fed up,what am i doing wrong

[midnight]

I can't say the ammonia is the cause of the problem, but if you are getting any ammonia at all then the tank is not cycled, and I'm sure that isn't helping matters.

Throw a test on your water source and see if that is where it is coming from...

Hope things work out for you

i dont see how its not cycled after almost a year
and my tap water does have some amm but thats what prime is for right?
i use a bit more prime then needed also

Are there any other contaminants that could be getting into the tank???

like what?
none that i can think of
i add prime as it refills
i dont use feeders from lfs,mine are all wild caught and q'ed

 

[Tongue33]

You say low amounts of Ammonia low to 0... Low amounts can cause cloudy eye.

Or is it always 0

And other contaminants I mean like

Windex
or other household cleaners or aerosols...

 

[midnight]

You say low amounts of Ammonia low to 0... Low amounts can cause cloudy eye.

Or is it always 0

And other contaminants I mean like

Windex
or other household cleaners or aerosols...

well i have tested 0 in the past,just tested a bit ago and got in between 0.25-0.50

and no contaminants like that
i use water to clean the tank and dont really spray anything

 

[Pufferpunk]

How much are you changing? Since folks are recommending much larger WC weekly, this is probaby the cause of your issues. Water quality if the #1 cause of fish illnesses.

 

[midnight]

heres my filters to show how it is setup

this is copied from an older post
and these pix are really old but its still setup like this

overflows the side
then to a drip plate
then to a/c filter padding,2 layers
then the next level is felt
then down to more felt
"all that is about 5g"
then to bio balls "5g of those" half in water,half out
then through the 2" tube down to the 2nd filter
bottom filter
another drip plate
then to 7g of bio balls in the bio box
then to about 10g of bio balls underwater,under the bio box
then to scrubbies and sponges about 7g of those
2 bags of carbon
then through 2" thick sponge
then pump and heater
"those gallons are just media not the actual sumps gallons"

 

[midnight]

How much are you changing? Since folks are recommending much larger WC weekly, this is probaby the cause of your issues. Water quality if the #1 cause of fish illnesses.

1/3rd,around 80g
i would do more but my fish freak out if the water drops more then 1/3rd

guess i gotta get rally or chomps over to do a drip system lol

 

[spexmoneymaker]

are you keeping the water warm enough? i see 1 heater in your pics but that is a pretty large tank.

 

[navygirl76]

balton gave you really good advice. i would go buy a tester to test you nitrite and nitrate levels. your water looks cloudy (dont know if it really looks like that in person lol) and i noticed that while you have essentially 2 sumps, your bio media is submerged in water. i was taught that if your bio balls are submerged they dont colonize bb like they would if they had the water trickle over and through them and surrounded by air. we may need to clarify this-
i dont think you have enough biological filtration-since most of it is submerged. i would also bump your wc schedule to every week for a while-after you test your nitrates (im betting they are through the roof)

like balton said, after a tank is cycled you should have NO ammonia- and any trace amount is very bad for fish for their gills and it fogs over their eyes and strips them of their slime coat..

let us know what your nitrIte and nitrAtes are, we are more than happy to help ya!! Mel

 

[rallysman]

Sounds to me like ammonia is still the issue, which is tough to figure out. You have plenty of bio media, enough flow, and the stock/feeding isn't too heavy. Go ahead and check for nitrite and nitrate but I'm almost sure nitrate isn't the problem. Hell, if ammonia is still present the nitrate is probably very low. It should be the other way around. Do you have enough tanks or bins to treat the water a day before the water change? Maybe fill a tub with water and put a powerhead in it to mix the prime, then use the same power head to pump water into the tank.........Going out on a limb. I know I've talked to you before and it always seems like you're doing it right. That's a confusing situation.

 

[Tongue33]

OTS ?