High Ammonia levels

Timmy_85

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 14, 2014
33
0
0
Australia
Hey guys,

Last week I added new media to an existing sump. Long story short I've had trouble controlling the ammonia levels. I did a water change this morning (30%) and again the Ammonia has gone through the roof. Any tips???

Sent from my GT-I9300 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

wrslrcichlid

Candiru
MFK Member
Aug 27, 2011
596
2
48
Battle Creek, MI
If you removed the old media then your tank is cycling again. By removing the old media you removed the vast majority of your beneficial bacteria (BB) and the colony has to regrow. The good news is your sump/tank should have BB still in it on all of the surfaces, so the cycling should go much quicker.

If you did not remove the old media and just added new, then I am not sure why it is happening, but your tank is cycling again. If you have the flowing media (K1 equivalent) then by adding more you may have screwed up the flow and created low oxygen areas or any number of other issues.

Basically, it doesn't really matter what you did, your tank is re-cycling. You will need to stay up top of water changes until the BB catches back up. It could be days, it could be weeks. All depends on the extent of re-cycling and the size of tank/stock.
 
Hey guys,

Last week I added new media to an existing sump. Long story short I've had trouble controlling the ammonia levels. I did a water change this morning (30%) and again the Ammonia has gone through the roof. Any tips???

Sent from my GT-I9300 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
If you didn't flat out replace your old media with new media, causing a re-cycle, i'd guess you need to:

1. Cut down on feeding.
2. Vacuum any uneaten food.
3. Increase your water change schedule and keep it consistent.
 

Timmy_85

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 14, 2014
33
0
0
Australia
I didn't remove the media, just added to it. I originally cycled the tank with Matrix and Noodles but last week I added large Bio Balls.

Ok so water changes... How often and how much? 10%? 20%?
 

Drstrangelove

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Oct 21, 2012
2,693
1,227
164
San Francisco
First reduce the feeding. Ammonia comes from food, so less food is less ammonia. I'd drop the amount drastically, then increase a little at a time while testing until you see ammonia, then stop increasing. That is the max level at the moment for the most food you can put in the tank. (It might still be too high...so go to step 2!)

Second, take readings of your nitrites and nitrates. If the nitrates are not increasing OR the nitrites are, then you are re-cycling. Obviously, you need to do the readings before and then a few hours after a feeding, with no WC in between. If you see nitrites, cut feeding completely and go to plan B and find mature media to add or get something like Safestart, etc. If you see 0 nitrites, even at low food levels, then you have some BB, but you will want to be certain you see nitrates growing.

It's possible that you lost all your BB or maybe only some. That's what needs to be determined, so adding a lot of ammonia (via food) is not the thing I'd do right now.

Get everything stable, even if that means no food, then work from there.
 

Timmy_85

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 14, 2014
33
0
0
Australia
First reduce the feeding. Ammonia comes from food, so less food is less ammonia. I'd drop the amount drastically, then increase a little at a time while testing until you see ammonia, then stop increasing. That is the max level at the moment for the most food you can put in the tank. (It might still be too high...so go to step 2!)

Second, take readings of your nitrites and nitrates. If the nitrates are not increasing OR the nitrites are, then you are re-cycling. Obviously, you need to do the readings before and then a few hours after a feeding, with no WC in between. If you see nitrites, cut feeding completely and go to plan B and find mature media to add or get something like Safestart, etc. If you see 0 nitrites, even at low food levels, then you have some BB, but you will want to be certain you see nitrates growing.

It's possible that you lost all your BB or maybe only some. That's what needs to be determined, so adding a lot of ammonia (via food) is not the thing I'd do right now.

Get everything stable, even if that means no food, then work from there.
Thanks for your help! I've cut out feeding altogether until I notice a decent drop in ammonia levels. Fingers crossed it doesn't take too long.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store