# amonia at 8.0 for over a week UPDATE HELP EVEN MORE



## swack (May 29, 2007)

I accidentally killed all beneficial bacteria in my tank, due to a filter dieing on me right after I changed the catridge in my other one. I purchased biospira put it in the tank over a wekk ago, and still nothing. The bio-spira i picked up was refridgerated... my readings are as follows
amonnia 8.0

nitrates and nitrites -0

PH 7.3

amonia has not gone down at all


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## Badrad1532 (Apr 15, 2006)

Obviously you didnt cycle your tank over, WATER CHANGE immediatly- Watch very very closely


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

do lots of water changes (condition new water)

you can also buy things like ammonia chips that say they will get rid of ammonia- personally i havnt tried them but they probably work good


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

Does anybody have any clues as to why ...i was under the impression levels of amonia this long where rare during a cycle, at this point I would start to see some n2....I have been conditioning the water with prime...any clues for a long time fix, not a band aid?


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

If the tank somehow lost all its bacteria...and is starting from scratch...then a week is nothing. The cycle can take a few months to run its course. IMO..biospira is a crapshoot. You never know how much of each bacteria you will get...if it has been continually refrigerated to keep the bacteria alive. It can help seed a tank...but it wont cycle a tank.


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## Guest (Jul 27, 2007)

Grosse Gurke said:


> If the tank somehow lost all its bacteria...and is starting from scratch...then a week is nothing. The cycle can take a few months to run its course. IMO..biospira is a crapshoot. You never know how much of each bacteria you will get...if it has been continually refrigerated to keep the bacteria alive. It can help seed a tank...but it wont cycle a tank.


Exactly, using biospira dosn't guarantee your tank will be cycled. Also may I ask why you changed your filter cartridge on your other filter?


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## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

You have to keep doing water changes and adding the prime so they ammonia isnt as toxic for your fish.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I would also add some salt to the tank...just a tablespoon or so....because when the nitrites do come...they will most likely spike pretty high...and the salt will help with nitrite poisoning


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

I changed the filter cartridge because it was getting really bad, its a bio wheel filter so I thought I'd be ok. I only change the catridge 1-2x a year. However due to bad luck, on the same day that I changed the filter catridge...my fluval 404 died


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## 77gp454 (Feb 18, 2007)

Scary seeing ammonia that high! Happened to me before when a filter quit on me. The ammonia level was off the scale. I probably did a 300% water change to get it down. The Ps made it through ok.

Doesnt raising your Ph also help to burn off ammonia?


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Ammonia is more toxic at higher ph levels....so you dont want to raise the ph level.


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## Aaronic (Apr 22, 2005)

77gp454 said:


> Scary seeing ammonia that high! Happened to me before when a filter quit on me. The ammonia level was off the scale. I probably did a 300% water change to get it down. The Ps made it through ok.
> 
> Doesnt raising your Ph also help to burn off ammonia?


A 300% water change?? Correct me if I am wrong, but at 100% your tank would be bone dry...


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2007)

Aaronic said:


> Scary seeing ammonia that high! Happened to me before when a filter quit on me. The ammonia level was off the scale. I probably did a 300% water change to get it down. The Ps made it through ok.
> 
> Doesnt raising your Ph also help to burn off ammonia?


A 300% water change?? Correct me if I am wrong, but at 100% your tank would be bone dry...
[/quote]
I think he just ment he did 100% water chnages 3 times in a row.


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

Correct me if i'm wrong, however wouldnt doing a hundred percent water change kill any beneficial bacteria you may have.

Addiontially...I now have nitrites @ .25 isnt this a good sign, some progress?


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

No...100% water changes wont kill the bacteria..just starve it for a bit. Nitrites are a good sign...you are progressing. Add a pinch of salt to help your fish get through the nitrite spike you are about to get.


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

quick update
amonia 8 ppm
nitrates - 5 ppm

I've been doing bi-daily 20 % changes


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

I now have sky high levels of Nitrates and Amonia....nitrities around 30


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## boozehound420 (Apr 18, 2005)

try and convince your local fish store to hook up some cultured bio-media. Or a friend, I bet even a P-fury member would be generous enough to give you a handfull out of a large canister. I would anyway.


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

Still no change....


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## coreydyck (Dec 6, 2003)

swack said:


> Still no change....


Good God, what are you keeping in that tankand how big? They must be some unhappy fish. Please tell me you've stopped all feeding at least... I would suggest doing daily 50% water changes to get you're amonia and nitrates down. I know it's a lot of work but it worked for me when I had both my filters go down at the same time and had to start all over. It kept the ammonia down at about 1-1.5 which is not good but not the worst either.


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

60 gallon, 3 rpbs, one convict. i've been doing bi-daily waterchanges of around 40%, I've begun to come up with another theory, we've had some pretty severe flooding around here as of late...is it possible some of hte amonia is coming from the tap?


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## barbianj (Aug 3, 2003)

Test the tap water. If you have sky high nitrates and ammonia, you may have another source of waste. Do a good gravel vac and check under rocks or driftwood for food. Look in every unlikely place.

Did you dechlorinate before adding water to your tank? Very important especially with large changes.

Did you reduce feedings?

How big are the three reds?


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

i am always careful to condition the water. I've checked under driftwood and will take my filters apart after work to check for decaying material, there is no rotting waste in the actual tank. Feedings have been reduced to one shrimp a day. the reds are range from 2.5-4inches long, 3 of them


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

whats the ammonia from the tap measure?


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

i had checked it around a week ago, it was floating somewhere between 1


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

Tested the water today, ammonia is at 1


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Well...with nitrates you have all the bacteria present for the cycle....just not in sufficient numbers to handle you current bio-load. Are you sure you have sufficient filtration? It really shouldnt take this long for the bacteria to multiply to sufficient numbers to handle the ammonia and nitrites.


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

I have an acc110 with the carbon removed and extra ceramic rings in it and a penguin bio wheel rated up to 50 gallon on a 60 gallon with three rpbs in it.

Additionally, I now have nitrites at 15ppm.

Whats my course of action, would bio spira even help, established media, what kind of water changes?


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I would continue to do daily water changes. Dont feed anything until you get your bio-load under control. Bio-spira wont do anything because you have the bacteria in place...it just needs time to catch up to the bio-load.

Oh..and add some salt to help with nitrite poisoning.


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

I think its working......

.25 ammonia, nitrates of 0 nitrates 20ppm...whats next


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Continue to do what you are doing.....and wait for the bacteria to catch up to your bio-load.


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## swack (May 29, 2007)

Thanks alot for your help guys, esp gross. the tank is cycled now with ammo of 0 nitrites of 0 and nitrates of 20ppm. The fish are looking better and seem to be more active....


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Well done


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