# Cant Get The Ammonia Under Control.



## KO78 (Jun 12, 2011)

The tank is about 2 months old with just a 5 inch elong in it. cycled with live fish. everything was fine for a while after the elong was introduced. now the ammonia is at 2-4ppm and just wont drop. been doing 20-30% water changes daily for the last week along with adding chems to try and neutralize the ammonia. nitrites and nitrates are both 0. using an api liquid test. Any ideas why it wont drop? getting pretty frustrating


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## amazonjungle (Jun 6, 2011)

I don't know why it wont drop, but I do know that live plants absorb ammonia and other harmful chemicals, so it might be a good idea to include some.

do you have any at the moment?

Are you getting everywhere? what kind of substrate are you using? if it's gravel there may be food or waste underneath.

also, how big is your tank and what are you feeding your elong?


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## KO78 (Jun 12, 2011)

90 gallon. using live plants already, bunch of anubias and a few swords. medium sized gravel substrate but ive been vacuuming it pretty heavy with every water change. feeding him prawns and silver sides.


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## amazonjungle (Jun 6, 2011)

KO78 said:


> 90 gallon. using live plants already, bunch of anubias and a few swords. medium sized gravel substrate but ive been vacuuming it pretty heavy with every water change. feeding him prawns and silver sides.


now what filter are you using?

have you changed anything in it since your cycling?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

If you have ammonia and no nitrates, it means your tank isn't cycled. Either your tank was never cycled in the first place or something happened that caused the process to start over again -- possibly a large water change.

If you can get your hands on some established bio media from another tank, that would help to speed things up, otherwise you'll have to wait for things to settle on their own -- that's assuming you have adequate bio filtration. Don't use chemicals to neutralize the ammonia, just keep an eye on the ammonia levels and perform small volume water changes if the levels get too high, if tests start showing nitrite, add a bit of salt to help counter the effects of nitrite poisoning. Once you are showing 0 nitrites and ammonia and nitrates are climbing up, the tank is cycled and you'll want to avoid setting off another cycle in the future.


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## amazonjungle (Jun 6, 2011)

JoeDizzleMPLS said:


> If you have ammonia and no nitrates, it means your tank isn't cycled. Either your tank was never cycled in the first place or something happened that caused the process to start over again -- possibly a large water change.
> 
> If you can get your hands on some established bio media from another tank, that would help to speed things up, otherwise you'll have to wait for things to settle on their own -- that's assuming you have adequate bio filtration. Don't use chemicals to neutralize the ammonia, just keep an eye on the ammonia levels and perform small volume water changes if the levels get too high, if tests start showing nitrite, add a bit of salt to help counter the effects of nitrite poisoning. Once you are showing 0 nitrites and ammonia and nitrates are climbing up, the tank is cycled and you'll want to avoid setting off another cycle in the future.


I have a question for his benefit.

this is what I did... my 60 gallon had ammonia at 1 something, but either way it was not at zero. so, I bought big als multi purpose bio support and threw in my tanks dosage.

the ammonia went to zero so I threw my fish in. this was over the process over a few days though. I think my tank is cycled now, but that bio support REALLY helped the cycle along.

could he look into that?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

He could, but IMO, most of those bottled bacteria products are just a waste of money. Best thing to do is just wait it out or try to get your hands on some established bio media.


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## KO78 (Jun 12, 2011)

ya think i must have reset it at some point then because for a while the nitrites and nitrates were high too. now like i said it's just the ammonia that's high with nitrites at zero and nitrates around 0-5ppm. gonna let it go a bit i guess and knock the water changes way down.


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## amazonjungle (Jun 6, 2011)

JoeDizzleMPLS said:


> He could, but IMO, most of those bottled bacteria products are just a waste of money. Best thing to do is just wait it out or try to get your hands on some established bio media.


yeah ive heard from people that it is, but it worked for me lol. for 7 bucks it worked, but it also could be the fact that I changed my filtration from a fluval U4 underwater pathetic filter for up to 65 gallon to an AC110 AND a tetra power filter.

theres bio media that actually decreases the ammonia also dude!
I sell it at my work for the Aqua clear line. look into that. Im unsure about its reliability, but apparently it does regulate nitrites and ammonia levels.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

amazonjungle said:


> He could, but IMO, most of those bottled bacteria products are just a waste of money. Best thing to do is just wait it out or try to get your hands on some established bio media.


yeah ive heard from people that it is, but it worked for me lol. for 7 bucks it worked, but it also could be the fact that I changed my filtration from a fluval U4 underwater pathetic filter for up to 65 gallon to an AC110 AND a tetra power filter.

theres bio media that actually decreases the ammonia also dude!
I sell it at my work for the Aqua clear line. look into that. Im unsure about its reliability, but apparently it does regulate nitrites and ammonia levels.
[/quote]

You don't want chemical media that removes ammonia, in a properly cycled tank, bio media should take care of all the ammonia and nitrite conversion on it's own.


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## amazonjungle (Jun 6, 2011)

JoeDizzleMPLS said:


> He could, but IMO, most of those bottled bacteria products are just a waste of money. Best thing to do is just wait it out or try to get your hands on some established bio media.


yeah ive heard from people that it is, but it worked for me lol. for 7 bucks it worked, but it also could be the fact that I changed my filtration from a fluval U4 underwater pathetic filter for up to 65 gallon to an AC110 AND a tetra power filter.

theres bio media that actually decreases the ammonia also dude!
I sell it at my work for the Aqua clear line. look into that. Im unsure about its reliability, but apparently it does regulate nitrites and ammonia levels.
[/quote]

You don't want chemical media that removes ammonia, in a properly cycled tank, bio media should take care of all the ammonia and nitrite conversion on it's own.
[/quote]

get some bio support then

it worked for me


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## MFNRyan (Mar 27, 2011)

I wouldn't waste my time or money on chemicals or chemical media. What has happened is your tank is cyclic again or finishing a cycle. You said 2 months. That doesn't sound long enough for a cycle. Should have went 3 to 3 1/2 months with the cycle before adding your desired fish. If you get mechanical filtration and good bio filtration, keep up with the water changes you will never have this issue. No smells, no dirty water nothing. You need a good gravel
Bed, bio media, and mechanical filtration that's it. I use only fluval bio cubes on my canister filter with the bottom tray being floss and I use a AC110 with only mechanical filtration in it. I never have any issues with this tank and rarely have to mess with the filters. This is my suggestion to you bro. Get your filters straight an keep up with water changes until it's done cycling.

I wouldn't waste my time or money on chemicals or chemical media. What has happened is your tank is cyclic again or finishing a cycle. You said 2 months. That doesn't sound long enough for a cycle. Should have went 3 to 3 1/2 months with the cycle before adding your desired fish. If you get mechanical filtration and good bio filtration, keep up with the water changes you will never have this issue. No smells, no dirty water nothing. You need a good gravel
Bed, bio media, and mechanical filtration that's it. I use only fluval bio cubes on my canister filter with the bottom tray being floss and I use a AC110 with only mechanical filtration in it. I never have any issues with this tank and rarely have to mess with the filters. This is my suggestion to you bro. Get your filters straight an keep up with water changes until it's done cycling.


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## KO78 (Jun 12, 2011)

thanks for all the replies. ammonia is back under control after a few days of leaving the water alone which leads me to believe when i was doing massive water changes my dumb a#% reset or significantly set back the cycle.


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## amazonjungle (Jun 6, 2011)

KO78 said:


> thanks for all the replies. ammonia is back under control after a few days of leaving the water alone which leads me to believe when i was doing massive water changes my dumb a#% reset or significantly set back the cycle.


haha possibly, you need time for the beneficial bacteria to take hold and get rid of the harmful nitrites and ammonia for you.

theres so many good links to read regarding the cycle.

ask mr. hannibal. hes got an archive lol









good to know things are going good.

are you going to add anymore fish??


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## KO78 (Jun 12, 2011)

nooo lol. the elong destroyed the few fish i had in there to start the cycle about 20 minutes after hitting the water for the first time. he's not a fan of tank mates.


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## amazonjungle (Jun 6, 2011)

KO78 said:


> nooo lol. the elong destroyed the few fish i had in there to start the cycle about 20 minutes after hitting the water for the first time. he's not a fan of tank mates.


lol..the bastard!


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