phatti

hello everyone im new here. Ok i have a 55 gallon fresh water tank with a tetra tec pf 300 filter. I have had it going for three months and i cant get rid of the ammonia and now it seems to be kind of high. I have been doing a 5 gallon water change once a week and i only have three african cichlids in my tank. I just noticed the other day that there is some white scummy stuff growing in my filter, is that normal? I have no idea what im doing wrong. Im not sure if my filter isnt powerful enough or what but it says its good up to 60 gallons. I only vacuum the gravel every other week and do half of the tank at a time. Any advice would be grateful
thanks

Jay

Hi Phatti!

Can you tell us...

What does (ammonia) kinda high mean?

Do you have test kits for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrates?

What are those three readings?

What is the pH of the water.

What is your water source? Tap, Well, Other?

Filter power really has nothing to do with an ammonia spike, and filters are prone to growing all kinds of yucky bio junk, that generally have nothing to do with an ammonia spike either.

If you can fill in the blanks for us we can probably help.

Regards,
Jay

phatti

ok i just took my readings
ammonia 2.0 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 10 ppm
ph 7.6 ppm

I have been using spring water cause i tested my tap water and it shows traces of ammonia in it so i didnt wanna use it. I had tried using amquel to get rid of the ammonia but i was told not to use it so i stopped.

fishboy

Can you get one of those complete testing kits?

Jay

HMM..curious,

Ammonia at 2.0 is not a good thing. Yet your nitrite is 0 and your nitrate is 10which says the bio-filter is probably working. Can you test your spring water for nitrate?

What test kit are you using (brand). Have you confirmed that the kit is accurate (take a sample of water to your lfs for analysis) Hobby test kits are far from reliable. With the ammonia that high, I would expect to see fish stress or death, leads me to suspect the test kit. Are you using any additives to the tank (say for pH adjustment) that might give you a false reading for ammonia.

Just to be on the safe side...
You need to do a big 50% water change asap and treat the ingoing water with a quality conditioner. I would recommend Seachem Prime. I would also recommend using it a double dosage.

Tap water is going to be OK for this as long as you use the Prime.


How did you cycle your tank? It could it be a bio-filter failure or the tank has not cycled for some reason.

Do the water change and treatment and check the accuracy of the test kit, plus list any additives you use, and let us hear back.

Jay

phatti

thanks for the info . The kit i have is the fresh water master test kit by aquarium pharmaceuticals. So if i buy the prime i can just use my tap water even though when i tested my tap water it had traces of ammonia in it? I was using some stuff called cycle once a week to help my tank and a couple weeks ago i used amquel cause i was told it got rid of the ammonia but then i was told not to use it so i stopped.
this thing is really stressing me out cause i wanna put more fish in my tank but i dont wanna kill them.

Jay

Great that is a good hobby test kit. Make sure the expiration date is OK.

Yes, that is exactly what Prime is for, there are lots of quality conditioners out there, this is the one I use and know is popular with experienced folks.

It is extremely important to use a water conditioner that will detox both chlorine and chloramines in tap water. Both are chlorine containing compounds. A lot of water conditioners do not detox chloramines.

I suspect even more strongly that your ammonia test kit is giving you a false positive because of the amaquel and other additives used. I think using the Prime and doing a large water change up to 60% will have a positive effect. It also would not hurt to get a second opinion test done.

Let us know how its going.

Jay

Cichlid Lover

Hey Phatti, You only got 3 cichlids for 55 gallons???
I got 2 in a 5 gallon, and theyre lovin' it!

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aar4545

i would recomend prime freshwater and saltwater it cleans out the ammonia chlorine and chloramine an provides slime coat oh an takes away nitrate an maybe u should think about live plants

phatti

thanks for the info guys i will let you know what happens.