Ammonia readings stuck at 0.25ppm to 0.50ppm After 7 weeks

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easywolf31

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Feb 15, 2017
Messages
68
Hello Houston, I'm having a problem with Ammonia and it's starting to worry me a bit. I always had 0 ammonia so I'm not sure what has happened.

Nitrite is at 0ppm and Nitrate 20ppm. PH is at 8.2. Kh at 6-7, Gh at 13-17, Aquarium is a 140 gallon with about 20 1.5-2" Tanganyikan Cichlids. I feed them at the most 2 times a day for 2-3 minutes each time. I've fed them frozen brine shrimp, crab meat at times. I've also added a new Sunsun 704b filter. I cleaned my Eheim 2217 filter the other day and replaced the fine sponge media with poly fill..I also bleach cleaned (very safely though, 10% chlronine plus 2 hours running water and drying 24hrs+ chlronine smell was gone) all my dead corals and rocks which were filled with diatom blooms after my completed cycle 2-3 weeks ago.

Here is a picture I just took. All 4 are ammonia tests.

First vial is my tap water. 2nd vial is a test done right after a 40% water change and 95% refill, 3rd vial is after I added stress coat + and full refill, 4th vial is a test before the water change.

What the heck am I doing wrong?

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Milkingmomma, you think it will self correct soon. I even added another filter with 2.5L of Seachem Matrix biomedia.
Depends. Did you leave any cycled media in your filters or did you clean and replace everything?
 
I left all the Eheim media in the original filter that's been on since the beginning including bio media, course and ceramic mechanical. I just threw the fine mechanical away and replaced it with a poly fill and pinky filter. But I emptied all the good water that was inside the filter. All that nice gunky stuff down the drain...I did fill up the filter with aquarium water...anyhow stupid idea I know.
 
It will recover with time. Just check your water parameters and do water changes as needed.
 
Hi. How often do you think I should do water changes and what %? Thanks
Test your ammonia and nitrites daily. I would do a 50% water change if and when they reach .50
With any luck you still have some surviving beneficial bacteria and it won't take to long for it to catch up and process the amount of waste your fish are producing.
 
If you do a 50% water change it should drop your numbers in half.
Example... 1ppm ammonia should drop to .50 after a 50% water change.
.50ppm should drop to .25 after a 50% water change.
 
Yeah, true, thanks for all the advice will do just that. I'll add some prime daily until I get it under control? You think stress coat + neutralizes the ammonia too?
 
Yeah, true, thanks for all the advice will do just that. I'll add some prime daily until I get it under control? You think stress coat + neutralizes the ammonia too?
Yes, I would add prime daily also until everything is back to normal.

I only use prime so I can't comment on the stress coat.
 
Hi there. Did a 70% change followed by a 30% one 2-3 days later and it seems to be stabiliIng. Left vial is ph, middle is ammonia after water change and right vial is pre water change. Seems like I had destabilized the bacteria with all the cleaning and medicating.

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Hi there. Did a 70% change followed by a 30% one 2-3 days later and it seems to be stabiliIng. Left vial is ph, middle is ammonia after water change and right vial is pre water change. Seems like I had destabilized the bacteria with all the cleaning and medicating.

View attachment 296808
Looking better. Just keep an eye on it and do water changes when needed. It takes time for the beneficial bacteria to repopulate.
 
Thanks, do you think it's ok if I do a 25% change every 3 days until it clears? It seems like the ammonia is dying off. The next test and water change will tell a lot.
 
Thanks, do you think it's ok if I do a 25% change every 3 days until it clears? It seems like the ammonia is dying off. The next test and water change will tell a lot.
I would test daily and do water changes as needed to keep the ammonia and nitrites in check.
Most of your beneficial bacteria is going to be on your filter media. Some on your substrate and decor. Just doing water changes isn't going to hurt anything but it will help keep your livestock alive.
 
What in the world happened lol. My ammonia is going down slowly but I got a nitrite spike now. Please advise when possible. Ammonia looks like 0.25, nitrite sky high? Nitrate 20?
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Went back and read your thread since I haven't been following it.
Your tank is cycling, the bacteria that turns ammonia into nitrite has established itself and turned the ammonia into nitrite now a different bacteria will establish itself alongside and turn nitrite into nitrates which can be used by plants or removed by water changes.
Nitrates are the least harmful of the three which is why a cycled tank should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and < 40 nitrates.
Keep doing water changes when necessary and dose with prime like you've been doing and you'll get your tank recycled.
 
Hi guys. So I did a 50% water change last night followed by a 55% water change this morning. Can you tell me what the readings are maybe you have a better eye for these readings than me?

After 1st and than 2nd water change:
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Looks like 1 and then .5 but hard to tell even in person.
The most important thing is the safety of your fish, prime only detoxifys a certain amount but I'm not sure what that is.
 
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