Ammonia & Water changes

[10lbBass]

So I have been cycling my tank with fish for 35 days now. I'm up to 2 tetras, 2 giant danios, 8 long finned danios, and 2 glofish in a 30 gallon tank. I've got an emperor 400 filter on it, so the water quality/clarity is superb. I do water changes about every other day and my ammonia levels keep creeping their way back up. All of my other levels are perfect except for ammonia. I have had trouble keeping the ammonia in check for 8 days, when before it seemed to stabilize in about 5-6 days. All thoughts and suggestions about how to keep this ammonia in check is greatly appreciated!

[10lbBass]

....or do I just have to be patient with it? I feel like i'm doing everything correctly.

[Wild Turkey]

what are the readings? Its possible you are changing too much water, but otherwise you just need to be patient, get some seeded media, or some bacteria start like tetra start safe.

If you arent taking it down too much farther down than 1.0ppm thats fine

[chipper]

I have the same problem. I change 25% water in a 55 Gallon tank. I have three oscars and a catfish. The level was down then it shot up, and the water went cloudy. I still can not get it down with water changes

[PostalPenguin]

Try going two days without a water change. If your fish can handle it, turn the temperature up a bit and run an airstone 24/7. I cycled my 10gallon with daily 25% water changes that kept the ammonia down to 0.5ppm at the highest and it was cycled in two weeks so you may just have to be patient. But if you haven't seen any nitrites yet, I would get a bacteria starter. I had minor success with Cycle, it overnight started the ammonia to nitrite stage but did nothing to help the nitrite to nitrate stage. Good luck.

[chipper]

Try going two days without a water change. If your fish can handle it, turn the temperature up a bit and run an airstone 24/7. I cycled my 10gallon with daily 25% water changes that kept the ammonia down to 0.5ppm at the highest and it was cycled in two weeks so you may just have to be patient. But if you haven't seen any nitrites yet, I would get a bacteria starter. I had minor success with Cycle, it overnight started the ammonia to nitrite stage but did nothing to help the nitrite to nitrate stage. Good luck.
I just did all the water tests my ph-6.4, nitrate-0.0, Nitrite-5.0 and the killer Ammonia-8.0 which i can not get it down. Like I said i did 25% water change for the past 2 days and it is still climbing the past two days. it was 4.0 yesturday now today higher.

[Sharon]

When you cycle with fish, keep the Ammonia level no higher than 1ppm with frequent water changes. Nitrites also should not be allowed to get more than 1ppm.
Chipper...Nitrites of 5ppm and Ammonia of 8ppm will kill the fish. You need to be doing MANY more water changes to reduce this. How big are the Oscars...a 55gal tank cannot support three Oscars and a catfish...

[chipper]

When you cycle with fish, keep the Ammonia level no higher than 1ppm with frequent water changes. Nitrites also should not be allowed to get more than 1ppm.
Chipper...Nitrites of 5ppm and Ammonia of 8ppm will kill the fish. You need to be doing MANY more water changes to reduce this. How big are the Oscars...a 55gal tank cannot support three Oscars and a catfish...
I got the fish from my wifes nephew and they did well in a 55 gallon.

[Sharon]

How big are they? Oscars are massive waste producers...

[chipper]

How big are they? Oscars are massive waste producers...
About 4inches long cat is about the same

[Wild Turkey]

Sad to say, you are going to need to upgrade in just a few months. A 55 isnt big enough for one oscar full grown, as oscars can get up to 18" (in the right conditions) and the side of a standard 55 is only 12". If the catfish is a common plec, he can get even bigger. Both oscars and common plecos need 75+ gallon for 1 fish.

You are looking at at least 100 gallons for two oscars, for three I'd say around 120+ minimum

What filter(s) are you running?

[Sharon]

OK...they're still small, so the tank is fine until they grow a little more. Better start planning a HUGE tank!!!:hmm3grin2orange: I'm assuming the tank is not cycled, so you'll have to do water changes to keep those toxins down....

[chipper]

Sad to say, you are going to need to upgrade in just a few months. A 55 isnt big enough for one oscar full grown, as oscars can get up to 18" (in the right conditions) and the side of a standard 55 is only 12". If the catfish is a common plec, he can get even bigger. Both oscars and common plecos need 75+ gallon for 1 fish.

You are looking at at least 100 gallons for two oscars, for three I'd say around 120+ minimum

What filter(s) are you running?
Running an Eheim 2236

[chipper]

OK...they're still small, so the tank is fine until they grow a little more. Better start planning a HUGE tank!!!:hmm3grin2orange: I'm assuming the tank is not cycled, so you'll have to do water changes to keep those toxins down....
I am in the market to find a bigger tank and find a spot to put it.

[Northernguy]

Chipper don't hi-jack threads.Start your own next time please.

Chipper You need to do large water changes to get those toxins down.
Cycling with fish means many water changes .Also stop feeding for a few days at a time.That is also bringing up your ammonia and nitrites.
When I cycled with fish I was doing w/cs every day for weeks aty a time.
Cycling with fish takes longer because you have to keep the toxic levels down.Fishless you never have to worry about it.

10LBBass getting some Tetra Safe Start is a great plan.Water changes are the best way to lower toxinsFeed a lot less until you tank is cycled.Get your fish used to large water changes by increasing the amount yuou are changing every time.It dilutes the water of high ammonia and ntrites faster.

[chipper]

Chipper don't hi-jack threads.Start your own next time please.

Chipper You need to do large water changes to get those toxins down.
Cycling with fish means many water changes .Also stop feeding for a few days at a time.That is also bringing up your ammonia and nitrites.
When I cycled with fish I was doing w/cs every day for weeks aty a time.
Cycling with fish takes longer because you have to keep the toxic levels down.Fishless you never have to worry about it.

10LBBass getting some Tetra Safe Start is a great plan.Water changes are the best way to lower toxinsFeed a lot less until you tank is cycled.Get your fish used to large water changes by increasing the amount yuou are changing every time.It dilutes the water of high ammonia and ntrites faster.
I do 25% water change for the past two days when i seen the numbers going up. I also put in Biozyme when i do it. What would be a large water change? I feed them every other day pellets. They eat all the food before it gets to the bottom so there is not alot of uneaten food on the bottom. Is the filter good for the tanks size.

[Wild Turkey]

Just a little math for you

Tim has 8.0ppm ammonia in his tank with fish.
If Tim does a 75%, he now has 2ppm.
If Tim does a 25%, hes got 6ppm,
How much ammonia does Tim have if he does 3 25% water changes in a row?

The answer, >4 ppm and <than 3ppm. Another 25%? Now its <2ppm. So for more work, Tim actually managed to remove less ammonia by changing more water. Thats why larger water changes are better for this purpose. But like NG said, its best to build up to them.

Also, in tanks where the ph is drastically different, fish will never get used to ph shock, so you must do lesser water changes.

I agree, start a new thread, i didnt even notice you werent the OP.

[chipper]

Chipper don't hi-jack threads.Start your own next time please.

Chipper You need to do large water changes to get those toxins down.
Cycling with fish means many water changes .Also stop feeding for a few days at a time.That is also bringing up your ammonia and nitrites.
When I cycled with fish I was doing w/cs every day for weeks aty a time.
Cycling with fish takes longer because you have to keep the toxic levels down.Fishless you never have to worry about it.

10LBBass getting some Tetra Safe Start is a great plan.Water changes are the best way to lower toxinsFeed a lot less until you tank is cycled.Get your fish used to large water changes by increasing the amount yuou are changing every time.It dilutes the water of high ammonia and ntrites faster.
Sorry about that. New to site

[Northernguy]

I don't mind! Its better to start your own anyway.You score points for that!

[chipper]

I don't mind! Its better to start your own anyway.You score points for that!
I will start a new thread

[10lbBass]

Wow. I missed out on all the fun! Thanks for all of the responses.

So my ammonia is still acting weird. I thought I had cycled the tank but guess I was wrong. I guess a few weeks ago when there were only 6 fish in the tank I saw my nitrites spike and then fall to zero, same thing with ammonia. Sweet!

And thennnnnn (Wayne's world anyone?) I put 6 more fish in and now the nitrites are still fine, but the ammonia won't stay down. I realized that I had two dying plants in my tank and removed those today. Do you think that these plants could have been contributing to the ammonia problems?

[Wild Turkey]

Very possible. Rotting vegetation creates ammonia as well