Suspected Ammonia Spike

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paulz01

Candiru
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2008
252
0
46
california
Hi guys,

I just wanted to share my concern and ask for help. Some of fishes are gasping for air. To me personally it seems like my tank had an ammonia spike over night. I've had this happen to me about 8 months ago... I lost a lot of fish during that spike. I treated my tank with stress zhyme and it worked perfectly my ammonia went down within a day.

So now it seems like i have it again... i already put the stress zhyme in. Although my readings are perfect. No sign of ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate.

I did do a water change last night to put in some new plants and a new drift wood.... I suspected i must have killed off a bunch of my bacteria because i also did a large water change last week. I had to because my tank is too deep for me to plant my plants.

So my question is what causes Ammonia Spikes? ALso, what can I do to prevent it from happening?

I attached a picture and you guys can see some of my fishes near the surface..

IMG_0344.JPG
 
Cleaning your filters too good or in untreated tank water, or replacing your seasoned filter media with unused media will do it. Adding fish to your tank that your bio filter cannot handle will cause spiking too.
 
Pyramid_Party;2698674; said:
Whats your filtration and temp at?
Click to expand...


temp's a bit low around 70-72 (can't really get it high or electric bill will kill us) the fish don't mind the temp.

As for filters: I have 2 xp3 one is full of bio media and 1 is 2/3 full of bio media.

When I got home though my fishes is starting to get better swimming around. Seems like the stress zyme worked.

However, I am still keeping a close eye on the tank and making sure it's all good.
 
You temp is fine......actually a low temp holds more oxygen.

There's something wrong with your test kit though if it shows 0-0-0 readings. You should have zero ammonia and nitrite, but you will always have some nitrate in a healthy tank.

I can almost guarantee your tank has not fully cycled. The addition of chemicals (Stress Zyme) does nothing to solve the original problem on a permanent basis. It just masked the ammonia from being read on the test. Either you have an ammonia spike (99% likelihood) or some sort of toxin, like chlorine, in the water (unlikely).

You need:
1. A new test kit (or take a sample to the lfs)
2. Water changes asap (75% any time you see some distress; no less than 1 per week)
3. Allow your tank to cycle (stop feeding for a few days to limit the organic load); that could take a couple of weeks or more -- stay up on the water changes.
 
How often and how much water do you change, be exact?
How often or how long had it been since your last gravel vac?
Did you have a rotten egg smell to your tank?
If it was an ammonia spike you would be able to read it while testing. Your test is flawed, there is no way you will have 0 nitrates in that tank setup.
 
Okay i bought new test kit and here are the result. My light is yellow but it is very apparent that my ammonia is pretty high.

light yellow - dark green is the spectrum of the kit.

yellow good - green bad


EDIT: Top one is the tank water
Bottom one is Tap water

IMG_0347.JPG
 
First off those test strips are junk. You need to get a drop test kit such as a API master test kit. Those are the best we common aquarist can get. But since you have signs of a ammonia spike, do a large water change immediately. Like 75% and then get a good test kit and test the water daily and do a 50% water change any time you get a reading of .5ppm ammonia or better. I would also put some salt in your tank at 1tbs for every 5 gallons of water. The salt will help the fish with the stress from the toxic environment they are in now. And will also help with nitrite poisoning. You can use regular table salt or ice cream salt or freshwater aquarium salt.
 
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