# Ammonia won't go down- cycle stuck?



## bassslayer32

I have a lot of info, so bear with me. Basically my ammonia won't go down and I have never had any nitrites or nitrates. I have had my tank set up for 4-5 months now, a 10 gallon. Gravel substrate, Aqueon 100 watt heater set at 80 degrees F, air bar/Tetra pump on medium flow, a Fluval C2 filter, and Marineland LED hood. I originally bought the tank system at Wally World and used the included components. I had it up for 2 weeks and added, I think, 10 various small fish. At once. Yeah, I know, didn't know any better about that one. Anyways, they pretty much all died off eventually, with only the pleco and my two bloodfin tetras surviving. After that, I went and got the API Master Test kit. I've tested it regularly since then, probably 3 months. Pretty consistently my pH stays around 7.5, my ammonia started at off the scale and never dropped below .5 ppm, and I've never got a reading of any nitrites or nitrates. I ditched the included filter for the Fluval thinking maybe I just need a better biological filter, but after 3 weeks it hasn't made a difference. My water has always remained a little cloudy. Not bad front to back, but noticeable when looking through aquarium side to side. I usually do a pwc of 25-30% weekly, but have let it go a month to maybe help kick it into a cycle. I add Stresszyme and Ammo-lock once or twice a week. I bought ammonia remover for the Fluval, that doesn't seem to do anything. I've tried to add a few neon Tetras, but out of 4, I only have one left. So my current fish is the neon, 2 bloodfins, and my pleco. All pretty small. I do not have any live plants. I know there is more I can add, but I will try not to overwhelm. 

Oh yeah, one more thing. I also bought a 3 gallon at the same time, the 4 tetras I had died in that. I let it run for 3 months with no fish in it, and it never cycled either. The ammonia was above 8 ppm the whole time!? What am I doing wrong, haha!


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## coralbandit

test your source water.If source water has no ammonia, make water changes.If your source has ammonia buy water or start filtering source.


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## bassslayer32

coralbandit said:


> test your source water.If source water has no ammonia, make water changes.If your source has ammonia buy water or start filtering source.


My source water has no ammonia. I checked it out of the tap and after I added Stresscoat but before I added the water to the aquarium. No ammonia. I currently do a pwc once a week. Are you saying to do a pwc every day or every other day just to keep my ammonia down? From what I have read, after the tank cycles I should have 0 ammonia and some nitrates. I have the opposite, and it's been that way for some time. My ammonia was around .5-1 ppm on Tuesday. I did my weekly pwc yesterday. Today, I checked my ammonia and it was at 2 ppm!? If I let the water change go, the ammonia just keeps climbing. I am baffled.


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## coralbandit

make water change(4-5 gallons).Cloudiness sound like overfeeding.Don't feed more than fish eat completely in 3-5 mins.


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## bassslayer32

coralbandit said:


> make water change(4-5 gallons).Cloudiness sound like overfeeding.Don't feed more than fish eat completely in 3-5 mins.


Thank you for responding. When I first started the tank months ago, I was overfeeding. Like, a lot, 3 times a day. I quickly learned on that one. I went to feeding a little bit twice a day, and for the past few weeks, only once a day. I only have 4 small fish at the moment, and one is a pleco. I change 3.5-4 gallons every pwc.

I have the info for the questions, as I've been carefully and patiently checking and making small changed to the system to try and correct the issues. I just don't know how to read and put to use all the information I have.


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## NeonShark666

Add a few plants, have good aeriation, change filter pads frequently, and don't feed for a few days. After following these steps your ammonia should start to drop. To be on the safe side, make all future water changes with Distillled water. This will remove the possiblity your tap water is contaminated.


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## Sayonarax

You should rinse filter pads with tank water not replace. You really should be changing your water more freq to begin with as your tank is small and has large population. 

There really is no need to be messing with chemicals in a 10g, PWC 25-30% every 3days will help you keep your ammonia down while your bacteria grows. I would also add active carbon to help remove that awful chemicals you been puttingin.


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## coralbandit

If your source is good ,make changes every/every other day till ammonia is very low.Test source again;this time put sample aside(covered) for 24 hrs. Then test it. Are you on a well? If you use distilled or RO/DI keep close eye on ph as both those waters are low(ph 6).I mix 50/50 about RO/DI & tap. Clean or change filter pads.


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## zero

i agree, you need to be doing water changes a couple times a week to get the ammonia down. plecos are poo machines so will be creating a lot of waste

are you vaccuming the gravel when you do water changes?


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## bassslayer32

What do you recommend for a live plant? Keep in mind I have an LED hood, and the tank isn't exposed to much natural light. I could probably move the tank closer to the window if it would help. I feel I have pretty good aeration as is, I use an 8 inch air bar with the air flow from a Tetra pump set on a medium flow level.

I'm done adding chemicals, except for chlorine remover as I am on city water. I'll start changing the water every other day. As far as water I use, like I said it is city water. What I do is I have 4 milk jugs, rinsed thoroughly. As soon as I empty the water in them to the tank, I refill them and add chlorine remover. They then sit at room temp under my kitchen sink until the next water change. Seems to work alright, and I've tested the water in the jug before I add. Tested fine. The natural pH of my tap water seems to be around 7.5, and it stays at that level in my tank. 

And yeah, my pleco is a poo machine. Every couple of weeks he decimates my tank with this long, stringy poo. He has no dignity, leaving it all out there for everyone to see, ha! Anyways, yes, I do use a gravel vac. I usually will vacuum about a quarter of the substrate area each time. But it seems no matter how much I vacuum, I can never get all the 'crud' out of the gravel. It always seems to disturb more than I suck out. Is that normal? I have about an inch of gravel. 

I appreciate everyone's replies and help. Thank you.


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## susankat

One of the problems I see right off the bat is the pleco in a 10 gal. As long as its in there your ammonia will never go down unless you do water changes every other day of at least 50%. Plecos are heavy waste producers.


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## bassslayer32

susankat said:


> One of the problems I see right off the bat is the pleco in a 10 gal. As long as its in there your ammonia will never go down unless you do water changes every other day of at least 50%. Plecos are heavy waste producers.


Hmm. It is one of the variables that has not changed since I started the tank. Would a pleco be OK in a 50 gal or bigger? Or just not really a wise choice to have them?


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## coralbandit

more waste is accomodated in larger tanks. Upgrading to a 55g would be beneficial to longevity of pleco/tankmates.Water changes are also upgraded( 50% of ten gallon tank is 5 gallons{a bucket} 50% of 55 gallon is 27.5 gallons{5 1/2 buckets}). Proper fishkeeping rules don't change.They grow larger with bigger tanks ,and so will your pleco(12 inches possible in average tank conditions)..... The variable that changed is your fish have grown(larger than when aquired) some of mine are over 7 years old(I think they are little bigger?).


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## scooterlady

Are you still using Ammolock? That does not remove the ammonia. It just converts it to a non-toxic form and will still show up on ammonia tests...


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## bassslayer32

scooterlady said:


> Are you still using Ammolock? That does not remove the ammonia. It just converts it to a non-toxic form and will still show up on ammonia tests...


Nope.


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## coralbandit

how's your water today? Test and report back please.If making changes your levels shouldbe getting better.


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## jrman83

Also, products like Ammolock or anything else you would add to get rid of ammonia tends to stall a cycle. Technically, even though the ammonia is locked it should not affect it but just reading numerous threads on here on longer cycles it always seems there is an additive used. Ammolock or products like should ever only be used in an emergency or in extreme situations, IMO. For instance, if your tap had a high level of ammonia. Ordinarily, water changes are the way to reduce, NOT chemicals. Go with that practice for just about any issue you may have in the future and you will be better off in the long run.


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## bassslayer32

coralbandit said:


> how's your water today? Test and report back please.If making changes your levels shouldbe getting better.


pH- 7.5
Ammonia- >4 ppm
Nitrates- 0
Nitrites- 0

I did 2 40% pwc's last week, the last on Friday. Before I did the last pwc, the ammonia was around .5-1 ppm (it was 2 days after the last pwc). Should I separate my pleco from the 10 gal tank?


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## clep.berry

Honestly, you've no business owning a Pleco in that tank - NONE. (Whoever sold you the fish for that tank should be locked in an elevator for a weekend)

You have fish in the tank so so long as 1) you dechlorinate the water you add properly and 2) you do enough PWC to make the water tolerable, your tank will cycle if you do nothing else (ditch the bottles except dechlor).

I wouldn't be amazed if you had to do 20% PWC every other day - or every day until you get ammonia and nitrites under control. The fast way round it is seeding the filter with mature media from a running tank.

It's time for a bit of stress though - but most of us have started where you are and get over it, becoming successful fishkeepers over time. You'll kill a few fish in your time too.

Try and keep ammonia below 0.25 - lower if you can and take a read of this:
Beginner FAQ: Test Kits
cb


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## bassslayer32

So I removed the pleco from the tank, and now have only the 3 tetras. Closely watching the water, hopefully it cycles and stabilizes. I did notice my neon tetra acting a little better, more 'lively'. I know they say that tetras should be in groups, but I think it would be stupid to add any fish right now. Still only feeding very lightly once a day.


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## navigator black

I think that everything you tried was blocked by having the pleco in there. It's a really small tank and that is a big, dirty fish. It doesn't take much to tilt a tank over the edge like that, and as you did the right thing, the pleco with its size just made it worse. You should see some stability soon.

No one needs a cleaner fish. And if they want a cleaner fish, there are a hundred species more appropriate then a common pleco. My two independent local stores rarely ever carry them, because they get so many returns from customers whose tanks survive the first few weeks. But it seems every chain store has buckets of plecos for sale - they are cheap to buy and can be turned over for a good profit...


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## bassslayer32

It's been such a learning curve with this aquarium! Everyone has been very helpful and I appreciate it. I noticed this morning my water is clearing up too, as it was always just a little cloudy.


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## navigator black

I really don't understand why stores sell dempsies, oscars, plecos and such to newcomers. It drives people right out of an addictive hobby. hey, if I am selling fish, I want people to become addicted, not to become discouraged!
I knew a chain store guy who only wanted to discuss 'units' with me. When I would ask him about fish he could get, he would ask me how many units he thought he could sell. I guess if that's your approach, you don't look long term to nurturing a stable customer base.
And you end up trusting someone for advice and having them sell you a common pleco for a 10 gallon tank...


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