Ideas why my ammonia is rising.

[originalhandy]

Ive had the tank since Feb and has been 0 on my nitrates, nitrites and ammonia for months.

I was wanting to add plants so I added a lot. I had some black algae I couldnt shake around this time so I was using Algaefix and I was also using Flourish too. I had 4 fish die. My nitrates and nitrites are barely reading on the strip (for the last week) and ammonia is about .25 right now but was .5 earlier.

Did I add too many plants at once, can these chemicals have a bad effect on my tank ?

Any help would be great.

[abstractrainbow]

I think it sounds like you added too much at once, and stressed your fish out. Try frequent large water changes... Maybe 10% every other day, or 20-30% a week. Also make sure to replace the water with dechlorinated water thats a similar chemistry to what you want. I just go to Kroger and get the refillable Ozarka water. Ammonia, coming from the breakdown of organic matter, was probably introduced in the form of dead leaves on the plants, or simply by adding too much organic matter at once. I've found its always better to introduce things in small batches (aka, 2-4 fish, 1-2 plants, etc). I also prefer to add plants before adding fish when I initially setup a tank.

See if the water changes help. BTW, watch your nitrites and be prepared to treat that, as they tend to rise after an ammonia spike.

[originalhandy]

I usually added only a few fish at a time. I went a bit mad with the plants though that's for sure. I was wondering if it was the chemicals but it appears not to be.

Seems like I am on the right track as I've been doing water changes every couple of days. Well daily if it is .5 and two days if it was .25 or less.

Would it normally take long for the tank to "settle" again ?

Ill watch out for the nitrites, so far its barely registered on the strips.

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[mnemenoi]

My guess is the Algaefix was the root cause, it can release ammonia when it causes the algae and other things to die off. Could also have negatively had an effect on the biological system in place, resulting in a system that was unable to handle the current Nitrogen cycle volume. I'd do small water changes and just let everything settle in, see how it stands in a few weeks. Black outs can cause spikes in Ammonia and Nitrites as well.

[originalhandy]

Good to know about algaefix. It looks like I was dammed either way with as bad as the black algae got I needed that or blackout.

Ill just do 10 to 20pc changes a night for the rest of the week and see how it pans out Sat. It is getting better I think as I was at .5 every couple days and now its .25. Still bad but in the right direction.

Is it OK to continue to douse in Flourish twice a week while in this cycle ? I did stop just encase.

[troy tucker]

Mnemenoi, Roy is in the know. I agree. It was the algaefix.