ammonia levels and ammonia neutralizer

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
B

beckiefish

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 1, 2012
8
0
0
United States
hi,

my boyfriend and I have a 75 gallon tank with a variety of freshwater fish. we have live plants. we recently set up a second magnum 350 canister filter. we currently have one filter with carbon and the second with a water polisher in it. our water is crystal clear.

we seem to be having an ammonia issue. We have started testing the every day. a few days ago the test showed a .50 ppm ammonia content. it is my understanding that ammonia is extremely toxic to fish and we shouldn't be showing any ammonia. so we freaked out did two consecutive water changes, 20 gal for two days. we added Aqueon's ammonia neutralizer after all the water changes and then let the tank sit for a day. yesterday we lost another little fish (cardinal neon) and tested the ammonia content and we are still reading .50 ppm. we added more ammonia neutralizer.

so my questions:
1) should I convert the water polisher to a second carbon filter?
2) does the ammonia neutralizer leave the ammonia in the water but make it not toxic?

we still do not know what is causing the ammonia levels. we have some sensitive fish in the tank (discus) and need to nip this ammonia thing immediately. or are we freaking out over nothing and the ammonia levels are ok?

something else, we have noticed the live plants are starting to brown on their leaves. is this a symptom of something?

any advice or suggestions?

thank you all in advance.
Beckie
 
carbon is a water polisher, ammonia means you need biological filtration. what kind of biomedia are you running? did you allow it time to colonize with bacteria before adding fish?
fish are creating ammonia, as do you, only you flush yours down the toilet.
continue your water changes. are you using a dechlorinator?
 
we have the marineland bio wheel filter in one of the canister filters - is this what you mean? we have had the tank up for 5 months and have been adding fish slowly, but we started having problems with the first filter, bought a second a week ago and installed that this weekend. I personally think we are overfeeding, too. my boyfriend has set up a three times a day automatic feeding and then a feeding of beefheart for the discus.

also our nitrites are 0 ppm.

we use RO water and do not use a dechlorinator. we have recently started adding Aqueon's water renewal to add good minerals back to the water.
 
from the info given, I would agree. way too much food. are you siphon vacuuming your substrate? with that kind of feeding schedule I'd do it at least once a week, twice would be better. there's no need to feed more than twice a day. the beefheart is going to be dirtier than most foods and will also increase your ammonia levels because it's not going to be digested as well as a fish based food.
 
we siphon vacuum every water change, so maybe 2-3 times a week. we do small 20 gallon changes when we change.

is the bio wheel in a canister filter considered a bio filtration?
 
yes, the bio wheel is considered bio filtration, bacteria is growing on it that will convert the ammonia to nitrite then the nitrite to nitrate.

take out the carbon, replace it with something that has alot of surface area for the beneficial bacteria you need to grow on. do daily water changes to keep your ammonia levels in check untill your filter has established itself with enough bacteria to filter the ammonia, you will know this is happening when your nitrite levels start to rise then fall. from then your ammonia levels and nitrite levels should even off to a low level and you should only see a rise in nitrates, you can keep the nitrates in check with a good regime of water changes.
 
ok. so just so I am clear:

1) remove carbon but in another biowheel filter
2) daily water changes, 20 gal, a day until ammonia goes away
3) reduce feedings to 2 flake/pellet feedings a day, 1 beefheart feeding

should I add tank starter to the water?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom