High Ammonia in Neon Tetra Tank

Question
Hi Nicole,

I'm asking this question for my mother.  She has a 10 gallon tank with a heater and 10 gallon filter about 4 weeks into cycling process.  She has 5 neon tetra and 2 peppered cory cats.  She used Bio Spira before she added any fish, enough for 30 gallons.  I told her not to feed them more than one flake or pellet per fish a day.  She gives the cories a shrimp pellet every other day.  Her ammonia and nitrates have been zero to 0.25 and she has had nitrates show up almost immediately, probably because of the Bio Spira.  She changes 25% of the water every other day for the ammonia that is present.  She told me that the ammonia spiked up to 1.0 three days ago.  Yesterday she called me panicked because the ammonia is now up to a 2.0 even though when it showed up as 1.0 she did a 30% water change, vacuumed the gravel, and held off on feeding and the ammonia still went up.  She continued the no feeding and subsequent daily 25% water changes and the ammonia is still climbing.  She said it was a 2.0 again this morning.  Nitrites are still 0 and nitrates are between a 5.0 and 10.0.  I am not sure what to advise her to do.  I know the fish she has don't produce an enormous bio load and I'm confident she is not over feeding them and I know she's aware of the cycling process and is diligent about her water changes.  I am just not sure why the ammonia has spiked so suddenly and now seemed out of control.  Can she use AmQuel Plus to neutralize this or will that prevent it from continuing to cycle?  I've also heard you can dose the tank daily with Prime to help alleviate this?  She just doesn't want any of the fish to die.  Thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi April,

I'm glad that your mother is so conscientious. She/you has/have really picked a suitable stocking arrangement (although when things settled down, adding another couple of corys would be a fine idea - these are highly social fish) and being aware of the cycling process is the most important step towards success, it's nearly impossible to do very well in fishkeeping without a grasp of this concept.

I have to say that Bio Spira has really disappointed me lately. Reports like this are not at all uncommon. Someone just posted an anecdote the other day about a store that had Bio Spira *sitting on the counter*! When she told them that it needed to be kept refrigerated to work, they shrugged and stuck it in the fridge next to their frozen food. Of course the bacteria in the package had completely expired by then!

If the Bio Spira is not kept cold from the processing plant to the store (and there are usually a lot of stops in between) it simply WILL NOT work. I would write Marineland and tell them a bit about what is going on here:
http://www.marineland.com/about_us/about_contact.asp
Obviously, you/your mother paid quite a bit for this product to work, and it has not done the job. The tank is still cycling with fish, albeit unintentionally. Let them know!

Now, using a double dose of Prime (4 drops per gallon) would be a fine idea here. You could also try AmQuel, when I purchased it it had a foul odor - a hydrogen sulfide, rotten egg smell - which lingered in the room, so I threw it away and have not bothered with this product since. Perhaps this odor is normal? Anyhow, AmQuel should work the same way, but I prefer Prime (the 50 mL dropper bottle is my choice).

If she can, step up the water changes to 50%. Use a dechlorinator that detoxifies chlorine and chloramine, Prime is my #1 choice. Unless it says "detoxifies chlorine and chloramine" don't buy it. Lots of dechlorinators do this.

She should stop feeding completely until ammonia is 0 ppm, this would be for the best. Few fish starve but fish dying of ammonia poisoning is not at all uncommon. 10 gallon tanks are difficult tanks to start with, but with such a moderate bio-load it ought to work out. Make sure that there are no visible uneaten shrimp pellets on the bottom of the tank, if so, these should be vacuumed out.

Just like when you cycle a tank with fish, it can take weeks for the tank to be completely stable. However in two weeks, I would expect things to be much better. For now, water changes are the key to keeping the fish healthy and neutralizing the ammonia. Patience is a virtue, and unfortunately I don't have near enough of it!

I will skip my usual spiel about biological media, and will just say this. Many aquarists (I am one of them) believe that carbon serves a very limited function in freshwater fish tanks. Since the space for media is so small on a hang-on back filter, and still rather limited on a canister filter, using the space as wisely as possible is a smart thing to do. Carbon keeps the water from yellowing and makes it look a little fresher and crisper. Big deal! Water changes do this better and cheaper...

Biological media, however, is performing a huge role in an aquarium. It harbors the beneficial bacteria that are so essential to keeping the aquarium thriving. Since AquaClear media is meant for their hang-on back filters and comes in many sizes, there will surely be a size that can fit most people's hang on back filters. Canisters are super simple to equip with biological media, just use the carbon that comes with it and when it's expended, replace with ceramic noodles or foam sponges. This is all I use in all my tanks on a regular basis, and all five of my aquariums are thriving.

Keep up the water changes, and all should be well relatively soon. Also, if neons and peppered corys are all your mother plans to keep in there, let her know that 75 degrees is an ideal temperature for both these species. Many people keep their fish tanks at 78 degrees, because this accommodates the widest range of species. Neons are slightly subtropical and corys prefer it a bit cooler than this also. Cooler water holds more oxygen, and this is highly beneficial.

Best of luck to you both,
Nicole