Ammonia problem for a noob...need help please.

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sascythe

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 11, 2008
110
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0
northern ohio
Ok i have been facing a ammonia battle for the past 4 or 5 days...i read 8ppm's at first and about **** a brick. so i got some of that ammonia cleaner by kordon. that dropped it to about 3 or 4ppm. so i had to do some more so i bought some nitrazorb. that was yesterday and im still reading around 4ppm. also my tank is getting more cloudy as the days go by. so i was wondering what i can do to stop this or will it take time to get rid of this with the nitrazorb pouch. and is the cloudiness a sign of the tank cleaning itself? or is it a bad sign?. ive also been doing water changes about every other day. so i would greatly appreciate it if anyone could lend me a hand before my fish r gone...

equipment im running is:

55 gallon tank
whisper 60 - for my mechanical filtration
undergravel filter with two aqua clear 30 power heads - for bio filtration

fish

2 - albino zebra cichlid "2in"
2 - yellow lab cichlids "2in"
2 - red flamingo cichlids "3in"
1- ropefish "10in."​
 
is it a new tank? Has it run its cycling course?

If it is cycling, the more water changes you do, the worse it will be...
 
i also used start right in the begging. but i didnt put my mechanical filter in until about a week later. and the rope fish and red flamingos have only been in there 4 2 weeks. the other 4 about 4 or 5 weeks
 
Your tank is cycling. Relax, you can mange this- just don't do anything drastic. Avoid using chemicals to solve the problem. You want to establish natural nitrifying bacteria and chemicals will make this difficult. The exception to this is make sure you add something to neutralize chloramines if you have them in your water supply. I prefer Seachem's Prime.

Cut back on your feeding and increase aeration. Lower your water temp a couple of degrees. This will increase the amount of available oxygen in your tank and accelerate the process.

Do ten percent water changes twice a day until the cycle is complete. Your next worry will be nitrite spiking but if you follow the above procedure you should be able to weather it.
 
The cloudiness is most likely a bacteria bloom.If this is a new tank 6 weeks is the time it will take to cycle.If I am not mistaken the Kordon AMQUEL doesn't really get rid of ammonia only detoxifies it by converting it to ammonium.You will still read this on your test kit(you need to use a two part regent,a salicylate to get a proper reading) as ammonia though.
 
ok will try that then. so the ammonia will go away? and ive been doing about 30percent changes. is that why theres no algea. cuz im just not letting my tank start itself up. and i have been using water conditioner when i do my changes. and let it sit in bucket 4 15min. before i reinterduse my new water. is this correct way to do it or should i put it in the tank after the new water is in it?
 
yes i got the ammonia testing kit with the two solutions. i just used some type of cleaner by kordon to get rid of ammonia that the lfs gave me. not using it anymore. i was just freakin out cuz of the ammonia spike and i didnt want my fish to die. i already thought my tank cycled....well i guess this is all part of the learning process. but thanks everyone for all the help i greatly appreciate it. and youve taken a load of stress off my shoulders. do u think i should pull out the nitrazorb pouch in my filter and replace the carbon? or should i just leave it for now?
 
I would put the carbon back in but I don't think the nitrazorb will hurt anything. Just sit back, be patient and let your tank cycle.I would use the DECHLOR. because 15 min. isn't long enough for dechlorination to happen on its own.
 
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