Hi all,

I got a weird problem with by 20 gal tank
I have one 7inch fish including tail in the tank,
use a aqua-tech 10/20 it does a 125 gph
up until about 2 weeks ago every thing was fine.
0 ammonia 0 nitrites 7.6 ph 5-10 nitrates

now ammonia is at like 8 or above
but all the other prams are the same.
I am doing frequent water changes to keep the
ammonia levels under control. But any one have any ideas
what would cause such high levels all of sudden ?

I am worried about my fish, she is looking very down
even with the frequent water changes. Do you think moving her to another tank would be better for her. I am at a complete lost.

Well, there's one thing that pops right out... Your tank is grossly under filtered. 125GPH is just not adequate for keeping a 7" fish in a 20 gallon aquarium.

On top of that, the AquaTech line of filters might be similar to the Penguins, but they don't come with equipped with bio-wheels, so if you haven't bought a bio-wheel add on for your filter, there's just not enough bio-media in the filter to support enough nitrifying bacteria to effectively deal with the ammonia your fish produces... Even if you've filled the filter cartridge with bio-media.

I went back and read some of your earlier posts, and in almost every one you've had some ammonia in your aquarium water, so this really has been an on going problem. And I'm afraid that until you improve the filtration on your tank, ammonia is going to continue to be a problem for you.

If you can't improve your filtration.... Change the water, change the water, change the water.

Rick is EXACTLY correct. Not only do you have to increase the volume of water that is passed through your filtration system, you have to build much greater colonies of beneficial bacteria in the filters. When purchasing a new filter to add to your system, look for one that has the largest capacity for bio-media/beneficial bacteria.

A small cannister could even be used for maximum biomedia. My older Penguin 330, stuffed to the gills with biomedia, with 2 biowheels and a bag of extra media at the bottom of a 20 gallon tank is usually enough to support one fairly hefty goldie.

thanks for the reply i kind of figured that was the case. I will diffently get a new filter on pay day. until then i will put her in the 10 gallon tank that filter does a 100gph which is good for ten gallons.