P. Cambodiensis tank crash

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kzimmerman

Piranha
MFK Member
Mar 18, 2009
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delmar md
So I was checking out my fish and I noticed mr. Murder lips was hiding, which is very unusual for him. I found him tucked away in the back corner very dark and stressed. I tested the ammonia levels, and they were at 2ppm. I immediately changed 70-75% of the water and threw in a zeolite pack. Today the ammonia level and nitrite level are both 0. But mr. Murder lips is still stressed out, 24 hours after the fact. I’ve been trying to find the source of the ammonia, but to no avail. I think I’m going to have to pull the wood in the tank and quarantine it. It’s weird though, this tank has been running for a couple years now. My hypothesis is that the wood is rotting inside and then releasing ammonia bubbles. Pretty far fetched I know, but the wood, plants and mr. Murder lips are the only possible sources. The plants are okay, mr. Murder lips is still kicking, so the wood seems like the most likely. But it doesn’t smell bad.
So what should I do?
 
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kzimmerman said:
So I was checking out my fish and I noticed mr. Murder lips was hiding, which is very unusual for him. I found him tucked away in the back corner very dark and stressed. I tested the ammonia levels, and they were at 2ppm. I immediately changed 70-75% of the water and threw in a zeolite pack. Today the ammonia level and nitrite level are both 0. But mr. Murder lips is still stressed out, 24 hours after the fact. I’ve been trying to find the source of the ammonia, but to no avail. I think I’m going to have to pull the wood in the tank and quarantine it. It’s weird though, this tank has been running for a couple years now. My hypothesis is that the wood is rotting inside and then releasing ammonia bubbles. Pretty far fetched I know, but the wood, plants and mr. Murder lips are the only possible sources. The plants are okay, mr. Murder lips is still kicking, so the wood seems like the most likely. But it doesn’t smell bad.
So what should I do?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't feed for a few days and test all parameters again.
 
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So the ammonia is 0, nitrite 0and nitrate 5ppm. It’s been that way since Friday morning. Mr. Murder lips has been coming out and begging for food, last night he ate a night crawler. He is still hiding a lot, which is unusual for him, and he’s usually darker than normal. I was thinking about gill damage from the ammonia. The ph is 7.0. Anything I can do to help the little guy?
 
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This is what he looks like now. Way darker than normal. 1st pic is normal coloration.352EA2FC-2951-4DCC-8ABB-C6F20B97FF66.jpeg

F46355B0-9184-460C-BFE1-5F60824115C7.jpeg
 
Last edited:
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So last night the ammonia reached 4.0ppm. I changed 70-75% of the water, used amquel, and switched a well seasoned filter from another tank. This is pretty crazy how this keeps happening.
 
So the ammonia is hovering around.25. I’ve removed all of the wood, now it’s just some plants and my 4-5” pao cambodgiensis. It’s a 55, so the tank stocking is pretty low. Where could all of this ammonia be coming from? The tank has been set up for years. This is getting frustrating!
 
kzimmerman said:
So the ammonia is hovering around.25. I’ve removed all of the wood, now it’s just some plants and my 4-5” pao cambodgiensis. It’s a 55, so the tank stocking is pretty low. Where could all of this ammonia be coming from? The tank has been set up for years. This is getting frustrating!
Click to expand...

How do you rinse your test vial?
Do you rinse them with tap water?
Deionized or distilled water is best to rinse vial with because tap water has minerals in it that causes the regent of test to remain in vial.
I would try a new vial for testing if you have one on hand.
 
Wood has negligible amounts of protein (really, none). It should not be the source of ammonia. In fact, you7 already took it out and the issue persists. There appears to be something else causing it, I don't now what.
 
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Rotting wood can most certainly release ammonia.
I’ve a lot of test tubes, and they are kept clean. I have 2 75g tanks and a 20 that all test 0ppm.
I might start a new thread in the general forum for more traffic. I’m about to do the morning test after I get some coffee in me.
 
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