Ammonia problems

Question
QUESTION: We have been battling a problem with ammonia for the last two months and nothing we do seems to be working. We have an established 55 gallon tank with an AquaClear 70 Power Filter. We have been doing partial water changes about 3 times a week. We have used AmmoLock to detoxify the ammonia. When we first started having the problem we had 2 Angelfish, 2 Tiger Barbs, a Clown Loach, 2 Rosy Barbs, a Black Knifefish and a Plecostomus. We are now down to 1 Angelfish, 1 Rosy Barb, 1 Clown Loach, the Black Knifefish and the Plecostomus. We are feeding them every other day and 2-3 pieces per fish. We have hit a roadblock and cannot figure out what is causing the ammonia problem.

ANSWER: Hi Tim,
Ammonia readings occur because your tank has not fully cycled yet.  The excess food that is not eaten or the waste that the fish produce both convert into Ammonia.  In order for a tank to be cycled it must harbor 2 sets of beneficial bacteria that eat ammonia and nitrite.  The 1st set of bacteria is the ammonia-to-nitrite converting bacteria and the 2nd set is the nitrite-to-nitrate converting bacteria.  You are doing the right thing by doing multiple partial water changes weekly to keep the ammonia levels within therapeutic range.  Cycling a tank with fish can take a long time, and all is needed is time for it to cycle.  Once a tank is cycled, it will always read 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrite, with readings of nitrate.  In a cycled tank, even with frequent feedings and fish waste it will still remain 0.  Since there isnt a 3rd converting bacteria to eat nitrate, water changes is the only way to get rid of nitrate.  So therefore, once a tank is cycled, you can resume water changes to only once a week instead of multiple times a week.  
Let me know if this is confusing.  Hope it helps
-Matt-       

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QUESTION: Is this going to be an issue every time we change the filter media? We had the tank for a while before starting to have these problems.

ANSWER: Without me knowing how the tank is set up and the nitrite and nitrate values it is hard to say because every tank is different.  Are you keeping live plants in your tank? Are you doing water column suctions or gravel suctions?  How long as this tank been set up?  And what are the ammonia,nitrite and nitrate values?

In a non-planted tank where the aquarist vigorously suctions the substrate would contain a great deal of beneficial bacteria in the filter media rather than in the substrate and changing the filter media would reduce the bacteria count in a tank and may or may not cause a mini-cycle.  Whereas in a planted tank, the aquarist values the mulm (fish waste, debris, organic material) that collects at the bottom of the tank for plant fertilizer.  Therefore in this tank a great deal of bacteria would remain on the floor because the aquarist never does gravel cleaning and will only suction from the water column to prevent any mulm from getting sucked up.  

If you are a gravel suctioner, then most of your beneficial bacteria will reside in your filter and filter media.  Changing the filter media each time might cause a short ammonia spike, but it should not be a chronic problem.  To help your cycle agianst the ammonia problem, you need to keep as much beneficial bacteria in your tank as you can.  During your weekly water change gravel suction, vaccuum only half of the gravel and the other half on your next water change.  Also, you must allow time for a tank to cycle.  A mature tank does not have ammonia or nitrite problems.  Continue doing partial water changes to fight the ammonia problem.  In time it will subside.
-Matt-

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QUESTION: Thank you for your help. The ammonia levels are off the charts and have been for a few weeks now. The nitrite and nitrate values are 0 ppm. We have a couple live plants in the tank. My husband was doing gravel suctions until we got the live plants. The tank had been set up and doing great for 6 months prior to the ammonia issue starting. If it is a cycling problem how long can it take for the tank to be cycled with the fish in it?

Answer
No problem, I am here to help.
Since you have readings of ammonia and 0ppm of both nitrite and nitrate it means you have not grown the 1st set nor the 2nd set of bacteria yet, therefore ammonia is still present.  After the 1st set is grown, it will convert ammonia to nitrite.  Then the 2nd set of bacteria will start to grow and will convert the existing nitrite into nitrate.  It sounds like this is a very newly set up tank, therefore there is only ammonia and no nitrite nor nitrates present.  

To cycle with fish it can take up to a month or more.  It takes longer to cycle with fish whereas shorter to cycle without fish.  Fishless cycling is done by introducing straight pure ammonia into the tank at a high concentration.  The high toxic concentration allows a ton of food for the bacteria to grow.  Therefore its fishless, because obviously the fish cannot live in this environment.  But cycling with fish, the toxins has to remain low or it will burn the eyes and gills of the fish so here, cycling takes longer.

As of management right now, do regular 15%-20% water changes every 2-3 days to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels at therapeutic levels, then once the tank is cycled, you can resume water changes to once weekly.  If water changes are not done, toxic levels will occur and the fish will die.
-Matt0