Biorb tanks & cycling

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julesbam

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Oct 18, 2021
Messages
2
Hello-

I have two vertical tanks. One is 5 gallons and the other is 12. My current 12 gallon is having ammonia issues. It occured after we got ghost shrimp and the algae flakes I gave them werent small enough to decompose. Also having some PH issues. Sadly the ghost shrimp did not make it but the fish are OK. However the ammonia still is climbing, despite vacuuming any old food from the gravel and treating for every two days w ammolock and adding Dr Tims beneficial bacteria. Should I perform another water change? And/or - my other smaller tank is available- should I move fish there for a bit (8 endlers). Lmk thoughts and thank you!
 
Ammolock doesn’t remove the ammonia so it’s still going to show on your test, along with whatever new ammonia that has developed that it hasn’t been able to convert

Been there, done that, should have kept the test vial to prove it lol. I had ammonia tests that were way off the charts, well beyond 8ppm while using ammolock. Fish were fine and still are fine to this day.

If you’ve removed most if not all of the waste food and otherwise, and the numbers are still rising. I’d think the tank isn’t cycled and it would be wise to split the critters into 2 tanks to increase the water volume for the given bioload until the tanks can cycle

Water changes are your friend during the early stages. Ammolock not so much (it’ll save the fish but you really don’t know what the levels are after using it). Personally,if you’ve got the time, give them 20-50% water changes daily or as needed. Your goal isn’t to reduce ammonia to zero or you’ll never cycle the tank, you just want to keep it at a “reasonable” high of ~1ppm to allow the bacteria to grow. Too high you kill fish, too low and no cycle

The safe limit on ammonia isn't just a cut and dry number, it depends on the species of fish and even water ph. There’s some charts floating around here that’ll give you a better idea on safe ammonia levels for given water conditions.
 
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