Ammonia staying at .25?

[klp87]

I have a 37 gal tank with a penguin Biowheel filter. Temp stays around 76-78 degrees. The tank has been cycled since January 2014.
I had an issue with an ammonia spike because I added too many fish and then forgot to do a PWC (lesson learned). Anyway, after doing water changes like crazy, the ammonia went back down to 0. I added 4 small glowlight tetras and the ammonia went up to .25ppm and no matter how many PWC I do, it won't go down. How can I get it to stay at 0? Would adding live plants help?
All together, I have
4 glowlight tetras,
4 neon tetras,
3 platys,
1 bristlenose pleco.
The platys are the only ones acting like they're stressed and I'm afraid that they will die soon.
I used an API master test kit and the water is testing,
6.8 - Ph
.25ppm-ammonia
0 - nitrites
5ppm - nitrate
Sorry for all the info. I just didn't want to leave anything out. I still feel very new to all of this.

 

[ImACoolguy]

It's probably just the bacteria adjusting to the new additions.

Have you cleaned the filters anytime soon?


Caleb

 

[klp87]

It's been a about a month since I've cleaned the filter using the water I took out during a water change. It's stayed at this level for a few weeks now.
Do I just need to ride it out and do water changes once a week like usual?
I use prime in between water changes in the hopes that it'll help the platys but they are still either hiding on the bottom or hiding in the top corners.

 

[ScotJudd]

Hi Kip.
When new fish are added to a tank the bacteria need to multiply to cope with the addition waste. A short mini cycle can occur until the filter has caught up. This should be only a few days and water changes and use of Prime is a good way to keep the ammonia at a safe level for the fish. However, too many water changes and the ammonia is always diluted and the filter bacteria doesn't have a chance to grow.
When I add new fish if I get an ammonia spike I do a 50% water change and then regular daily water changes getting smaller and smaller until you reach your normal maintenance schedule.
If the ammonia fails to drop to zero then your tank is probably overstocked or under filtered. I can't help loving the external canister filters with their huge capacity for a variety of filter media (personal choice of course).
There are many reasons for introducing healthy live plants. They look good. They feed off the nitrates and help to control algae. Best of all, they give the fish 'soft' hiding places causing them less stress.
As for your platy's, have you checked the Gh and Kh to see if your waters too soft for them. Tetras prefer soft water, Gh/Kh about 6 deg whilst platy's prefer Gh/Kh up around 20 deg which also raises the Ph nearer to the Platy's preferred Ph range. You are at the top of your temp range for platy's , this might not be helping.
This is why I keep a variety of mixed tetra shoals and and never mix in live bearers (again, personal choice).
Good luck with the tank. ?


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[klp87]

Sorry for the long time before responding. My app isn't sending me notifications or an email.
I don't have anything to test the gh or kh. I didn't even know that was something to test (still learning). Gives me something to look into.
I know that overstocking isn't my problem since there's only 12 fish and the biggest one is the bn pleco and it's only about 2in. I guess being under stocked could be an issue to since the bacteria hasn't had a chance to build up.
Since platys aren't seeming to do well and the neons and glowlights are thriving, I'll probably just get more of those and maybe some Rasbora. I've had them before and they seem to do well with the tetras. I'm going to add some live plants too. It seems like they help plus they make the tank look pretty .
Thanks for your responses.