Test Results for the Following:
Ammonia Level? .5
Nitrite Level? 0
Nitrate level? 5
Ph Level out of the Tap? 7.6-7.8 ish
Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running? 150 gallons running 5 months
What is the name and size of the filter/s? 3 AQ 110's (1500 GPH)
How often do you change the water and how much? 2 changes gravel vac per week total change 65%
How many fish in the tank and their size? 7 fancy's the smallest 2 inches the largest 7 inches
What kind of water additives or conditioners? Prime
Any medications added to the tank? No
Add any new fish to the tank? A snail
What do you feed your fish? Varied diet Pro gold, Hikari Wafers, Peas, Blood worms, brine shrimp, daphina, krill, fruits and veggies.
Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt",
bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus? Flashing, scratching against gravel
Any unusual behavior like staying
at the bottom, not eating, ect..? One is bottom sitting on occasion.

So today I've had a bump in my cycle and no matter how many water changes I do I'm ending up with .5-1.0 ppm ammonia. I'm stumped this has been a rock solid cycle. I added a snail to the tank yesterday and about 15 minutes ago I noticed one flashing and scratching and now several others in the tank are doing the same.

Because of the bump in my cycle I'm wary to add salt in fear of crashing the cycle further. I have Prazi Pond on hand and can get whatever meds needed. But it'll have to be tommorrow morning. I'm wondering if I should try the prazi pond as I believe flukes is one of the few things snails can pass to fish.

I'd really appreciate some input as I'm pretty stressed out about this situation.

Kat, I'm sorry you are going through this, especially with your big tank! I do not think that salt will hurt your cycle though, of course you can not use it with the snail. I do not know what the Mods or Helpers would tell you to do because of the ammonia reading and things with water quality are usually addressed before other treatments. I would do another big water change to try to get the ammonia down and would maybe try a round of Parasite Clear.

I hope someone comes along and can help more then myself, I do not know if the PraziPond should be used at this point! I do know its very gentle and if you feel it Flukes then it might be the thing to try.

Another thing, do you always have ammonia readings over 0?

No I never have any ammonia ever...This is the mind boggler for me. I gave them lettus the other day for the first time, normally I give them spinach. I can't imagine that would cause a spike. I'll be in the store bright and early on line with 4 boxes of parasite clear...Ugh!

Thanks Lorrie

Kat, just watch the thread for a while though and see if one of the Mods suggest something different. I can only suggest what I would do, but other input may be a different treatment.

As far as the lettuce, I do not think that would cause the ammonia spike. Did you do a major cleaning to your filters and media, as I know too much cleaning can cause a problem. (Too bad that can't be used for an excuse with housework!)

Hey Kat when was your last water change ,and how much was it?Did you treat and match temps? I had this happen a few times for me through the years,and it usually happened right after a big water change.I try to match the temps pretty good,but I don't know if I was a bit off,or the water needed an extra bit of Prime,but that's what I did,added another dose,and after a while ,they seemed to have stopped doing it.
Is this the first time you've seen this type of behavior?I wouldn't start any medication until you rule out water/temps,etc. Also,how often are you cleaning filters and how?

Last water change was today...Before that Monday. I do try to match the temps exactly and today I was slightly off by about 2 degree's but rectified it. I did however over the past few days lower the temp in the tank. I had an injury about 2 and a half weeks ago and was keeping the tank around 76 to help Whiskey wen heal which it has. Now the poor little guy is rubbing as well as the others. It could be a temp change. Today as soon as I noticed the ammonia I cleaned one of the three filters. I usually empty all of the filter water mixed with tank water into a bucket and give the media, sponges, etc a wrinse and then stick it all back in and restart. The last time I did that for all three was two weeks ago. I usually clean one filter and leave the other two alone and then the following week clean the other two so I won't cause a bump in the cycle. It was a lot dirtier then usual though I will say.

Wah! Not the big tank! Murphy's Law I just dissembled the 20 gallon in the kitchen as I was...I did think perhaps I should leave this up as a QT and then thought nah everyone is just fine. Wahhhh!

Thanks Devs...

Do you have any ideas on what would cause rubbing/scratching? I did notice Whiskey this morning eating bubbles but thought/hoped he was just playing in them...Until I saw him rub against the filter. Ugh...I can't believe it!

Well this morning my water parameters are back to normal no ammonia...I am still puzzled as to why this happened..I guess I'll add salt and see how it goes.

Make sure that before you add the salt, that you remove the snail.

Snail was moved last night but thanks for thinking of her!

Are the fish continuing to scratch Kat? My initial thoughts were that the big water change/or temp change was what caused it (scratching/flashing)because it didn't start until you did the water change. I know that I had to dose extra Prime about 2 weeks ago because the baby Oranda along with a Moor started flashing.The extra dose seemed to have done the trick though,and all was okay after that,so I don't know...
As for the ammonia spike,maybe you had been feeding a little more generously than you normally have? Between those guys eating more/producing more waste,etc.,and the filter being extra dirty,it may have just been the combination. Who says bigger tanks are easier?

Does your source water have chloramines? Were you testing your water immediately after the water changes? If so, you might have been seeing the ammonia resulting from Prime breaking the chlorine/ammonia bond. It would take a little while for the biological filtration of your tank to remove it. Prime binds the ammonia though so it shouldn't be toxic to your fish in the mean time.

(Just a thought.)

The funny thing is Devs I've been feeding them less as of late as they were turning into little porkers. I'm still watching them today and can't tell if one of them was flashing or if I'm being neurotic and over analyzing. I had no idea a temp change could cause them to flash...Since I boil all of the water I use for the salt it'll be another hour or two before its cool enough to add it anyways so I guess I'll keep an eye peeled. Worse comes to worse I chuck out the salt. I am going to stock up on parasite clear as these silly things seem to have a way of creeping up after every known LFS to man has closed for the night.

Thanks!

Very good point Jim.I am so used to waiting after changing the water to test ,that it just happens automatically for me,so I didn't even think to ask when Kat actually did the reading.

Thanks Jim,

My water has zero ammonia out of the tap, or at least that is what my drop kit tells me. I tested that as well. Apparently from talking to someone in the neighborhood Ontario does add chlorine to the water in the Spring. Or something to that effect it was a pretty quick conversation. I was testing the water about 20 minutes and a few hours after the water change with the same results.

I appreciate your thoughts and input very much! Thanks!

So what's the verdict Kat,you think it was the water change,or are they still acting up?

Oh man Kat, I just logged on! Is your 150 back to normal now? Hope your cycle stabilizes! Need some water change help?

Angela

Thanks Devs, I'm sorry to reply so late I just got in...Long story..The plane my boyfriend was jumping out of (for work) broke. He's fine I'm a wreck lol.

From watching the fish for the past half hour they seem okay, tearing around the tank like little maniacs begging for food per usual. Water params stable...I added salt this morning and will add the second dosage tomorrow morning if I see anymore flashing etc. I'm dead tired now and won't be awake much longer.

Thanks Angela for the offer, with the python its pretty easy to change the water...Its sterilizing it every single time I use it that's annoying. Guess what else? Remember that rock Beastie was pushing all over the tank making a huge racket with? She found it again! Every 5 seconds clink, clink, clink, clink, clink! I thought I hid it well enough lol. Apparently not...

Wait till I tell him I need another python...Can you say stroke?

Kat, glad to hear your tank has stabilized! Is the sump filter on the 90 behaving? My wish for you is one week of trouble free fishkeeping!!!!

Oh my,so it's not just my fish that do weird things like pushing rocks? You'll have to post pics of Beastie.
Glad to hear that all is well with the BF.You keep spending money on fish though,and he may start asking you if you'd like to try jumping! JK of course.Glad to hear that they seem to be back to normal.

I'll definately post some photo's of Wee Beastie..She's the funniest little thing, so cute but so fresh! And has this obsession with one specific river stone in the tank. I've hidden it on her 3 times and eventually finds it, and allthough there's dozens of stones in the tank she only likes to push that one. Probally because it makes the most noise. I spent 3 sleepless nights before I figured out where the heck the noise was coming from when she first started doing it.

The funny thing about jumping Devs is that I loved it. I jumped out of a small helicopter in S. Africa and it was tons of fun! We want to do some jumps (bungee) into dormant volcano's next...

Thanks for checking in on us Angela, the sump is still a bit wonky but not overflowing anymore...Now that I just jynxed myself.

Oh my God you're a jumper? Steve has jumped 11 times! He really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I think I missed the boat on my opportunity. I think it would be rather foolhardy to jump now with a 7 year old that relies on me. I did my fair share of crazy things in my younger days too. Like cliff jumping 50 feet into a lake, rock climbing, snowmobiling at night on a lake, etc, etc, etc. Hmmm....actually I'm surprised I never broke anything!

Ha!!!! Funniest "little" thing?!!!!! She's gotten HUGE!!! I think you'll have to rename her "Big, Fat, Huge, Eat-anything-in-sight Beastie"!!!

As for the sump, did you want me to come down and suck up some greenwater to see if I can fix it?

Angela

I'm gonna tell her what you said! She said to tell you she prefers the term 'large boned' thank you very much!

Large boned! With a whole lotta meat on those large bones methinks!!! Didn't she eat a whole tank full of duckweed once and we had to take her to Andrew's for a diagnosis because you thought it was dropsy? He turned her over, took one look at her belly (which was GREEN by the way because it was so full of duckweed) and he said "she needs to go on a diet!!"

Angela

Well how did I know in the span of 8 hours or less she'd eat every single piece? Needless to say we now have a nice array of plastic plants because of the Little Beast.

Awwww she can't help it that she's such a little piggy.