I have a 29 gallon with a Bio- Sponge and a TetraTec Air Pump Model AP30 attached to a 14in Bubble Wall. A Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel 330 Power Filter with Doc Wellfish’s Aquarium Salt in the filter trays, and a Tetratec AP150 Dual Outlet Air Pump With 2 of the best Air Diffusers I've seen so far.(goldfishconnection.com). I also added a Whisper Power Filter for 10-20 gallon tanks (I had a spare). In this tank lives my Orandas: Elliot- 4in. Black Oranda, Ariel- 3in. Red and White Oranda, Kirakira- a 2 in mostly Golden Calico Oranda, and Two Albino Corydoras named "Pink" and "Pale". Plus a really pretty Amazon Sword. This aquarium is only about 2 months old and had just finished establishing the biological filtration.

Two days ago I did a 40- 50% water change and used the "Python Gravel Vac" because my power was out for several hours and it was time for the weekly 25% water change.I added 7ml of Aqua Safe with the water change to neutralize the Chloramine and I tested the water temperature before adding it to make sure it was the same as the exsisting tank water.

Now I am getting high NH3 levels. For the moment the fish seem to be disaffected by the water changes, which makes me believe that something has atleast turned the ammonia into a non - toxic form.

At 8am Friday the water tested as:
NH3-.25 ppm (mg/l) This test was done with a Tetra Test using the Nessler reagents.
pH- 7.5
Temp- 76
NO2- Below .3 mg/l
CO2- 4 mg/l
KH- 4
To remove the ammonia I added 15ml (3 teaspoons) of Kordon's Amquel Plus. One hour later I added 15ml of "Cycle" by Nutrafin to hopefully boost the Nitrifiers.

At 9pm Friday the water tested as:
NH3- 3.0 !!!!!!! This test was done with Salicylate reagents.
pH- 7.5
Temp- 75
NO2- Below .3 mg/l
CO2- 4 mg/l
KH-4
I decided to try something new to reduce the ammonia called "Prime". I added 5ml to the water.

At 5am this morning the water tests as:
NH3- 1.0 ppm (mg/l) with Salicylate reagents
pH- 7.5
Temp- 74
NO2- Below .3 mg/l
CO2- 4mg/l
KH- 4

Feeding- I have had to train myself to only feed them a tiny bit twice a day. They mostly eat PRO-GOLD, Spirulina sinking pellets and peas (once a week before water change). But when the ammonia level spiked I have reduced feeding them to once a day and only the PRO-GOLD.

I don’t know what to do next. Will my little Angels be okay? Keep an eye on it until the suggested 24 hours is up and I can add more of the “Prime” or Amquel +? Do another but smaller water change of 10-20 %? Try another product? The only other option I can think of is to remove the fish and put them in 20 gallon plastic tubs with aeration.

I really hope that I did not destroy the biological filter, it seems like it took for ever to stabilize the first time. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Rae
bvsalon@aol.com

It sounds like something did happen to your bio-bug colony. Normally a water change shouldn't effect your colony, but there are some things to watch out for, for example:

• Don't let your filter media dry out during the change
• Make sure that there's no chlorine in the water when you add it to the tank
• Do not over-clean your filter
• Make sure the water params of the new water are similar to that of the old

Are you adding Aqua Safe to the new water before or after adding it to the tank?

Good luck getting your cycle re-established and I hope you can figure out what went wrong.

Thank you for the reply, I really appreciate any help I can get. I do put Aqua Safe in before I put fresh water in the tank. I use the python to remove the dirty water, but I don't use it to refill because I am afraid that bad bacteria might be trapped in the hose.
I usually fill up 5 gallon buckets the night before a water change and add the Aqua Safe and stir each bucket just before adding it to the tank.

Is it possible that I have too much aeration? I know that the moving water make the GF more active, Could over activity lead to any of my issues?

Does anyone know what the safest ammonia reducing product is? I have Prime and Amquel + . I also have Cycle.

One more thought....
I notice that you mentioned not to over clean the filters. I know that I should change the carbon filters every 2-3 weeks. I also keep the using the same filter frame. I usually replace the filter mesh too. Should I use the same filter mesh and just rinse it and refill with new carbon?

Could the salt in the filter screen be causing a problem?

Should I add Ammo Carb instead?

I need to buy "goldfish for dummies" if there is one.

Over aeration won't be a problem. In fact, if the bacteria don't get enough oxygen they can become pathogenic. The more oxygen the bio bugs get the better; that's why wet/dry filters work so well.

The best way to lower ammonia is to have a good established cycle. Cycle is an excellent product that helps speed up the initial cycling time. Amquel and Amquel plus are very safe methods of temporarily reducing ammonia levels (and nitrite and nitrate in the case of the plus) when something happens (not a replacement for water changes, however!).

As for not overcleaning the filters, basically you want to disturb them as minimally as possible since all your good bugs are in them. You can rinse out the the pads in tank water between changes, but don't change all the pads at one time. Also, if you really need to clean out the filter box for some reason, do it small parts at a time so you don't remove too much good bugs at once. Just use discretion and common sense with the filters and you should be fine.

Is it possible that you might have had a power outage recently? A prolonged outage can kill some of your bugs and since your filters wouldn't be running cause an increase in nitrogen compounds.

Good luck, hope this helps.

As for a great book on goldfish, I strongly recommend Fancy Goldfish by Rick Hess.

Yes, I did have a power outage and that is why I change 50% of the water. It sounds like it was the actual power outage that caused the cycle to get messed up. I mistakenly thought is was too large of a water change.

Now that I have this cycle starting over, other than consistant water testing what else can I do to ensure the safety of my little fish?

Can I use or should I use cycle and amquel +? More Salt? Ammo Carb too?

i couldnt help but notice that you said your power was out for several hours. as albert mentioned above, a power outtage can and will cause your params to go haywire. the bio-bugs responsible for the nitrification cycle (nitrosomas and nitrobacter) are oxygen and ammonia dependant. if the O2 levels are depleted and the ammonia supply cut off, they start dying. how long it takes to right itself again, depends on how long the power was out. theres no real way to tell how long itll take but, it shouldnt be more than a few days or so.

keep up on the water changes and concentrating on keeping the nitrites somewhat low and your bio-filter should right itself soon.

theres several alternatives for keeping a power supply to your tanks during an outtage. battery powered airpumps added to the filter boxes and tanks, car battery rechargable chargers power w/converter, 6 way strips with something like 15 minutes or so of power (made for computers) and maybe a few more that i forgot to mention.

also, what did you mean by "aquarium salt in the media trays of your penguin"?

i hope your bio-filter rights itself soon.

paul

The Bio-Wheel 330 has 2 refillble media Baskets. When I did the 50% water change I added 1 tablespoon of Doc Wellfish's Aquarium Salt for each 5 gallons of water for a total of 6 tablespoons. (3 in each Basket).
It that a bad thing to do? I know salt does not get filtered out so I thought it would slowly disolve and mix with the water safely.

oops, I forgot to ask...
Should I use Ammo Carb or Ammo Chips to the Filter Baskets instead?

I just tested the water and the ammonia has risen again. Can I add AmQuel + again? I did this morning at around 6am. AmQuel + directions say to only add it every 24 hours.
NH3-
Temp-76
pH- 7.5
NO2-Below .3mg/l
CO2- 4mg/l
KH- 4
I do not have a nitAte test kit.

Thank you all for try to help me!! The people who post on this site are amazing intellegent and so well educated on the care of goldfish. You are all truly life savers.
Thanks again,

Sorry I had to post again.. I forgot to put in the NH3 level. It is 2.0 using Salicylate Reagents.

well, im not sure about the sylicate reagent kits, but, i know that amquel used to affect "nessler" based kits. wether nessler and sylicate kits are the same, ill have to do some research. ill get back to you on that.

as for the amquel usage. you can sefely triple dose the stuff every 24 hours to detoxify amminia and nitrite. if you keep the nitite levels down past 5-6ppm (water changes), the triple dose of amquel will lock up all of the ammonia and nitrite. however much ammonia and nitrite it claims to remove per dose, youll need to add the correct amount for your readings. dont go over 3 doses per 24 hours though.

and for the salt, whew! i was hoping thats what you meant! yes, thats an acceptable way to slowly introduce the salt. however, a little slower might be more like it. try one table spoon every hour or so.

and for the ammo-chips or carbon, dont bother. unless your trying to remove medications or contaminates, you dont need it.

do you have an ammonia test kit?

keep up the diligence, your tank will rebound before you know it.

As toothless mentioned, you don't really need the ammo chips or carbon. I do occasionally use both of them; I use carbon to remove meds and smells (but I remove it after a week), and I use ammo-chips sometimes when something happens to my cycle. Ammo-chips do fill up rather fast though, and it's really better to use AmQuel because it keeps the ammonia around for the bio bugs. Now that I've started to buy amquel by the gallon, I don't really use ammo-chips. They only good thing about them is that they are rechargable.

Good luck with the tank! It sounds like your on your way to re-establishing your cycle.

Thank you all for your help. The ammonia levels are not rising any longer, they are staying at 1.0ppm. I have had to add Amquel at 5ml every 12 hours to neutralize it. The nitrites are below 0.3ppm. I unfortunatly do not have a nitrAte test kit.
The GF are eating well and very active with no signs of stress or flashing so I guess I will just keep up what I have been doing and do a 25% water change tonight.

Happy Independence Day and Thanks again!