all of a sudden

Question
Hi Karen,
I hope you are doing fine, and in GOOD HEALTH!!
as for myself, I came across a dilemma in the last 2 days.
My tank has been cycled for over 6 months now, and then all of a sudden during one of my routine water tests( I still test once a week, along with my weekly 50-75% water changes) I found "AMMONIA"! is this normal after a tank has been cycle? I checked all of filters and medias, I never change all of it at once,I use the stagger system(Only one thing gets changed).
Now let's see...I have 4 filters in my 33long.
Fluval 204, Aqua Clear 50, a small box filter and a submersible Whisper(with only floss and charcoal in it that I change myself, I try not to buy anyhting..(cheapskate)
Anyhow, everything seems to be in place and within it's changing time limits..as I'm writing this email, I just did a water test(Ammonia 2.0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 0ppm, and pH is at 7.5) It has been straight 0's all these months except for the pH of course, I've cut my feeding down to a sprinkle 1 time a day, and have been doing water changes of 50% for the last 2 days, and everytime I do a W/Ch. I siphon the gravel trying to get all the uneaten food and fish waste.
So.. I know you've seen this problem before, you call it a AMMONIA spike in your column, but that's if all of a suddden I added five fish or something, but I haven't! only a Bamboo Shrimp and 3 Japanico algae shrimps which died this morning from the Ammonia, that's a shame because they were great fun to watch, the Bamboo is OK.

Please write me back ASAP, I haven't lost any fish, hopefully with your advice, the large water changes and the Ammo Lock, I'll get over this dilemma............Thanks, TSL

Answer
Thank you TSL, I'm excellent and I hope you are the same!

Unfortunately it is not normal for an aquarium to get ammonia after being cycled. That is very boggling after your fish and aquarum had been going good for so long!

I have a few hunches. Is it possible that there had been a large amount of uneaten fish food somewhere in your aquarium? Or could a fish or other creature have perished without you knowing it and that has caused the spike? Could a aquatic plant have died and decayed in your aquarium? These are all questions that need to answered and I think the best thing for you to do is some investigating yourself as to what could be the cause. Check behind all decor and under it for any remain of a fish or aquatic creature. And think hard about anything that could have been different.

Also it's important to note that many water companies are adding extra amounts of chlorine and chloramines. And there are many water conditioners that remove or neutralize these two dangerous chemicals, but most water conditioners break the chloramine bond and leave the water with ammonia. So when you do a good size water change, you think you are doing a good thing when you are actually adding ammonia to your aquarium.

Here is a story of mine. A few weeks ago I was doing my usual water changing on my large aquariums and I took my oscar tank's water down about 50%. I filled it up as I always did and nothing changed about how I had done it for years now. Not too long after this and that very same day, my beloved 12" oscar began laying on his side with his fins clamped and gasping very heavily. He continued this on for hours. I added a good working airstone and made sure plenty of oxygen was getting into his tank by insuring his power filter was running efficiently. He still remained so listless and sad. He resembled a once full and perky flower that had wilted and withered into the ground.
It was not until I added some ammonia neutralizing chemical. Within 15 minutes my once wilted oscar perked up and began swimming around and even took food. It was ammonia from the tap water that caused him to become so ill. And keep in mind I was currently not using a water conditioner that neutralized ammonia as well as chlorine and chloramines. So it was lesson learned there and since that I have used a water conditioner that removes ammonia as well as chlorine and chloramines and never since has my oscar 'wilted' again after his twice weekly large water changes.

This is something you want to seriously consider. Oftentimes when your ammonia has spiked, little delicate shrimp are unfortunately the first to go. I would say do a good sized water change, perhaps 50% and insure to use plenty of a good water conditioner that neutralizes ammonia. You might also want to test your tap water also--just in case.

Sometimes these things just happen. Just like my Oscar was doing so well with his large water changes for so long when suddenly that day I almost lost him. I am so thankful he is still around and back to his old silly self.

I wish you only the very best!
Karen~