Unusual Cloudy water and Ammonia spike

[jamesrm]

Alright,
So over the weekend my water got clouded up. There was about 2ppm Ammonia, and no other traces of Nitrite or Nitrate. For those not familiar with my setup, here it is for you:

30 gal bowfront tank
HOB filter (Bio Media Only)
Rena XP 1 - Mainly mechanical and activated carbon)
Lots of aggitation and air, plenty of heating.

Stock:
4 Rainbows
1 Betta
2 Neons
2 Small Albino Cories
1 3 inch Catfish

Everything had been sailing along fine for a few weeks. I had a mini cycle when I added the Rena, but everything was solid for a few weeks after that.

So, I did a 50% PWC and cleaned all of the filters from the Rena in the tank water. I figured that should have cleaned the water right up. The next day, it was still cloudy, so I used some water purifier and it cleared right up.

But...

I did a ammonia and nitrite check to be on the safe side, and Ammonia was between 4 and 5 ! Obviously, I did a large PWC and added a healthy dose of Ammo-Lock, but why would the ammonia spike like that? I am not over feeding, I did not do anything that should have killed my bacteria, and there is nothing decomposing in my tank. Even if the filters were not on, those fish shouldnt produce that kind of load... Im stumped.

 

[MSU Fan]

It would seem that when you cleaned the filters you lost some bacteria, and therefore your tank started to cycle again. When you said, "I used some water purifier...", were you using ammo-lock for that too?

My personal experience is that that stuff is junk. just keep doing pwc's and don't add any more ammo-lock. it binds to the ammonia in the water, but it is still readable on an ammonia test. So you are finding more ammonia in the water than is really there because of the ammo-lock.

Oh, and because you might be going through a mini-cycle, you are experiencing a bacteria bloom which results in cloudy water. Just be diligent on the pwcs, and keep testing ammonia and nitrites and keep them in check. good luck!

 

[TomK2]

Is it possible that your tank never really cycled before? Or The ammolock hid the ammonia from your test kit, making you think it wasn't there, but when it was used up, removed by activated charcoal, or diluted by water changes, you saw the ammonia again? However, Aquarium Pharmaceuiticals claims ammo-lock does not "hide" the ammonia from a salicylate ammonia test (thats the two bottle test). All the ammonia binders will cause a false high reading with the Nessler reagent ammonia tests, which is a one bottle test or test strips (I beleive). I don't know of any reason adding a filter would cause a "minicycle." If you have an established bacterial colony in one filter, adding another should not cause a spike or cycle.

Either you suffered a loss of biofilter bacteria, or you never had them to the extent you thought and now are truly into the cycle, or something in the tank is interfering with the test kit. If you are using test strips, get a quality liquid reagent test kit instead.

http://home.wowway.com/~tomstank/index_files/page0018.htm

 

[jamesrm]

Yeah I always have used the AP test kit with the 2 bottle ammonia test.

Ammo lock does not hide ammonia, just detoxifies it so it doesnt harm the fish as much as it normally would.

Everything seems to be going well. I decided to just get an XP3 and moved all of the media from both filters (and some new media) into the one unit to elimate that problem in the future.

Thanks!

 

[TomK2]

So after you add the Ammo lock (made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) and repeat the test, the ammonia test reads the same? Such is the claim on the AP websites, I never had the opportunity to test it. The same website claimed that "other" ammonia binders would cause the ammonia test to read zero after the "other" ammonia binders were added. I know there is at least one other ammonia binder that would then cause the ammonia test to read negative, because I have read where people insist that it MUST actually REMOVE the ammonia because the test became negative! (the idea that the additive interfered with the test but the ammonia-plus-binder complex was still in the tank was unbelievable to them).

 

[Zagz]

I discovered something with my stepmothers tank. She had cloudy water for months. It turns out she was overcleaning her filter, destroying her bacteria on a regular basis, causing a constant bacterial bloom. Once I got her to quit cleaning her filter, her water cleared up. Cleaning a filter can cause a bacterial mini cycle quite easily. Keep doing water changes daily if need be to keep ammonia down.

 

[jamesrm]

With the Ammo lock, I never tested right after the dose. But, it was always down to zero or just about .25 the next day. I figured that was due to the bacteria catching up with the load.

I decided to upgrade to an XP 3 to consolidate things down into one filter. I took the bio media from my HoB and added it the XP 3 with a package of new bio stars. I also added the Ammonia absorbing media. I did this for two reasons.

1- I am tired of having issues with this tank. I never had soo much trouble with my big tanks, so I have a big tank filter on this one now.

2- I am going out of town for 10 days starting Friday, and am leaving the tank under the care of my office mates. They are doing tests for my daily, but I really do not want to have to make them do too much work.

So, I think everything should be peachy now, especially after a strong colony forms in that new filter.

 

[supermazz9]

Is the cloud completely gone? If it;s still there, what colour is it?