potential to harm your beneficial bacteria population in some cases even though usually it's fine. I think your tank may be suffering from what is known as "old tank syndrome". This is the unofficial term for when an old tank has built up a large collection of organic debris over time, and the decay of that debris leads to the deterioration of water quality. This seems to line up with the age of your tank and the fact that you said that you were not keeping up on maintenance. One of the best things you could do is a series of 25% water changes aggressively vacuuming the gravel/sucking out gunk as you do the water change. This will help to reset the system and stop the production of more ammonia. Over time you should see that ammonia disappear and your tank will be able to support healthy parameters.
 
I would also test a sample of bottled water and compare it with your tank water result as the bottled should be 0ppm.
 
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