Help with ammonia issue

[sim1killa]

Okay so here is the back story. I setup a 20 gallon fresh about 4 months ago. The ammonia for 3 of those months has stayed at 4 or greater. I was told that the tank needed to cycle and leave it alone. Today I purchased a 36 gallon tank that I cleaned with vinegar and water. I put 10 gallons of the old water in, the gravel and decorations and the rest was new water that was treated. The I added my fish. I tested the water and again it was at 8. I was told do not change the filter until the ammonia died but the filter looked disgusting so I threw it out and I think that may have been causing the ammonia as well but im not sure. In the tank I have a betta, 1 molly, 5 guppys, and 2 tettras. WHat am I doing wrong??? I want to get more fish for the bigger tank but refuse to add fish until I know the water is stable. Please help

 

[Cichlid Kid]

The filter media that u threw out is the primary place bb colonize to permit your aquarium to cycle.

 

[sim1killa]

the thing that was confusing me is that we had the tank for over 3 months and we still had a high ammonia level and 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Something is happening in your aquarium thats preventing it to cycle. Or it could be your test kit. What kind do you use?

 

[sim1killa]

api bottles.

 

[sim1killa]

should I do another water change?

 

[jlk]

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia? What does this read? What are you using to condition your water? Do you have city or well water? What is your ph? Answering these questions will be able to help us rule things in or out because you should have seen some movement in your numbers after 3 mths.

 

[sim1killa]

I have city water
I tested the tap water a number of times including hr ago and it reads 0 every time.
I have been getting consistent readings of 8+ for atleast 2 months. I only have the high ph test so I don't think that will work on my water correct? I do have a betta, 5 gopies, 2 tetra and 1 molly in the tank they have been in the tank for the past 2 1/2 months they are in a 36g bow I put the fish in prior to my knowlege of a cycle. The pet store to wait 2 or 3 days and then I could add fish. I added all these fish at once and I lost only 1 molly. that is when I started doing research and bought a test. went to a different fish store they told me to wait it out and that eventually it will go down. after like 2 months I asked again and he said to do a larger water change because the ammo lock he told me to use might be causing false readings. I feel that fresh water is much harder then salt water to cycle. my saltwater tank that I started 2 weeks after my fresh cycled in just over 2 weeks and is doing great and is very stable.

 

[jlk]

Hmm... Do you use your tap water in your sw tank or RO water? If its tap, then this rules out a possible high level of disinfectant. If its RO, then this may be an issue in your tank.

You can try the high range ph test on your tank & see what it reads. If you get the lowest reading, your ph may be well below this & we need to figure out what exactly it reads because this may be a factor in not cycling. Once ph drops below 6.5, it becomes difficult for your bb to process ammonia. At 6 and below, nothing will be processed.

In the meantime, I would step up your water changes until you can get your ammonia levels under control. Make sure you temperature match & properly condition the new water.

 

[sim1killa]

how big of a water change should I do and how often. we did are first water change today of 50% and didn't budge the reading. the ph reading was 8 also, I use strictly store bought ro/di until I can by an ro/di system for myself for the saltwater.
I also tested my tap water just now and added a drop of prime. I got the same 0 reading.

 

[jlk]

Its possible you may have higher than average levels of disinfectant in your water but you would need to contact your water authority to find this out. For now, you can try double dosing your water conditioner. If a 50% water change did not budge your ammonia, then its likely much higher than 8ppm- 8ppm is the limit of the API test. You will just need to continue with water changes (50+%) until you can get your ammonia levels under control.

If you are considering a RO/DI system, you may want to consider switching this tank over to ro/di water if your still continueing to have such issues. Just make sure your using a product such as RO Rite or Seachems Replenish to add back minerals that are necessary for fw tanks.

 

[librarygirl]

So your fish was in the 20 gal the whole time with 4ppms of ammonia? If so they'd probably all be dead by now. How long ago did you buy the test kit? Does it have numbers on the front of the bottles? If so, what do the last four numbers say? This is the date of manufacture. It's possible the kit is expired.

If your city water has 0 ammonia and water changes aren't lowering the ammonia then either you need to do more larger water changes back-to-back or something else is wrong. ALso have you been replacing media from your filters regularly? If so that would prolong the cycle and maybe even prevent it from taking hold which would allow the ammonia from the fish to build up into the tank.