PH Spike with Ammonia 0.25ppm

[Frodo]

Hello, 

My tank is 3 weeks old, it already has some Gourami Fry which are in Breeder net box. I changed water a few days ago along with filter. I left the old filter media along with the new one for 24 hours to retain good bacteria. I had little to no issue with the parameters before that and now I see Ammonia spike along with Ph spike and brown algae. One of my Cory's in distressed plus I got  around 30-40 Fry.

My questions are: 

1. Changing water today 50% will it help with both Ammonia and Ph spike? I have added driftwood. Thinking of adding Pete Moss. 

2. If I move my fry to RO water in a separate tank, will that be favorable to them or cause them distress. 

Help appreciated as I am definitely making some rookie mistakes here. Thanks

[McNubbin]

The water change will help reduce the ammonia, but likely only temporarily. Sounds like you've got a bio load issue, especially with that many fry. They may be little, but they add up. 

What size tank and how many fish are in it? What sort of fish? Is it planted? Also what sort of filter? What have you got for water, are you on city or well? What is the mind set behind using RO? 

Moving the fry to RO may sound good, but RO has basically nothing to it. The gH and kH are particularly important. With no kH, any bioload will quickly crash your tank. RO water is typically mixed with buffers or well water to create a balanced mineral set in the water. It is certainly a good idea to move the fry. But not into RO only water. 

Also, 3 weeks really isn't a long to to cycle a tank. Especially if your using RO. Even if you have used a bacteria jump start, it generally takes a tank over a month to start cycling. Those bacteria colonies need time to grow and mature. Having a stocked tank, along with so much fry in a tank that hasn't seasoned is surely going to overload the biome.

Anyway, more info will certainly help.

 

[Frodo]

Yes. Thanks. Here is some more info:

1. It is city Tap water. I only ever used the Water Conditioner, EasyGreen fertilizer. 

2. The tank is 30G. The tank was running on with no fish for 3 weeks before i added them. So in total tank has been running for 6 weeks, 3 weeks with Fish. I added bacteria week 1 itself. Took regular readings, saw some minor Algae bloom and then added fish. 

3. I have 4 Jullii Corys, 2 Honey Gourami and now some 30 Fry as of yesterday.

4. I have in total 5 plants- 1 Amazon Sword,  2 Anubias, 1 Water Sprite, 5-6 Frogbits but all covered in Brown Algae right now. 

5. The reason behind RO was I thought it would be good for the Fry in case something was up with my water. 

[McNubbin]

Yeah, I wouldn't go with RO, I would move the fry though. Maybe set up a bare bottom tank with something for them to hide in and a filter. At least temporarily. 

For the tank, it definitely sounds like its in the process of seasoning, but not fully there yet. Definitely do a 50% change to get the ammonia out, maybe take a new tooth brush and scrub away the algae before hand. Then monitor the tank. Dont try using drift wood to control Ph, as you will just end up chasing numbers causing swings in Ph that will stress the fish. Rather, try to allow the tank to finish seasoning so it hold steady with the tap waters parameters. This can take months, so have some patience. I'm guessing after a cleaning and moving the fry, you will see it srart to stabilize. 

Another thing to consider is that with each fish added, the tanks biome will need some time to accommodate. Especially smaller tanks. So adding a bunch of fish all at once can throw off the biome and will need time to allow the good bacteria colonies to grow to the new load placed on it. Having all those fry was likely the tipping point.

[Sleepy]

I probably wouldnt change tanks with them again if you can help it as suggested do a big water change also if you use something like Prime or Fritz water conditioners they have chemicals that will bond ammonia so that it becomes non toxic for about 24 hours while your filter and bacteria catch up.

[Frodo]

Thank you. This helps me so much. I will get on that water change and move the fry. Appreciate the quick response. 

[Dandy Pearl]

I agree with what has been said, except the moving part. If you are not moving the fry to a seasoned tank, I don't think you will have much luck. It is possible they may survive.

If you want to move them and don't have a seasoned tank, use about 25% of the new tank's volume with the source tank's water. This is a 'poor man's conditioning'. It's definitely not the best nor recommended in most cases, but as an emergency measure, it's better than nothing even with the high levels.

My suggestion would be to keep the fry where they are and perform a 25% water change every day using your conditioner (always) until your filtration can catch up with the new bio load.

In the mean time, move a couple of or buy some hardy fish (mollies are good) to the new tank the fry will eventually go to to get that seasoning process going over there.

As I advised another new fish keeper, take it slowly, you will have better success.

Good Luck!

[Frodo]

UPDATE:

Made the 50% water change. I feel like by the time we go to it, most of the fry were already eaten/missing (may be they will turn up?). The Male is still guarding the area though, which makes me optimistic. 

Few fry that we managed to move are still alive. Will keep tab on them of course. Initial water parameters post change looked much better. One of the Cory is still sulking at the bottom and barely moves.  I am still worried about him. Hoping for the best.