It is apparent that my fish are starting to exceed the capacity of my filtration. I did a big water change a few days ago (40%) and a few mins ago I got out the trusty API master freshwater test kit. My ammonia level is stupid high. The fish arent struggling at all, they seem to be just fine actually. At 5ppm I would expect them to be gasping for their lives, but they arent. Its kinda got me worried because the big tank wont be here for atleast another week, then its going to need another 30 days on top of that to cycle. So what you guys think? Going and getting more filtration isnt going to do much since it wont be established. Guess maybe I will have to do water changes everyday untill I can get them moved...
Cichla Ammonia question
- Thread starter Venom SS
- Start date
Have you used any ammonia removers in the past few days such as AmQuel or Ammo-Lock? If so, these products bind ammonia into a different chemical formulation but don't remove the actual ammonia as indicated by their marketing. When you test your tank water, these bound-up ammonia molecules will still register on certain types of test kist giving you a false positive. Even tthough the test registers high ammonia it is really not there. At least not in a form that is toxic to your fish. This would explain why the test is giving you a high reading but the fish appear fine.
If your tap water is treated with chlorimines, every time you do a water change and use a product that claims to eliminate chlorine and/or ammonia you're going to end up in a situation where certain tests will give you this false positive.
The best solution is to use a different test kit, one that utilizes a different reagent.
If your tap water is treated with chlorimines, every time you do a water change and use a product that claims to eliminate chlorine and/or ammonia you're going to end up in a situation where certain tests will give you this false positive.
The best solution is to use a different test kit, one that utilizes a different reagent.
The nitrate on my pond and tanks with cichla in usually runs around 200ppm +
Dispite loads of filteration and waterchanges and they dont seem bothered. I know its not good and i try and bring it down, but they do seem to be quite tolerent
Dispite loads of filteration and waterchanges and they dont seem bothered. I know its not good and i try and bring it down, but they do seem to be quite tolerent
Scatocephalus;2623612; said:
The only thing that ive got in the system to control ammonia is one bag of Zeo-carb in one of the middle filter trays in the canister. Other than that its all sponges, carbon and bio media. The other bio is a well established under gravel with suction via powerheads. 3+ years established. I dont use tap water for water changes, I use bottled spring water. That is one source I have not thought to check. I have always used spring water in my tanks and have never had issues, im going to test some of it now and see where its at.
Bogwoodbruce;2623693; said:
Wow thats alot of nitrates lol. Ive never heard of them being that high. But yeah fish can and do acclimate themselves if it is done slowly. Its been a little while since I did an ammonia test because it is almost always perfect so I was horrified when I did it today and it was so high. I tested some of my other tanks as well and they are fine, a little high around .25 to .50 ppm, but nothing like the 3-5ppm im seeing in the cichla tank. Suprisingly they are all doing just fine and acting normal. But now im really itching for the big tank to arrive with the big wet /dry so I can get it set up and cycling. If my cichla seem ok in that kind of water, they will be doing back flips when the ammonia is at zero like it should be.
Venom SS;2623585; said:
30 days!!! I haven't cycled a single tank for years now for that long!!!!
If you want the BB from the Column Just use the water from the current tank.And all the filter media... UGF tend to have problems after a while depending on how they are maintained... Seachem Stability is good for the beginning as well.
Also How much are you feeding???
OR I would Get ANOTHER TRUSTEE kit and retest
How old is the API one and What is the EXP date??Scatocephalus;2623612; said:
keep up regular water changes if you really dont have anywhere to put them.
i had an ammonia spike which killed an oscar,TSN and 5 ctenolucius beani.
but my cichla remained fine and they were little 2inches back then.
i had an ammonia spike which killed an oscar,TSN and 5 ctenolucius beani.
but my cichla remained fine and they were little 2inches back then.