re-cycling the tank..

[black_monster]

hey guys, i just had a disastrous water change the other week that ended up killing my prq and bullhead cat. the slime coats just drooped over the tank before they died and i didnt know they died until the next day. this is a 120g tank that had been established for nearly two years and now i have a huge ammonia spike of 4ppm. i made a really bad mistake and did a 90% water change cuz the only thing that survived was my large pacu, that has like white mucus over its skin and it's eyes are nearly white, probably from ammonia burn. i stuck him in a 20g with the same tank water before, that had the spike of ammonia except with the other half being de-chlorinated tap. pacu is still suffering because its pretty cramped, but then i'm also worried about my 120g now. the readings seem to be normal now, but will my tank have another spike of ammonia and recycle itself?
how do i get this thing to run normally again?

thanks.

 

[Paullywolly]

a 90% w/c killed the fish? That doesn't make sense - your tap water shouldn't have any ammonia in it.

I'd tear the whole tank down (i.e. empty it, scrub it, let it dry, scrub it again - use mild bleach if you're really paranoid and rinse w/ decholorinator), most importantly including the filter, and start from scratch. since it's now empty this shouldn't be hard.

Sorry to hear about your loss by the way....

 

[black_monster]

a 90% w/c killed the fish? That doesn't make sense - your tap water shouldn't have any ammonia in it.

I'd tear the whole tank down (i.e. empty it, scrub it, let it dry, scrub it again - use mild bleach if you're really paranoid and rinse w/ decholorinator), most importantly including the filter, and start from scratch. since it's now empty this shouldn't be hard.

Sorry to hear about your loss by the way....

ahhhh noooo lol. i did a 50% water change at first, but i added too much cold then hot so i think that's what stressed them and killed them a few days later. after i disposed the fish, i checked the ammonia level and it was a 4.0ppm. so THEN i did a 90% water change lol since i have nothing to lose. i'm not too paranoid, but i was wondering how the ammonia just spiked up so high for leaving dead fish in for one night. i don't know if my tap water has ammonia in it though, but you're right it shouldn't. i'll check on that later.
how long do you think the water will take to fully cycle up though? or what just happened to my tank?

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

if you didnt treat the tap water or let it sit...it probibly killed your BB and thats why you have an ammonia spike. Normally I would say just cycle but since you have a fish in there I would recommend finding someone else with a large tank and seeing if you can have one of their old filters or media that will have to BB so that you wont have to completely recycle

 

[Tunez]

if you have to recycle the tank all over again to save some time buy some biro-spira, its pretty much a bag of the good bacteria u spend time growing when u cycle the tank. I work at a fish store on weekends and i use it all the time and we recomend it to every person who is starting a new tank out. It's susposed to cycle you tank alot faster it can be done in 8-48hours, but i usually wait about 4 days after putting it in before i put my fish in. I have been using this stuff for years and so have my friends and in 5 days our tank is cycled. You just pour half the bag in your filter and the other half in the tank. Also some experts will say it can cycle your tank in 8-24 hours, but i have herd it takes about 4 days from some experts, so i would wait about 5 days before u put ur fish in.

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

if you have to recycle the tank all over again to save some time buy some biro-spira, its pretty much a bag of the good bacteria u spend time growing when u cycle the tank. I work at a fish store on weekends and i use it all the time and we recomend it to every person who is starting a new tank out. It's susposed to cycle you tank alot faster it can be done in 8-48hours, but i usually wait about 4 days after putting it in before i put my fish in. I have been using this stuff for years and so have my friends and in 5 days our tank is cycled. You just pour half the bag in your filter and the other half in the tank. Also some experts will say it can cycle your tank in 8-24 hours, but i have herd it takes about 4 days from some experts, so i would wait about 5 days before u put ur fish in.

you can do the same thing with someone elses media...and its free!

 

[Tunez]

you can do the same thing with someone elses media...and its free!

ya, well if u can't find some1 to get there media then can use biro-spira.

 

[black_monster]

haha dangg. that might explain it. i've been keeping fish for 4years now and i just decided to hose water straight from my faucet into the tank and pour/stir stress coat which removes ammonia every few minutes or so. weird thing is that i've been doing this method for 2years, but i guess i just got lucky all those times and finally my bb wiped out on me.
i'm gonna go to my lfs tomorrow and see if i can get some of there bb instead of buying bio-spira cuz that thing is expansive.

thanks for the help guys. and now i need another way of making water changes i guess.