ammonia spike

[pablo195]

ok i need help

i cycle my water and did the tests and everything was fine....i added 4 gold fish into my 10 gallon tank and today was my first test of the water ( 3 days after finishing cycle) and my ammonia levels spiked from 0.0 to 5.0 ppm. did nitrite and nitate test and it came out to 0.0 iam just wondering what to do with the ammonia spike.... i also replaced about 15% of the water to keep it clean but i dont think that would have anything to do with the huge spike... please help.

 

[Purrbox]

1. How did you "cycle" your aquarium? If you just let the equipment run for a few days and didn't add an ammonia source, then your aquarium didn't cycle and you are in the middle of cycling it now.
2. Four goldfish is way too much for a 10 gallon. If possible take them all back to the store. This would also allow you to cycle your aquarium without fish (using raw shrimp or fishfood).
3. 5ppm of Ammonia is extremely dangerous to your fish and a 10-15% water change isn't enough. You need to get the ammonia down under 0.5ppm, so you would need closer to a 90% water change or a couple of 50% water changes.

 

[pablo195]

i did the fishless cycle........ used fish flakes to get the ammonia up and then i went down to 0.0 or 0.25.... and my lfs told me 4 is good enough for the tank.

 

[bluerose]

the fishless cycle didn't work, as you have no nitrates (or you let it go without an ammonia source and the bacteria died).

4 goldfish are too many... the LFS sells fish, that's why they're there, not to educate you.

also you do know that goldfish require a lower water temp?

 

[Purrbox]

How high did you get the Ammonia during the fishless cycle? Did you let it sit without an ammonia source for more than a day? The lack of nitrates is a sure indicator that the cycle was either incomplete or done with much too little Ammonia present. For the cycle to be complete Ammonia and Nitrites must be 0 with Nitrates rising.

 

[Alaris]

and my lfs told me 4 is good enough for the tank.

LFS people are usually wrong, ignorant, or lying. Don't believe them without double-checking with the good people at this forum.

1 goldfish is too much for a 10g. Have you seen koi? Goldfish can get up to 2 feet!