My 75 gallon tank has an ammonia reading of 4.0 after 9 weeks...help?

Question

I received a 75 gallon tank from a friend (who passed away). Tank came with 65 fish (3 angels, 35 neons, 8 barbs, etc.). Kept the sand and plants and filters that came with the tank. I only changed the water after I moved the tank to my house. It's been 9 weeks and every time I read the ammonia level it's between 2.0 and 4.0. I have used AmQuel a few times to help the fish. Have done 3 water changes at 30% each time. Thoughts?

I can't believe how nice you all are! Thanks for your help . . . to further explain my tank. When I moved it from my friend's house, it was only 15 blocks from my house. So, I drained the water and put the sand in 5-gallon buckets and put the Emperor 400 filter in a separate bag. The filters, bio wheels and sand did not dry out in the short move. The plants that came with the tank are fine. I purchased 3 more plants and they all died within 2 weeks. Just suddenly turned transparent within a few days of each other. The gentlemen who owned this tank before his death (a friend of a friend) had this tank for 5-10 years. I think the gravel and everything was well established. I suspect I need to do more water changes. I have only used the AmQuel 3-4 times in the last 9 weeks. And I thought I read where Amquel only stays in the tank 2-3 days so I have let the tank go for 10 days once and then tested and the reading for ammonia was 4.0. The fish don't seemed stressed.

Answer 1

Not to offend anyone and I would also like to tell you this is my personal opinion.

Your tank can easily support the load you mention ( assuming the "etc" you mention are also some kind of tetras or smaller barbs).

I assume that when you move your tank did you move the equipment dry. That is you took out the sand and filter out and transported it dry? If it's true, it is very likely the majority of the Bacteria in the sand and filter's bio-media has died during the transfer. So you should expect some Ammonia during the initial phase. The longer the filter and sand were out of the water the lose of bacteria would be higher. Just a note, if your house is colder, the bacteria will also tends to multiply (recover) slower.

Next, how are your plants doing? Normal after a move they tend to take some time to adjust to the new environment, especially if they have been dried out. And if they have been up rooted, they would need even more time. During this period, they would tend to lose more leaves thereby pushing Ammonia slightly higher due to this decomposing leaves. Moreover during this time, your plants are also consuming less nitrogen compound, so it could also lead to slighty higher residue Ammonia which were absorb when the plants were stable.

Don't use AmQuel anymore, it just provide a temporary fix. When you feel that you need to use AmQuel, do a 30% water change instead.

Next, take some tap water or whatever source you get your tank water from. Test the water with your test kit. See if the problem's from your water source. Next test your test kit, get a bottle of distilled water do a few test. If there are readings, you need to get a new test kit.

Okay, you didn't mention what type of filter you're using. If your friend used a cannister filter or filter that contain bio-media there is slight chance that the bio-media already too old and choked thereby providing less space to host bacteria, during the move if the media dried out, this waste that were choking the media could have harden and cake in the spore of this media. If this is true, you have to replace these media. Do the replacement, in phases. Replace 1/3 every 2 weeks so that by the 6th weeks you've got all replaced. If your filter using sponge, take it out and give it a good rinseing with tank water and if it's using wool, do replace them. Waste trap in sponge and wool also contribute to Ammonia load in the tank, and choke sponge and wool also does not provide good bacteria hosting capability.

These are all the possibilities I can think off, some or all of them might have each contribute alittle to your problem.

And lastly, it could be possible that your bacteria hosting capacity of your available filter is too small all the while, and your friend actually did more frequent water change to compensate for it. So to get around your Ammonia problem, you could either do 30% change a week or add in another filter to provide additional bio-hosting space.

I hope these helps.

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Answer 2

Sometimes the chemicals you use will give you false or higher readings.This is especially true with AmQuel. I feel you may have lost a lot of the"good"bacteria when the tank was moved. I would lay off the chemicals for a while and try something I have done in the past. It is old fashioned but has done the job before. Get a fine meshed bag and add some ammo-carb chips into it. Rinse this thoroughly in cold tap water and then place into the tank. It may take several bags but this has worked for me in the past. Also see if you can find someone with a similar tank and if they will let you have some well estabished gravel or a piece of filter material from their filters. These are loaded with the good bacteria you need to get the nitrogen cycle kick started again Do only small percentage water changes (10%) and feed the fish sparingly. Monitor the water conditions very closely. It may take a whle for the tank to stabilize and get the nitrogen cycle back into equilibrium.

The tank doesn't seem to be overcrowded since the majority of the fish you mentioned are of the smaller variety. You didn't say how big the Angelfish were, but as they grow, you may notice that your neon population will probably go down and the Angels will be getting fatter. The neons make a nice snack for larger angels.

Answer 3

Sorry to hear about the passing of your friend. Luckily, his fish found a caring person to take care of them....

Copperhead is absolutely right about your ammonia problem. I've been keeping fish for over 25 years and I always pay attention to the advice he provides, as should you.....

I also agree that you might want to keep an eye on those angels. They aren't the best tank mates for your smaller tropical fish. Angels are cichlids and if you happen to notice some of the smaller fish disappearing or missing some fins.... it's the angel fish:) Eventually, you might want to get a 55 gallon tank for the angels or perhaps even find someone to take them from you. I'm guessing the angels have been in the tank since they were tiddlers which is why the other fish haven't been eaten or nipped. Angels will not be overly aggressive with smaller fish so long as they have a regular food source. Eventually, however, nature will take over and they will begin to molest the other fish.

As copperhead advised, the amquel is the culprit on your ammonia readings......

If you need advice in the future, post your questions here.... pay VERY close attention to anything copperhead advises as he's always bang on.....

Answer 4

Your tank is not overstocked,anybody who says different doesn't know anything about fish-keeping. I suspect that you lost the bacteria colonies that control ammonia and Nitrites when the aquarium was moved. You have a difficult task ahead of you to re-grow the bacteria without losing fish. Doing small frequent water changes is the way to maintain enough ammonia so the bacteria will grow,but not so much that it kills the fish. To slow the accumulation of ammonia reduce the size and frequency of the feedings. One very small feeding on alternate days will be plenty to keep the fish fed,and will slow the amount of ammonia created in the tank. After the ammonia is under control Nitrites will probably also start to spike. The same treatment will apply,keep the Nitrite numbers low enough so the fish are unharmed,but high enough that the bacteria will grow. Things to watch when changing water are temperature(keep the temperature as even as possible,not so much for the fish,but the bacteria),pretreat the water for chlorine and chloramine,(that stuff is in there to kill bacteria),sudden changes in any water parameter,(again,more for the bacteria than the fish).
Be patient,this kind of cycling can go on for a long time(2 or more months),before everything settles down. Keep testing and doing small water changes(around 20% is best) and if the ammonia starts to rise do changes every day until it reches a safe level. Same proceedure for the Nitrites when they start to climb.
Hope this helps,you can email if you wish. Good luck.
As far as the statements about the tank being overstocked,the fish where doing fine before the move I'll bet.

Answer 5

The major culprit is the Amquel. It detoxifies ammonia, but it's still present and shows up on tests. The only way you really know what the level of toxic ammonia will be is to stop using it. And, despite the product claims, I don't think it allows bacteria to use the ammonia as well as the unbound product.

Are you still using the gravel and filter from the tank? As long as you are, it shouldn't have created much of an ammonia spike, since you'd still have the bacteria needed for detoxifying the fish wastes.

If you used new gravel, cleaned the old gravel out with tapwater or something that would have affected the bacteria, added any antibiotics, or allowed the gravel to dry out at any point, that would have caused a problem with the number of fish that would have been added at one time.

You should also increase your water changes if you're only changing the water 3 times in 9 weeks. You should be doing 25% on a weekly basis.

I disagree with the tank being overstocked, since the majority of the fish are neons. They will be harassed by the angels (or eaten) by adults, so I have the feeling yours may not be full grown yet. The barbs could be small or large (but hopefully the same species). If small like cherry barbs, they may also be at rish from your angels, but if they're tiger barbs, they'll be aggressive themselves. Be sure you know what species you have and what to expect from them in the way of adult size and temperment.

Answer 6

Your tank needs weekly water changes. A fully cycled tank should have an ammonia reading of 0. However, a low PH and temperature can lessen the toxicity of ammonia. What is the PH and temp of your tank?

Are you testing for nitrites and nitrates?

Amquel can cause your ammonia test to give false results.

Ammonia is necessary to begin the cycle to allow the beneficial bacteria to proliferate. These bacteria turn the ammonia into nitrite and then nitrifying bacteria turn the nitrites into harmless nitrates.

I recommend a weekly water change of 25-30%. This is help keep the ammonia down to non-toxic levels, yet will allow your tank to cycle.

Since your tank is WAY overstocked, it's going to take a while to get your ammonia down to zero.

Normally people start with an EMPTY tank and add one or two fish a week until their ammonia reads 0. Unfortunately you don't have this option.

You are a good friend to take on your pal's aquarium. So - change that water every week, test for PH, nitrates, nitrates and ammonia. And if you can give away some of your fish (maybe 30 of them!), you will have a healthier tank a lot faster.

Answer 7

is this a sparkling tank? if so, then you relatively've New Tank Syndrome, the place your ammonia stages are intense because of the fact the tank isn't finished cycling. this suggests that there isn't a longtime colony of useful micro organism, which breaks down poisonous ammonia into much less poisonous nitrite, which in turn breaks all the way down to even much less poisonous nitrate. This technique takes between 4 and 6 weeks to end, and it is not risk-free to maintain fish interior the tank until eventually then. chemical substances are on the brink of ineffective whilst coping with water circumstances, so different measures might desire to be taken. First, in case you want to cycle with fish, you will possibly desire to shrink your fish inhabitants to a million or 2. The ammonia that those fish produce will leap initiate the micro organism growth without overpowering the tank. in case you want to do a fishless cycle, eliminate all your fish, and upload a source of organic ammonia extremely. Google "fishless tank cycle" for greater information. in addition they sell small packets of micro organism in maximum aquarium shops, which furnish all you like without wait time. If that isn't a sparkling tank, then it would desire to be a controversy with the two overfeeding or overpopulation. make certain which you do basically feed the fish as much as they might consume in decrease than a minute, and scoop out something. so some distance as inhabitants, it relies upon on the fish. 2nd question. Its superb to alter 25% of the water on your tank each week. Its superb to purchase a gravel vacuum, which will siphon the water, to boot as sparkling the fish poop and different waste out of your substrate. make certain which you do positioned all water conditioning chemical substances interior the hot water every time. additionally make particular the water temperature of the extra water is an identical because of the fact the tank water. stable success!

Answer 8

What the hell. I think you overstocked your tank. Buy another tank. that should decrease the ammonia levels.