ammonia odor

Question
I have a 55G tank. It has been set up for about 8-9 months now. I have 5 Oscars 3 which I started the tank with and just adopted 2 while friends are awaiting a new tank. I have had this problem since about the 1st month after starting it up. It has been more noticible since I became pregnant 6 months ago. Our water has been tested and there isn't anything drastically wrong with it. It is somewhat hard with a little sulphur content however, I have never had to add anything to the tank & my fish have never responded strangely to it.
I use a Regent power filter(for 30-60G tanks). I have experimented with Jungle Ammonia & Chloramine Eliminator as well as combining it with Jungle Start Right but this is only a temporary fix. The smell comes back in a couple of days. I change my filters regularly but haven't found a solution. Suggestions?  

Answer
Hi Kim;

The tank is pretty crowded with some very messy fish so it needs frequent water changes and very minimal feeding until you can get the extra fish out of there. If you can smell the ammonia, it is probably burning the fish and making them miserable. It burns their eyes, skin and gills. Make 25% water changes twice a week for a couple of weeks while vacuuming the gravel. Feed them only once every other day. It is perfectly healthy for fish to eat on a schedule like that. After all, food doesn't just drop from the sky from a giant hand in their natural environment. They have to hunt for their food and some fish may go several days without a significant meal. So don't worry, they will be fine.

Also avoid changing the filters. The beneficial bacteria in the filter is supposed to multiply and consume ammonia. If you remove it too often it can't develop fast enough to do it's job. Power filters should only be cleaned or changed every couple of months at the most. Mine get changed or rinsed out every 4 to 6 months, after they slow down significantly. Don't replace the media even then unless it is falling apart. Re-use it to preserve bacteria colonies whenever you can. Rinse it gently in aquarium water so it preserves as much of the bacteria as possible. If you must replace any of it, do only one part of it at a time. Not all of it.

Being pregnant you will have a heightened sense of smell too. I am a mother of four and experienced the same thing. Also, don't be lifting heavy buckets and do these water changes yourself that way! If you can, get a water changing system. I have one made by Python. Lee's makes one too and you should be able to get them at your local fish store. They are a long hose (25 or 50 ft, your choice depending on the location of your closest faucet) with a gadget on one end that attaches to your faucet to suck the water from your tank. You turn the faucet on and it flows through the gadget (actually called "the pump", but I like the word 'gadget') causing a vacuum effect and sucks the tank water into it and down the drain. The other end that goes in the tank has a gravel vacuum on it and a shutoff valve on the hose there too. When you get finished draining water and vacuuming, you reverse the the flow on the faucet gadget and it will then fill the tank with fresh water. I love my gadget! It makes water changes so easy. Be sure to adjust the temperature to what's in the tank so it doesn't shock the fish and use the Jungle Start Right.

Another helpful addition would be an additional filter. I think the one you have is barely adequate for the type of fish and the number of them you have. It's always good to have a backup filter running anyway. If one fails or needs too much cleaning, the other can pick up the slack a bit until the bacteria balance gets back in shape.

Followups Welcome

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Chris Robbins

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