Ammonia and cycle

21 years ago

I have a 30 gallon aquarium. I have had it almost 2 years. Recently my ammonia levels spiked. I have done 2 30-50% water changes in the last 3 days, added an ammonia remover insert to my filter, and added Hagen's Cycle. My question is actually this. I read the directions on the cycle incorrectly and put in cycle both times I changed the water instead of once every 7 days. (I read every day for 7 days.) Is this going to cause further problems in an already suffering tank?

Thanks for your help.

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Comments (6)

skygee
21 years ago
I don't use this product, but reading it up on the web, it really only contains good nitrifying bacteria?? I don't think it should harm your tank in any way, but others will probably have more to say on the topic.

Were you able to find the source of your initial issue? Were there new fish added or recent fish deaths? And I hate to say -- but sometimes the water from the tap can change enough to also throw off water parameters. :( Safe for humans, not so safe for fish tanks. Especially if something happened in the water purification process at the water facilities.
CrisH
21 years ago
I dont think you can hurt the tank with a double dose of the bacteria in Cycle, its been used heavier then what you did but, you do need to find the cause of the spike or it will probably come back to haunt you again.
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Kris_10
Original Author
21 years ago
I am pretty sure I know the cause of the spike. I recently had a baby, and unfortunately my tanks were neglected. I didn't clean them nearly as much as I normally do. Miraculously, the fish that were already in the tank were fine. When I bought some new fish, they all died within a day. That's when I knew I had a problem. I just tested today and ammonia and ph levels are both within normal range. YEA!!!
jimkpaph
21 years ago
Adding too many fish at once can cause a spike also. It sounds like your tank could benefit from a dedicated biological filter as well as a mechanical one. What kind of filter are you using now?
melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
21 years ago
Kris_10:

I recently had a baby too and neglected my tank! I didn't have an ammonia spike but I discovered my nitrates were off the scales they were so high. Now I can look forwards to a lot of water changes to get things back to normal.
Puddlemaker
21 years ago
I use EasyBalance from tetra in my tank and it really helps with the nitrates. it converts them to nitrogen and it excapes as a gas. I thought it was snake oil but i tried it anyway and it works. The directions say to add weekly for the entire tank but I just add it with my water change and my nitrates stay around 5 to 10 all the time. It claims you can go six monhs without a water change but I'm still doing it weekly because my fish are big ryunkins and they are a mess to keep.