Ammonia woes

[Marinemammalover]

I Have been in fish cycling my twenty gallon tank for around six weeks. I have had my ammonia spike already and the majority of my nitrite spike. My nitrite levels have been ranging from 0.5-1 for the past week. My ammonia levels have steadied at 0.25 because I have 0.25 ppm in my tap water.... However they have now risen to 0.5 for some reason. Does anyone know why and how I can fix it?? Also the water is cloudy and I haven't anything new to it recently. My ph is 6.4-6.6. ( have crushed coral in my filter to try and raise it), I have no nitrates, and I use amquell plus to treat my tap water... Any suggestions would b great! Thx!

 

[Calypso77]

50% water changes everyday to get your ammonia back to a safe level.

 

[Marinemammalover]

Ok did a fifty percent water change last night.... Do u have any idea y the ammonia is rising???

 

[BBradbury]

Tank Cycling

I Have been in fish cycling my twenty gallon tank for around six weeks. I have had my ammonia spike already and the majority of my nitrite spike. My nitrite levels have been ranging from 0.5-1 for the past week. My ammonia levels have steadied at 0.25 because I have 0.25 ppm in my tap water.... However they have now risen to 0.5 for some reason. Does anyone know why and how I can fix it?? Also the water is cloudy and I haven't anything new to it recently. My ph is 6.4-6.6. ( have crushed coral in my filter to try and raise it), I have no nitrates, and I use amquell plus to treat my tap water... Any suggestions would b great! Thx!

Hello Mar...

Cycling steps would tell you to test the tank water every day and if you have a trace of either ammonia or nitrites, then remove and replace at least 25 percent of the old water with new, treated tap water.

Your pH is perfect for plants, so get as many into the tank as possible. Just make sure you check the lighting requirements of the plants before you get them. Typically, stems work well. I float Anacharis and Pennywort in my planted tanks. These are natural water filters and will help with the cycling process.

The cloudiness is likely the unstable water chemistry. This is normal with the combination of fish and plants doing their thing in the water and the good bacteria still growing to use the nitrogens from the waste. Don't fret over this, the water just needs time.

Continue to test the tank water every day and change out at least a quarter of the tank volume when needed. After several zero tests for ammonia and nitrite, you can add a few small fish and resume testing and water changes until the tank is fully stocked.

Keep pluggin'

B

 

[Marinemammalover]

Sorry for the late response.... Life is busy! Thank u for the advice. I don't know that I am going to put plants in there as this is my first tank and I'm running low on fish funds... I recently did a fifty percent water change and am going to do one tonight but my levels have been rising and/or staying the same instead of falling like they should... Does anyone know why and how I can fix this.... This is my seventh week of my fish in cycle and my ammonia is at 0.5-1 and so is my nitrite and what's weird is that my ammonia has been pretty steady at 0.25 until recently.... Please help!

 

[birdma]

I'm not an expert but I don't think cycling always goes the way it should. I've been doing a fish-in cycle for 2 months now. A few weeks ago I thought I was close to being done (and had already gone through a small ammonia & nitrite spike) but then had a HUGE ammonia and nitrite spike that took several days of multiple water changes to get through. Today I tested at trace levels so I think I'm getting there (again, lol). I think you just need to keep testing and doing water changes as needed and you'll get there too.