Ammonia in 10gal, small BGK and eel.

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Dez

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2007
171
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Canada
Hey guys, I just got back from my LFS and had my water tested, seems ammonia is still sitting around in there. The guy said he didn't realize I was STARTING my tank off with a BGK and a peacock eel (previously two but one died via filter friday night) and apparently this is bad. So, the newb that I am is clueless on what to do. He had me buy some starter stuff with live bacteria that you pour into the tank, so I did about a 30% water change and threw that in. I'll be going back to have it tested again in a week or so but I'm extremely paranoid about losing my BGK... He's the joy of my life right now and I've only had these guys for a week thus far. I'll be devastated if I lose little Spook.

I'm pretty much wondering what else I can do here. I know they need to be in a bigger tank and they will be eventually but I figured for now they'd be okay in there given how small they both are.
 
thats a tiny tank and parameters can fluctuate quickly. Can you give some information, like your filtratin and media in your filters? And how long has your tank been up? And are these your first fish? If I'm understanding you just set up your tank and added these fish in. Ammonia gets produced by the fish and must be broken down to nitrites by good bacteria, then broken down to nitrates by a different good bacteria. If your bacteria colonies are not established yet then ammonia will keep appearing and harming your fish until the colonies are established.

Sorry if I'm repeating anything you already know, just trying to give you as much info as I can so you can get it going. I would get an ammonia testing kit (preferabley a comprehensive testing kit) ASAP and test the water conditions several times a day. If ammonia or nitrite are coming up, your bacteria isnt established yet, and I would do a water change once these parameters hit dangerous levels
 
That bio bacteria stuff is hit and miss from what I've read. Some people report great results... others do not.

If this is a new tank that has been running less than 6 weeks then you have some work ahead of you. I would suggest changing 2.5 gallons (25% water change) at least daily for the next several weeks, or until you start seeing Nitrate readings on the master freshwater test kit that you should have already. What would be good for you is if you have a friend (or a really nice lfs), ask if you can have a cutting from their used filter or a cup of gravel from their existing tanks. Dump that gravel or used filter floss into your Hang-On-Back filter along with the filter pads in there. That will provide at least some bio filtration until your tank gets reasonably colonized.
 
Tomomothy: I have one of those basic hang-on-back filters with carbon packs and a sponge stuffed into the little slot. When I first bought those the girl at the cash mentioned there was one other kind but I can't remember if it was supposed to be good for ammonia or something else.

Jrthor: I can manage water changes every day if that's what I need to do... I should have bought the testing kit today but it was 40 bucks and I ultimately decided not to. I'll go pick one up asap, and if I do go back to that store soon I'll ask about a cutting or some gravel. I would just shove it all into the filter? And does it matter which tank it comes from as long as its freshwater, or should I ask for the one in the same tank the BGK was in?

To both of you, yes this is a new tank. I fear I may have rushed into things as I often tend to do. I'm more than willing to put the work into it if it means the survival of my fish.
 
Follow what Jthor said. Best thing you can do is see if you can get clean, but cycled water from an established tank. That sponge will help colonize the bacteria but if you can add more bio media it would help. As far as where the water comes from, it wont be such a huge amount that the source will be too important. I would just make sure its cycled, clean and hasnt had any outbreaks of illnesses in it like ich and so on.

When cycling a tank, usually you dont want fish inside, so you dont need to do waterchanges in THAT situation. Since you have fish, youll need to do water changes any time the ammonia or nitrites hit dangeroud levels (usually ANY is considered stressful/dangerous). Keeping the parameters safe will depend on how long it takes to cycle your tank, but until your bacteria can keep up, its up to you and water changes to keep it safe. That may mean water changes every couple days, daily or maybe even a couple a day if need be. Thats why I recommend checking parameters every few hours, at lest 2-3 times a day if you wont be home much. Then do waterchanges as necessary
 
Will do Tom, thanks to both you guys. I'm hoping to get that 60gal tank soon though I'll need to find a home for the large pleco and auratus cichlid before I even think about transferring these little guys in. Would I have an easier time with a 20gal or is it really not much of a difference?
 
Im guessing the filter is an AC ( aquaclear) there is a sponge, carbon, and biomax. as well as ammonia chip bag... i ran the sponge and 2 biomaxs in my tank.

I would do 20% water changes every day... thats it.. nothing special no chemicals ( except what you use to dechlorinate ) no bags of junk... just keep doing water changes... anything else is likely going to mess up your cycle process. I would get a biomax bag ( provide biological space for you nitrifying bacteria, otherwise giving ample space for your tank to cycle ) run this with the sponge, and the carbon for the time being.. once the tank is cycled i would replace the carbon with another bio bag.

both your fish are delicate and require better then okay water quality.. the method above may prolong your cycle process but your fish are most likely to survive it. You can keep feeding and otherwise maintaing the tank like you would with the water changes. on a bigger tank it might be more challenging.. but 2 gallons a day is easy. you can even do up too 50% matching temps and disturbing the fish as little as possible doing these changes.

even the cheaper dip strips are better then having no test kit. I've also found them fairly reliable. ammonia and nitrites are the most important tests to have. ph and nitrates to a lesser extent... nitrates will be important once the tank is cycled, but if you are doing water changes daily or more then once weekly your nitrates wont climb high enough to become an issue. and steady ph is best, doesn't matter how high it is as long as its consistent as a general rule.
 
Dez said:
Jrthor: I can manage water changes every day if that's what I need to do... I should have bought the testing kit today but it was 40 bucks and I ultimately decided not to. I'll go pick one up asap, and if I do go back to that store soon I'll ask about a cutting or some gravel. I would just shove it all into the filter? And does it matter which tank it comes from as long as its freshwater, or should I ask for the one in the same tank the BGK was in?

To both of you, yes this is a new tank. I fear I may have rushed into things as I often tend to do. I'm more than willing to put the work into it if it means the survival of my fish.
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If you get a filter cutting just put it on on the out-flow side, behind the black plastic of the filter cartridge. if you get some used gravel, you can buy nylon mesh bags and pour it in there and then just fit it into the filter however you can. As far as which tank it comes from, it shouldn't really matter. Most LFS use 1 filtration system for all of their tanks, and so every tank shares water with every other tank.

We've all "rushed into it" at some point. My first 55 had angels and powder blue rams the day after I set it up, and was bare again a week later. My second tank's a 125 and I had learned my lesson. Set it up, ran for 2 weeks adding ammonia every day, then added about 50 comet feeders and kept them in it for 2 months before I started shopping for the fish that are in it now. That was a godsend as it actually allowed my wife and I to go through several "stages" of what we wanted, form Discus, to CA cichlid, to saltwater, then finally settling on african rift cichlids. Very glad we "fought the itch" this time around.
 
What exactly is the biomax bag? I remember there being I think two sponges and then the bag of carbon/gravel stuff but I can check again. I'll do the water changes and get a kit asap to make sure they're effective, but if I need to pick up something else I may as well know now so I can everything at once. Does this biomax bag do anything special?
 
If its what I'm thinking of biomax is a pourous substance that houses beneficial bacteria. It should be white, and chalky/ceramic in appearance. If you arent using it, you should start, it will give your good bacteria a great place to start colonizing. I wouldnt recommend adding any chemicals since they have to potential to change water parameters quickly and that can stress fish. And as Monster mentioned, id get the test strips for now. Theyre pretty good from my experience and much cheaper than a full blown kit. That can come after youve stabalized your tank
 
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