# Ammonia question (Please help - we're going away for a few days)



## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

My 36g has been cycled for a week and we have been adding fish every few days. Up until now the ammonia has stayed at 0ppm. (Nitrites are always at 0ppm and Nitrates are around 30ppm.)

We have 5 Harley's and wanted to add two more tonight to help the school out a bit. (They aren't schooling, because there aren't enough, and they are being aggressive because there aren't enough of them.)

We also have 6 Julii Corys and 4 Dwarf Gourami.

Our plan was to go away for the weekend and then the following week add the last Cory and the last 4 Rasboras. We don't know what to do now, because the ammonia is at .25ppm (so we are afraid to add the 2 new Rasboras tonight..... but we don't want to leave the school so small.)

The only fish that is acting 'weird' is one female gourami. She is hiding in the plants, not moving much. Her top fin is spread too - where the other 3 gouramis have their fins down like normal and are swimming around.

I did a 20% WC yesterday along with a gravel vac since it was maintenance day.

My questions: *1*. Can we add the 2 Rasboras tonight to help the school out? (Or will that throw the tank over the edge? I've read if you try to add more rasboras to an established group, they will be ignored... so I wanted to do it now while they are all still new...)

*2*. At what point do I need to do another WC for the ammonia? (.50ppm?)
*
3*. We are going away from Thursday night to Sunday night..... should the tank have settled by then and not spike over the weekend? (If we DON"T add the next 2 fish?) 
*
4*. If we DO add them, is 3-4 nights enough for the ammonia to settle down?

*5*. I will feed the Corys tonight, but then should I skip a day of feeding to help the ammonia go down? (I'm assuming that being away for 2.5 days will bring the ammonia down since they won't get fed.)

The spike could be the missing Rasbora... one went MIA.... maybe he's rotting somewhere we can't find him? Or maybe it's because it's a newly cycled tank and I rinsed - not changed but rinsed - the filter media in the dirty change water because it was really gungy.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You crack me up sometimes.....I think you know what to do here. You've been doing this long enough....I think


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Actually adding fish a little to fast, when adding fish like that you should wait at least a week before adding more. Once you hit the spot where the ammonia starts to rise, feed less, even every other day and do a water change.

Already answered this but wanted it here in case someone new might read this.


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## Ranger (May 20, 2011)

Slow Down.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Don't feed them for a week.

add plants (but you already knew that.)


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

I have tons of plants in there! (No more money for plants at the moment.)

I had wondered if the missing Rasbora was causing the ammonia spike - tested today and it was at .50ppm, so I did a 60% WC. The MIA Rasbora kinda floated into the open and I removed him, so I'm hoping that helps. We did a very small feeding today, but will skip feeding for sure tomorrow!

After the WC, we found one of the female gouramis dead... pretty sure she was fine before the WC. Everyone else looks fine, so we won't bother replacing her until later next week, after the ammonia settles down.

Kinda' nervous about leaving this weekend now...

I'll do another WC on Thursday before we go if it's at .25ppm or more, and do a precautionary dose of AmQuel (just as extra protection), and then do another WC on Sunday when we get home... hopefully the small feed Thursday then the 2.5 days of no food helps!


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

holly12 said:


> I have tons of plants in there! (No more money for plants at the moment.)
> 
> I had wondered if the missing Rasbora was causing the ammonia spike - tested today and it was at .50ppm, so I did a 60% WC. The MIA Rasbora kinda floated into the open and I removed him, so I'm hoping that helps. We did a very small feeding today, but will skip feeding for sure tomorrow!
> 
> ...



+1


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## Ranger (May 20, 2011)

> I had wondered if the missing Rasbora was causing the ammonia spike - tested today and it was at .50ppm, so I did a 60% WC. The MIA Rasbora kinda floated into the open and I removed him, so I'm hoping that helps. We did a very small feeding today, but will skip feeding for sure tomorrow!


Depends how long it was dead, the fish needs to start rotting away before it will turn to Amonia, I just think you have added to many fish to fast.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

^ Oh, he was rotting alright... it took me a few tries with the long tweezers to get him, because he was falling apart.... gross I know.... but I couldn't find him up until then.

After that huge WC last night, the ammonia was at 0ppm. Tonight it's back up to .10ppm. (Mike fed them the tiniest pinch of food ever - he couldn't help himself, lol.) All of the remaining fish are eating - that tiny pinch of food - and acting normally, swimming around, bright eyes, alert. *Fingers crossed they stay that way!!

I will do a 30%-40% WC tomorrow night before we leave, and dose some AmQuel as well. I'm hoping that will lock any extra ammonia and help until we get back Sunday evening.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Sounds like your tank is squared away. You might want to cut back the lighting cycle a bit to ward off any potential algae outbreaks.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks!

We got timers for the lights so that we can at least have them on for some parts of the day - so the plants don't die.


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