55 gallon tank in shambles

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Reddzy

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 21, 2025
Messages
5
Location
Quakertown PA
I recently took over my girlfriends 55 Gallon tank a couple weeks ago, and in the start of February it will be switching to 90 gallon. However its been having some major issues as of recently and with some fish store help I've learned a few things about it but i wanted to open it up online for more help. currently the tank has likely over the amount of fish it can support which is why its being swapped to a 90 gallon. however still trying to sort out some issues prior to to swap. currently the tank reads as having extremely high Ammonia/ammonium. it is stuck in the ammonium state though which prevents it from effecting most fish in the tank however it is affecting the axolotls. the ph of the tank doesn't read on a scale currently. however if i raise the ph ill likely kill all the fish from the ammonia/ammonium readings being way off the chart currently. I've dumped in 250 gallons worth of live nutrifying bacteria to try to start dealing with it and was told to not touch the tank for awhile, (don't add or remove fish, nor do water changes) what can i do next to help or any ideas besides getting rid of fish.

also does anyone have a good easy way of cleaning sand? i have a sand substrate because of the axolotls eating rocks.

filter is currently a fluval canister 407 with added ammonia pouches
 
If your ammonia is high you need to be doing water changes.

What are your water parameters precisely? What test kit are you using?

What sort of water change schedule are you currently doing?

I agree with not adding fish, but the only way to deal with ammonia is to change the water. Whoever told you not to change doesn't know what they are doing. Why did they tell you this? What are they thinking that achieves?
 
If your ammonia is high you need to be doing water changes.

What are your water parameters precisely? What test kit are you using?

What sort of water change schedule are you currently doing?

I agree with not adding fish, but the only way to deal with ammonia is to change the water. However told you not to change doesn't know what they are doing.
water changes where currently every 4 days, about 40-55%

Freshwater master test kit currently 8.0 ppm ammonia, 6.4 ph, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate.

i was told that after doing a 60% water change and still getting 8.0 ppm ammonia after 3, 6 and 9 hours. was told to add live nutrifying bacteria and halt everything for a bit
 
As it seems you are aware, at pH below 7 ammonia is non toxic ammonium.

Whats your tap water parameters? Is your tap water treated with chlorine or chloramine?

You are in the early stages of cycling the aquarium, and 40 to 50% water change schedule every 4 days isn't enough. If you are heavily stocked you might need to be changing 50% of the water 2 or 3 times a day to keep the parameters safe until your cycle establishes. Personally take a day and change 50% of the water every couple of hours until your ammonia is below 0.5ppm. And then monitor ammonia frequently and change enough water to keep it there. Cycling an aquarium can take months, especially in a low pH, low water temperature environment (i presume low water temperature due to the axolotls) as these factors inhibit the growth of those denitrifying microbes.

This all assumes your tap water is ammonia (ie chloramine) free. If your tap water is treated with high levels of chloramine, then you are just adding ammonia to your aquarium with every water change.

What bottled bacteria product are you using? Some are better than others, but generally they don't do anything other than part you from your money.

What water conditioner are you using?

Purely out of interest. What fish are you keeping with the axolotl?
 
As it seems you are aware, at pH below 7 ammonia is non toxic ammonium.

Whats your tap water parameters? Is your tap water treated with chlorine or chloramine?

You are in the early stages of cycling the aquarium, and 40 to 50% water change schedule every 4 days isn't enough. If you are heavily stocked you might need to be changing 50% of the water 2 or 3 times a day to keep the parameters safe until your cycle establishes. Personally take a day and change 50% of the water every couple of hours until your ammonia is below 0.5ppm. And then monitor ammonia frequently and change enough water to keep it there. Cycling an aquarium can take months, especially in a low pH, low water temperature environment (i presume low water temperature due to the axolotls) as these factors inhibit the growth of those denitrifying microbes.

This all assumes your tap water is ammonia (ie chloramine) free. If your tap water is treated with high levels of chloramine, then you are just adding ammonia to your aquarium with every water change.

What bottled bacteria product are you using? Some are better than others, but generally they don't do anything other than part you from your money.

What water conditioner are you using?

Purely out of interest. What fish are you keeping with the axolotl?
yes which is why i believe the ammonia isnt actually ammonium yet, but the test is still reading it as high

chlorine and api tapwater conditioner, i tested tap with master kit and comes out with ph 7.2, rest is all 0

water temp is 70.2

bottled bacteria was fritz zyme

as your interest question this is where we learn the problems with this tank and its inhabitants. so girlfriend who previously owned this tank is manager at a petstore so she often brings home fish or wants to add more. anyway there are 3 axolotls in the tank and a tire track eel, from here on everything else is replacable food(axolotle food/get fish at pet store cost not retail) 6 corys for tank cleaning, 3 tiny pleco, 5 mollys, 4 female bettas, 1 large pleco, 1 glow shark, 1 giant goldfish, 2 dwarf cyclids


and again they all will have to be acclimated to a new tank on febuary 7th so what are the damages of letting them stew since they will start a brand new cycle anyway
 
The ammonia test is a test for total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) which is free ammonia + ammonium. The ammonia test isn't going to show a lower reading when the ammonia is in the ammonium form, it can't differentiate between the 2 forms. There are calculations you can do, but essentially if your pH is below 7, then pretty much all the ammonia detected in your test is ammonium.

TAN switches between the free ammonia and ammonium form instantly with change in pH and temperature. It isn't something that needs time to happen.

If your ammonia is 8, then a 50% water change will bring it down to 4. Another 50% water change will bring it down to 2. 2 more 50% water changes will get to a level of 0.5ppm which is where you want it. So thats 4 x 50% water changes. Of course your fish are constantly adding more ammonia, so it might take 5 or 6 50% water changes. And once you get it there, you might find it takes 2 or 3 50% water changes every day to keep it there.

Alternatively, just accept that ammonia is high, but its non toxic ammonium and just stop worrying about it. I would still want the ammonia lower than 8ppm though, so you should still up the water change schedule.

Or as you suggested remove fish.

Longer term, stop keeping fish with the axolotls. Feed them worms, rather than ammonia producing fish. You have a mix of tropical and temperate fish. A good number of them are incompatible with each other, and the smaller ones just get eaten. Your axolotls could easily choke on the corys, as corys have toxic barbs in their pectoral fins, which would need to be cut out once they lodge in the throat of whatever trys to eat them. It really doesn't sound like a healthy environment regardless of water parameters.

You might want to change your water conditioner to seachem prime or api aqua essential as these products will detoxify some ammonia for a day or so and give you a safety net should your ammonia elevate between water changes.
 
prior to moving here i had just axololts separate in there own tank, and idealy they will be back to that, but money and space constraints of two people combing all their stuff to one slows that. and they were originally eating bred cherry shrimp and ghost shrimp( had a tank for each and they just boomed constantly never had any issues with there tank start so used them as food and sold back some to store)

os if i leave everything to stew for now, when i put up the 90 gallon tank what do you suggest to do from day one start to finish(i wont have a second tank to store there fish so its only buckets and likey have to stay in buckets or go back into 90 immediately)


also the axolotles are only big enough to eat maybe a very small molly and ive only seen the largest try then spit it out
 
Last edited:
I'm assuming you arent going to be keeping the 55 gallon once you have your 90 gallon. And I'm assuming its the axolotls that are your priority. If that's incorrect then let me know what aquariums you plan on having around, and what livestock is highest in priority on what you want to keep.

Personally, if your girlfriend is manager at the petstore take all the fish back to the store ASAP. I wouldn't leave everything to stew. If she is the manager you should have no problem getting them to take the fish and move them on through their general sales.

I'm kinda new to axolotls, but 55g feels too small for 5, so they would do better in the 90g. Set it up, move the 407 to the new bigger aquarium, id probably run that alongside another 407 or maybe a 307 on 90 gallons. Moving the 407 should move whatever microbes you manage to establish between now and then and help establish your new aquariums cycle. Then cycle the new aquarium. Test daily for ammonia and nitrite. Add those test results together, if that combined total is above 0.5ppm then do sufficient water changes to bring you below that 0.5ppm combined total. Expect it to take at least a couple of months.

Going forward, don't overstock your new tank, keep it for axolotls only.
 
for lotls a 55 can support 4 at most, a 90 can do about 10 or 11 at max, yes the lotls are my priority however all the bettas were custom orders so those atleast have to be kept. she will likely want to keep everything, and the only fish tanks we would have is the 90 g, my 5g shrimp breeding tank, and a tiny basic betta tank that has again been neglected for years so it would have to have a new cycle start.

and preferably yes id want them to be moved on or have a separate tank for them all but i wont likely have the room for that for awhile
 
Then I'm not really sure why you came here for advice if you arent willing to take any of it. I don't really see you seeing any improvement with your situation. Doing this in a 90g aquarium instead of a 55g aquarium is going to be marginally easier.

You will need to cycle the aquarium. Typically you want to do this with 1 small fish per 10 gallons and gradually increase the stock over a number of months. But you are going to be doing this with all your fish and amphibians all at once. That is going to be hard work and very hazardous for your fish and amphibians as water parameters will elevate quicker than you can control them with water changes. You are going to need to do several big water changes per day for a number of months, and even when you have cycled the aquarium you are probably going to need to do multiple water changes per week because it will still be overstocked. And then you haven't addressed that your collection of fish need different water parameters. Some need tropical water conditions so should be in a heated aquarium, some are temperate water creatures and shouldn't be in heated. Some are freshwater and some are brackish water.

You describe your 55g as a shambles, but a 90g is going to be slightly less of a shambles as aquarium size is only one of a number of issues you are facing.
 
Based on your posts at #3 & #5, the Fritzyme is not going to help you. Nitrification slows under 6.8 pH and stops almost entirely at 6.0. So no matter how much you add, they are not going to be working all that hard. As mentioned, ammonium is a lot less harmful than ammonia so cycling the tank is less important but doing water changes to remove the feces to prevent them from breaking down is more important. If your plans are to keep the water at 6.4 or less and you add all those fish you listed, doing weekly or twice weekly water changes will be mandatory if you want to keep the tank healthy.
This is the user's guide from Fritz Aquatics for Fritzyme. Using FritzZyme Live Nitrifying Bacteria to Cycle a Freshwater Tank Keep in mind that since there is currently debate over what specific microbes are actually doing the nitrification, Fritz's guidline is for the microbes they are selling.

Hope this helps. (y)
 
Back
Top Bottom