Ammonia high - Ideas why

[Minifish]

Hi Guys,

I have a breeding tank which regularly has ammonia spikes despite recent and regular water changes . It’s 54 litres and has 5 nano fish in so isn’t over stocked. The tank is bare bottom with a few rocks in the centre. It has some fake floating plants , a spawning mop and some really floating plants. 
 

This group was a group of 7 but I have lost two due to ammonia spikes . The filter should be more than effective for the number of fish it’s massive. The fish are still breeding so must be happy enough with the water conditions. 
 

Is it due to being a bare bottom tank ? I am thinking of completely emptying this weekend and cleaning everything then re filling ? 
 

any ideas ? 

[Beckybettas]

Are you using tap water? Have you tested it for ammonia?

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/17/2023 at 10:46 PM, Beckybettas said:

Are you using tap water? Have you tested it for ammonia?

Great point.  Your tapwater may have ammonia or chloramines which may also present as ammonia. (Cc @Irene I know fritz has a blog article on the subject, is there any way we could have a "co-op blog" article on this topic to help new hobbyists understand the use of double dosing chlorine and how the chloramine turns into ammonia ions in the aquarium after those bonds are broken?)
 

On 7/17/2023 at 10:01 PM, Minifish said:

I have a breeding tank which regularly has ammonia spikes despite recent and regular water changes . It’s 54 litres and has 5 nano fish in so isn’t over stocked. The tank is bare bottom with a few rocks in the centre. It has some fake floating plants , a spawning mop and some really floating plants. 
 

This group was a group of 7 but I have lost two due to ammonia spikes . The filter should be more than effective for the number of fish it’s massive. The fish are still breeding so must be happy enough with the water conditions. 
 

Is it due to being a bare bottom tank ? I am thinking of completely emptying this weekend and cleaning everything then re filling ? 

A photo of the tank would be helpful here to show a bit about filtration and layout.  If possible please share a photo as well as all of your water testing parameters that you can perform.

Ultimately whenever we have an ammonia spike I always go through the following steps:

-If ammonia is 1.0 or higher I do an immediate 80-90% water change.  If ammonia is lower, then I will proceed with a 50% water change.  Repeat 50% water changes daily until the ammonia issue is resolved.  This does two things, you are diluting the ammonia as much as safely possible with the tank.  This also doses in dechlorinator one a day, every 24 hours.

-Check the tank for any dead fish or invertebrates.  They can get lodged and stuck and be very hard to find.

-Clean the filtration and verify all equipment is working properly.  Add an air stone if the tank does not have one already.

-Consider adding aquarium salt.  If the tank has plants it is a risk, but it can help manage ammonia burn or nitrite damage on the fish.

.....Once all of those initial steps are taken, then you would monitor things daily via testing to determine if this is a cycling issue or if this is a leeching issue.

A.  Cycling issue: This is where you see ammonia hold steady or slowly decrease with the above method.  You will see this go from ammonia into nitrite into nitrate over time.  Persistent issues typically means that you have inadequate biological filtration.  Adding to or modifying the filtration would be a next step.

B. Leeching issue: This is where you would see ammonia rise continuously.  This means something is constantly supplying the tank with ammonia and it's building up continuously.  Finding that ammonia source then becomes the key so we can get back to it simply being a matter of letting the filtration handle the ammonia via the ammonia cycle.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I would not recommend taking everything out and cleaning it @Minifish.  The beneficial bacteria you do have is living on the objects and helping.  I would recommend doing a water change and supplementing with bottled bacteria such as Fritz Zyme 7, as well as checking for dead animals in the tank.  

On 7/18/2023 at 2:21 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Consider adding aquarium salt.  If the tank has plants it is a risk, but it can help manage ammonia burn or nitrite damage on the fish

I would recommend going mild on the salt because it can slow beneficial bacteria.  1 Tbsp per 19 liters is a nice, mild dose that will not harm your plants or bacteria, but your fish will benefit.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Guppysnail]

Bare bottoms are harder to keep stable because there is just less surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow than if you provide substrate. 
As @Chick-In-Of-TheSea said I also do not recommend cleaning. Just vacuum. The more you clean the more beneficial bacteria you remove. This goes for filters as well. Overcleaning makes them less efficient. Are you using a filter that require cartridge changes?  If so this will also hinder you. You throw away good bacteria each time. 
Overfeeding will also cause ammonia spikes. 
 

Here is an article and a video that may help. 

 

[Irene]

On 7/18/2023 at 12:21 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Great point.  Your tapwater may have ammonia or chloramines which may also present as ammonia. (Cc @Irene I know fritz has a blog article on the subject, is there any way we could have a "co-op blog" article on this topic to help new hobbyists understand the use of double dosing chlorine and how the chloramine turns into ammonia ions in the aquarium after those bonds are broken?)

Yup, we do have a blog article on water conditioners, which briefly mentions the following:

Does dechlorinator remove ammonia? Some of them do, as stated on their packaging. The main reason for this is because when dechlorinators are used to treat chloramine, they only react to the chlorine part of chloramine and not the ammonia part. The remaining ammonia ions left in the water are toxic to fish, so some dechlorinators — such as Fritz Complete Water Conditioner, Seachem Prime, and Kordon AmQuel — contain extra chemicals that temporarily lock up the ammonia into an inert state (i.e., ammonium) for up to 24 hours. During this time, the ammonium can be consumed and further broken down by beneficial bacteria in your aquarium and filter.

Further down in the article, it talks about dosing multiple times and the possible side effects.

[Minifish]

Thanks for everyone’s advice. I have the tank a good clean as think I missed a few hidden algae spots. I have added in more rocks to increase SA . I have reduced the amount of floating plants as I think when they were going brown this may be adding to the problem …. So I will be more careful to pick out the dying plant matter . I have also added in a filter boost bacteria . Hopefully this along with 5 fish in a 54 liter tank will help .