Why am I getting Ammonia spikes?

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kaileymag

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
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Hello! I’ve recently cycled a 16 gallon tank and I’ve had an established 5 gallon tank for a few years now, last Saturday I did a water change which is usual about every other week or so and both of those tanks spiked up with ammonia right after and I’m just wondering why, in my 5 gallon tank I had a pea puffer but I had to remove it due to the spikes and it not doing well at all, I think it might die, I have a 29 gallon tank too but that seems to be going fine. Does anyone have any ideas on maybe why I’m having ammonia spikes?
 
Hello! I’ve recently cycled a 16 gallon tank and I’ve had an established 5 gallon tank for a few years now, last Saturday I did a water change which is usual about every other week or so and both of those tanks spiked up with ammonia right after and I’m just wondering why, in my 5 gallon tank I had a pea puffer but I had to remove it due to the spikes and it not doing well at all, I think it might die, I have a 29 gallon tank too but that seems to be going fine. Does anyone have any ideas on maybe why I’m having ammonia spikes?
How new are the tanks setup? Are you conditioning the new water you're adding back into the tank? Are you overcleaning? Are you using any chemicals to wipe down the OUTSIDE of the glass.

I would add prime to the tank that detoxifies ammonia into ammonium, you should always condition the water you're adding back into the tank, could be poor surface for nitrofying bacteria to grow on, what filters are you running.

first thing is if the tanks are new and not cycled you need to do water changes every other day with prime (best water conditioner on the market in my opinion), leave filters alone.

Please respond with
how new the tanks are?
What filtration?
What water conditioner you use?
 
IMG_0053.jpg here’s a picture of my levels, the two middle tubes are my ammonia and before they were zero
 
How new are the tanks setup? Are you conditioning the new water you're adding back into the tank? Are you overcleaning? Are you using any chemicals to wipe down the OUTSIDE of the glass.

I would add prime to the tank that detoxifies ammonia into ammonium, you should always condition the water you're adding back into the tank, could be poor surface for nitrofying bacteria to grow on, what filters are you running.

first thing is if the tanks are new and not cycled you need to do water changes every other day with prime (best water conditioner on the market in my opinion), leave filters alone.

Please respond with
how new the tanks are?
What filtration?
What water conditioner you use?



The 5 gallon has been established for 2 years, the 16 gallon has been set up since July, when doing water changes I always add prime to the new buckets of water, I also sometimes use api QuickStart because it helped me to get rid of the ammonia in my 5 gallon tank years ago when I was figuring out the cycling process, I use an Aqueon quietflow Filter I’m not sure which one because the tank was a gift from my uncle but it uses large filter cartridges and I’m assuming it’s used for 20-30 gallons because he got it in the aquarium set
 
Okay test the tap water for ammonia , get seachem prime dose the tank, do more frequent water changes, what's your nitrite? What filters you using?



Nitrite is Zero and nitrate is around 40 so it seems to need another water change
 
The 5 gallon has been established for 2 years, the 16 gallon has been set up since July, when doing water changes I always add prime to the new buckets of water, I also sometimes use api QuickStart because it helped me to get rid of the ammonia in my 5 gallon tank years ago when I was figuring out the cycling process, I use an Aqueon quietflow Filter I’m not sure which one because the tank was a gift from my uncle but it uses large filter cartridges and I’m assuming it’s used for 20-30 gallons because he got it in the aquarium set
Okay did you change cartridges before you noticed the ammonia, even you have cartridge filters all your nitrifying bacteria gets thrown away when you change them which is why I recommend everyone to modify cartridge filters with a pre-filter and adding media to the filter.
 
Okay did you change cartridges before you noticed the ammonia, even you have cartridge filters all your nitrifying bacteria gets thrown away when you change them which is why I recommend everyone to modify cartridge filters with a pre-filter and adding media to the filter.



I haven’t changed the cartridges for probably over a month
 
Don't worry about nitrate, it's the most misunderstood out of all the tests and api has the most unreliable test out there for nitrate, here's the thing, ammonia turns into ammonium when dosed with prime, it still shows up in the test but ammonium is not toxic
 
Don't worry about nitrate, it's the most misunderstood out of all the tests and api has the most unreliable test out there for nitrate, here's the thing, ammonia turns into ammonium when dosed with prime, it still shows up in the test but ammonium is not toxic



I’ll dose the tanks and see if there’s a change over the next few days
 
Well that was fast it is a 5 min test.

Do you vac the substrate when you do water changes?



Yeah I tested it a bit ago when you said Too, it’s still sitting there at zero and yes I do vacuum the substrate everytime, especially the 5 gallon because that one gets pretty dirty
 
Yeah I tested it a bit ago when you said Too, it’s still sitting there at zero and yes I do vacuum the substrate everytime, especially the 5 gallon because that one gets pretty dirty
Hmm if tap is zero, no changes as you've stated, it doesnt seem Plausible as both tanks shouldn't have ammonia or would be rare for both tanks to ammonia spike at the same exact time without something being off with either the tap source, the test or the water change itself, how much water are you changing?
 
Hmm if tap is zero, no changes as you've stated, it doesnt seem Plausible as both tanks shouldn't have ammonia or would be rare for both tanks to ammonia spike at the same exact time without something being off with either the tap source, the test or the water change itself, how much water are you changing?



Yeah I’m wicked confused too, I usually do 25%-50% water changes at least once a week or every other week, I checked the levels on my 29 gallon tank in my room to make sure nothing was wrong there and nitrite and ammonia are both zero for that tank
 
Yeah I’m wicked confused too, I usually do 25%-50% water changes at least once a week or every other week, I checked the levels on my 29 gallon tank in my room to make sure nothing was wrong there and nitrite and ammonia are both zero for that tank
Okay it could be a mini cycle in the 5 gallon,
Or the bioload could be too much for that filter, I know pea puffers don't get big but it's recommended at least a 10 gallon aquarium I would get a bigger filter or a small sponge filter to help, I'm thinking a mini cycle.
 
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