Ammonia Problem

[trerob31]

Athomewithtwins- Great advice and at the shop we went to yesterday we purchased something called Chemipure biomass to replace the original cartridge in the filter that came with the tank and we have had the biomass doing its work for about 24 hours now.

 

[Fishperson]

A few important things to understand:

1. The advice given by pet store employees should never be taken seriously unless you already know it's true, or you are sure 100% that the employee is experienced (just because they have a tank at home doesn't mean that they know what they're doing).

2. You are overstocked. You need to re-home all of your fish except for the platys.

3. Water changes help. It is just important to do big ones. If you do 5 20% water changes on a tank with 2 ppm ammonia it will do less good then one 70% change would, but they would be far more stressful.

4. You need a reliable test kit. The API kit is really cheap online.

5. You need to cycle your tank. I recommend reading these: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html


6. Ultimately, you don't get much better advice anywhere compared to forums like these, especially this one. The average person on here knows 10 times more then the average pet store employee, and it really is important to listen to us, even if it seems like we are overreacting or are wrong at times.

And lastly, welcome to AA!

 

[trerob31]

Update: So today after reading a couple of articles that brought up a new term we were unfamiliar with originally we took a water sample plus a picture of just how our water looks down to the aquarium store. The water perimeters all tested fine. He then took a look at the picture and told us for sure it's what's known as a Bacteria Bloom,and a pretty darn good one too. He then recommended a second filter made by AquaClear,which we purchased.

 

[Fishperson]

Update: So today after reading a couple of articles that brought up a new term we were unfamiliar with originally we took a water sample plus a picture of just how our water looks down to the aquarium store. The water perimeters all tested fine. He then took a look at the picture and told us for sure it's what's known as a Bacteria Bloom,and a pretty darn good one too. He then recommended a second filter made by AquaClear,which we purchased.

I think you're trusting him too much. Did he tell you what the parameters were, or just that they were "fine"? (by the way, you really do need your own test kit) What filter do you currently have?

 

[trerob31]

Yes we actually watched him perform the tests on the water.

We now have the Aqueon Quietflow 10 filter and now this AquaClear one as well.

 

[AtHomeWithTwins]

Aquaclears are great filters... I can only use the aqueons because i mounted my tank really close to the wall and they dont take up much space... When i stop being lazy and move the tank away from the wall i will also get an aquaclear or two

 

[AtHomeWithTwins]

Which aquaclear did you get?

 

[trerob31]

We got the one for 10-30 gallon aquariums.

 

[AtHomeWithTwins]

My tank!!

 

[trerob31]

Here is my tank!

 

[threnjen]

Definitely a bacteria bloom going on!
Did you keep the old filter on the tank when you added the new one? The old one has all of your beneficial bacteria.

 

[trerob31]

Yes the old filter is still on and running as well.

 

[threnjen]

Sounds like things are going well then

 

[trerob31]

Yeah,and like I said the fish have not been harmed by this at all. It's just a really big Bacteria Bloom that has lasted for quite a while.

 

[trerob31]

Just wanted to give another update. Today we did a water change and have had the additional filter running for a week and have noticed significant improvement in how clear the water is. So I think we are on the right track.