sjmac
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hi all,
I'm new here and new to fish keeping, but have been doing a lot of reading on the subject. We decided to cycle our 60 gallon freshwater tank using some starter fish, and over the past month have gradually added more fish.
About a week ago, I removed and QTed a fish who developed ich upon coming home from the pet store. I then treated my main tank in fear that the others would get it and, following the directions of the medication, I removed the carbon filter for the time I was treating it.
Now the carbon is back in place and all the fish are well, but the ammonia has skyrocketed (was steady around 1.0 before, and now is about 4.0). Also the 4.0 reading came AFTER a 30% water change, so it must have been even worse before that.
I assume that it will go down again as the new carbon goes to work, but my question is: how do I know when the cycling period is over and the levels are just too high for a cycled tank? If my fish seem healthy and happy, should I worry about the spike(s)?
Thanks for any input you may have.
I'm new here and new to fish keeping, but have been doing a lot of reading on the subject. We decided to cycle our 60 gallon freshwater tank using some starter fish, and over the past month have gradually added more fish.
About a week ago, I removed and QTed a fish who developed ich upon coming home from the pet store. I then treated my main tank in fear that the others would get it and, following the directions of the medication, I removed the carbon filter for the time I was treating it.
Now the carbon is back in place and all the fish are well, but the ammonia has skyrocketed (was steady around 1.0 before, and now is about 4.0). Also the 4.0 reading came AFTER a 30% water change, so it must have been even worse before that.
I assume that it will go down again as the new carbon goes to work, but my question is: how do I know when the cycling period is over and the levels are just too high for a cycled tank? If my fish seem healthy and happy, should I worry about the spike(s)?
Thanks for any input you may have.