Ammonia Explosion

[slinky]

Perhaps it's Seachem's Stability that is causing my aquarium to go into hyperdrive. The ammonia is now so dark green (of course Mardel's LiveNH3 shows nothing) that I should be able to clean kitchens with the water. I did a 33% water change and it's still super green. The water looks like a fog to make Stephen King jealous it's so cloudy. I'm changing 33% of the water again now (33% this afternoon, and 33% in about an hour again) and I've added in plenty of ammo lock 2 but this is just spiking out of control and making me worry about the fish tomorrow when I go to work. I won't be back for 12 hours and can't know for sure what the situation will be.

Any advice? Will ammo lock 2 keep the actual level down? I can't shove all the fish into such a small bowl tomorrow and also don't want them to share a 1 gallon tank with a betta.

[Kuli_Loach]

Your tank ain't cycled, it is normal in cycling to have an ammonia bloom. You will just have to wait it out and yes, most of your fish will probably die.

[*Sarah*]

Yeah that sucks...your fish probably don't stand a chance against that.

[slinky]

Well, it's a little insane but I pulled out my tupperware and spared a half gallon bowl where the mollies are going into and the cories will go into a small betta bowl. They'll probably live although the mollies are not happy being in the much smaller space. What makes me wonder is that they seem less happy in the small space and fresh, clean water than they were in that cloudy mess of potential ammonia in the big tank.

We'll see what happens over the next day or two but I'm guessing they may be ok, just not thrilled with their current habitat.

[zackish]

Did you add too much seachem's?
Try getting some ammo lock and using that till your ammonia reads 0 ppm.

[Lady Hobbs]

You need to do about a 75% water change to get that ammonia back under control. Clean nothing. Just get a bunch of that water out of there.

[Bill M.]

Stability DOES NOT add ammonia or contribute to its creation.Something isn't right about this situation.... Ammo lock doesnt remove ammonia, rather it chemically changes it.... hmm.. give me some time to reasearch...

[A340]

I'm thinking that you've added too many different chemicals into the tank at the same time or in a short period of time. Do you have any proper test kit's that can test your water parameters so we can get a better understanding of what's going on? I can't imagine there being such a massive ammonia spike while doing a normal fish or fishless cycle. Just a hunch, but I do think you have some sort of chemical reaction going on and it's not the cycle itself that's causing it. Perhaps the Ammo Lock and Stability are working against each other?

In regards to Ammo Lock, I'd only use it in an emergency in an established (cycled) tank, as Bill pointed it out, it does not remove NH3, rather it chemically alters it into a non-toxic state until your bio-filter can break it down while Stability actually does break NH3 down which is what leads me to believe that the 2 products are working against each other. In aquariums, one must be very careful with adding chemicals, idealy, you want to add as few products as possible.

[Lady Hobbs]

You hear of so many problems with people who cycle and use some of these ammonia altering products. I've never used any of them. When the ammonia begans to climb, I just did my water changes to bring it down. Of course now I could care less since I do the fishless cycle but I never had those terrible high readings you hear so much about on the forum.

I think some of that stuff messes with your tests, gives you false readings, whatever.

[A340]

You hear of so many problems with people who cycle and use some of these ammonia altering products. I've never used any of them. When the ammonia begans to climb, I just did my water changes to bring it down. Of course now I could care less since I do the fishless cycle but I never had those terrible high readings you hear so much about on the forum.

I think some of that stuff messes with your tests, gives you false readings, whatever.
However, some products do work, if used properly. But if you're adding product after product after product, it's a recipie for trouble. Just like adding a bunch of chemical cleaners together, they react with each other in a negative effect.

Personally, this is what I would do ....

1) Drain the tank completely, put the fish into a bucket. Rinse out the gravel, decorations, aquarium and filter with clean water.

2) Set the tank up again (gravel, decorations and filter).

3) Add fresh water and treat it with Stability (I'll explain why in a minute).

4) Turn the filter and other equipment on again.

5) Net the fish and put them back in the tank not adding any of the old water.

.... this basically will re-start you cycle process. Adding the Stability (and only the Stability) will boost your cycle while protecting your fish from the stress and toxins associated with the cycle. Follow the instructions of the bottle carefully and your tank should be cycled within a week with (depending how bad of shape your fish are in now) without any fish loss.

I've already posted why I use and recommend Stability and even though other members may feel different towards it, it does work. I've used it on several tanks and have had nothing but success with it, so my own personal experience is testament to it's capabilities. Also, it was recommended to me by a friend who sets-up and maintains aquariums and his business depends on it.