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Okay, yes I know Ammonia is bad. Here's the deal. I bought a new tank about 3 weeks ago. Its a 55 gallon (I used to have a 55 a loooong time ago but moved so I sold it off and am now getting back into fish keeping. Its been about 3 years). The tank I had several years ago was started with Bio-Spira and it worked great.....it bascially cycled overnight, it worked very well. For this tank, I again purchased Bio-Spira, but apparently the bacteria must have been dead or I have killed it off. Let me explain whats going on. For thos of you that choose to read this and reply, I thank you.

Here's what happened.

Bought tank and goodies (Wal-Mart Special came with Aquascape Filter, Heater, etc.) Filled tank, conditioned water. Tested perimeters. Bought a few mollies. Remembered about Bio-Spira, placed it in the tank 2 days after adding fish. Added several fish the following day (did this with my last tank using Bio-Spira had no problem). Checked water again 3 days later, perimeters were good. Went out and bought some CL's. CL's got Ich real bad, infected the entire tank (Yes, I know I should use a quarantine tank...bu didn't). Went to the LFS and told them we had CL's as I know they are sensitive to most Ich Medicines. LFS said we should use API General Cure (I googled the ingredients on this product....none seem to effective at taking care of Ich.) Used it as directed on package, removed carbon filters and gave 3 doses over 3 days, turned up heat to 81. Day after the last treatment I did a 50% water change rinsed out mesh filter media in aquarium water and put in new carbon filters. Well, Ich was still in the tank and the CL's died. I went out to PetCo and bought Kordon Rid-Ich. Doesed as directed, Ich is gone. Did another 25% water change. After this the water became white cloudy and my Ammonia has been around 3.0 which I know is terrile. So I have been dosing with Kordon AmQuel daily for 4 days trying to bring it down. Its coming down but slowly. So this is where I am at. The cloudiness is getting better, my ammonia is coming down. But my Ammonia levels are still way too high. I haven;t lost any other fish and they look pretty good considering.

What do I do??

Thanks

Sounds like you've had a run of bad luck. Sorry to hear that.

On the bright side, your ammonia may not nearly be as high as you think it is. Amquel converts ammonia to a non-toxic form, but the ammonia tests will still pick it up. So, essentially, you are reading a lot of ammonia but most/all of it should be harmless. Just keep doing 25% WCs every second or third day.

Phew, good. I wasn;t aware that it still would pick up ammonia on the test. Good to know. Should I continue dosing to be safe? It says it only takes out 1.2ppm and my ammonia was around 3.0 or so. So maybe one more day? I will do a 25% water change tonight as well. What about the cloudiness? Could this be the tank doing a cycle again?

couple questions for you first...

what is the flow rate of that filter? (probably on the box) how many gallons per hour?

whats the wattage of that heater?

whats the wattage of your fluorescent lights and how many tube u have? (for your planting question)

Filter: Aqua-Tech 30-60 Power Filter 150GPH
Heater: All Glass Aquarium 200W
Powerhead: Penguin 660 (With Sponge Filter)
Lights: 2 24" Lights 30W Each (Don't Know Color Spectrum. The Hood is an All Glass Aquarium Hood and so are the bulbs)

Oh, and I have tons of bubbles going into the tank from the powerhead and lots of surfice aggitation. Actually, now that I brought up surface aggitation. There are very, very few holes in my hood. Should I 'poke' out more of the precut slots for better air exchange?

Thanks

oh those are good numbers, sounds like you are in pretty good shape in hardwares... only thing i might recommend is to swap the heater to 2 - 150w tubes if your 200w one breaks or something in the future. you are perfectly fine right now, please dont go out of your way to buy new ones right now.

if the light bulbs came with the bundle then its most likely some 4300k, or 3000k lights, not too good for the plants. if you want, swap them for some 5500-8000k rated tubes. when you are done, you are looking at 1.1WPG which allows you to have some low light plants such as crypt, java fern, java moss, hornwort and anubias.

i personally wouldnt use any of the chemicals to alter my water chemistry unless your tap water has a lot of chlorine. i feel like nature will take care of things itself (if you do things right), with the exception of treating diseases. i understand not everybody have the money or space for a quaratine tank, so i wont bother you with that. but you gotta be prepared if you are stroke with diseases, cause the amount of medicine you need for a 55g isnt small, let along that you need to treat it for several days.... blah blah blah...

the cloudiness could be caused by the silicone and other hardware being new, if thats the case then dont worry, just keep up with your water changes regularly and test water conditions.

alright, so for now i would recommend you STOP adding fish to your tank, and let it "cycle" kinda again, until ammonia is gone, nitrite is gone, and nitrate is going up SLOWLY. when the day comes, you are free to add a few fish every week or so.

surface agitation... dont worry about air exchange unless the openings you have are REALLY REALLY SMALL. i think most tanks should come with big enough openings. sometimes though it is good to have couple more if the area you are in gets extremely hot during summer or what not. one other thing about surface agitation, too much of surface agitation would lower your CO2 in the tank which is not good for plants.

I used bio spira on my 75 and it still took over a month to cycle even with bio-wheels. I'm not going to speculate on whether or not the stuff works but I wouldn't trust it and immediately stock a tank. I went through this exact same thing including the Ich. You can't use meds while constantly changing the water. I tried a high temp method and didn't lose a single fish. I didn't use any meds. Try this at your own risk...
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/36126.1.htm?19#

- Keep doing WCs
- Feed less
- Be patient
- Good luck

Thanks for the feedback. Like I mentioned, I had used BioSpira before and had terrific results with it. I think it depends how old the stuff is and if its has been kept properly. Being in Alaska, I think the stuff was mishandled and the box looked like it had been open for awhile. I tried the heat method along with meds for Ich, everyone survived but my CL's. Went to the store lastnight, went to pick out some more CL's. While walking to the register we took a close look at them, they had Ich. Needless to say I didn't buy them. Go figure. My 20Gal Hex that I cycled without BioSpira is crystal clear and the fish in there are doing well. Perhaps the AquaClear Filter I have in there with the Bio-Pellets, Charcoal and Regular Media in it. I will be switching to an AquaClear on my 55gal once this filter bites the dust.

Once again Thanks everyone.

Please DO NOT add any more fish to your tank until you are absolutely certain that water parameters are within healthy limits and stable and you have completely finished treatment with any meds (even just to replace fish that have died).

If you have an adequate quarantine tank available to you then sure, go ahead and purchase the fish, but DO NOT add them to the main tank until you are certain that it is stable. There is enough stress on a fish going from wholesaler to LFS tank to your home without adding the stress of less than ideal conditions once you do get them home.

From the sounds of it you still have a little way to go before you can be certain that the tank is cycled and the ich is completely eradicated... be patient and you will be rewarded with healthier, happier tank inhabitants in the long run.

Good Luck

G_T




Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

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