# Small ammonia spike, what can I do?



## Essian (Feb 3, 2010)

Hey guys, I've had the aquarium set up for a few days, the fish have been in the tank for less than 72 hours (one male guppy and one ADF). I had a third fish, another male guppy, but he passed away yesterday  and while the other two fish seem to be okay, there has been a minor ammonia spike in the water. It's jumped to about .25 or just above, and I don't want anything bad to happen, any advice?


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

If this is a brand new set up and you haven't cycled the tank prior to adding fish, then this is the beginning of the tank's cycle. The guppy may have died from new tank syndrome. I'd suggest monitoring your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) daily and doing partial water changes daily or every other day as needed as you go through the cycle to prevent future deaths. You should keep an eye on the pH as well because a new cycle can cause it to crash.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Change water. Remember to dechlor and match the temp (if you can't match exactly, warmer is better than cooler). And watch the level, try to keep in under 1.


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## Essian (Feb 3, 2010)

okay, yeah the level is definitely under 1, at most I'd say its somewhere just below .50, and I'm guessing it increased at least partially because I did feed them last night. The pH is in the mid 7's right now, probably around 7.6, and I have been doing multiple ammonia tests per day to monitor the levels. I did a partial water change (a very small amount, between 10-20 percent) yesterday per the recommendation of a Petco employee. Here are a few more specs of the tank, just in case they help:

-1.5 gallon
-1 Fake Plant, 1 Live plant, 1 Small decor for hiding
-Temp is at 80 degrees and falling, it was at about 83 earlier this morning, so I unplugged the heater to try and stabilize it... I am having trouble keeping a steady temp, so I am trying to keep it within a 5 degree span...
- Feeding once every other day, minimally. The fish receives Tetra crisps and the ADF receives frozen bloodworms (I didn't witness him eating them, but when I checked back a few hours later, they were completely gone)

A few water based concerns I have: The water is cloudy. It isn't so cloudy that I can't see through it, and I can still make out the fish and the frog, so it's not disgustingly cloudy, but still, it's murky. Any insight? Should I be worried? Also, random noob question, the water isn't exactly fragrant... I mean, it's not stinking up the whole room, but there is definitely an odor to the tank if I remove the lid or put my face too close to the feeding opening... again, is this par for the course or something to be worried about?

one quick frog question: my frog is a little anorexic bugger! What I mean is that he seems absurdly skinny... and from what I have heard, they should be pleasantly plump, especially after feeding. Should I increase feeding to once per day, for the frog at least?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Thats really small. Do you have a filter? Without a filter, the tank will never "cycle". But a tank that small is easy to do large water changes on. Treat it like a betta bowl and do a 90-100% water change every other day or when the water smells or looks bad. Fish tanks should smell like fishfood (fishy), algae, or earthy. If it smells bad, you are probably smelling ammonia. If your nose is good, you can eventually replace your test kit with a sniff.


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## Essian (Feb 3, 2010)

yes, I do have a filter, which has been running since I added water to the tank


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## Essian (Feb 3, 2010)

yeah I just checked the ammonia levels again... they seemed to have spiked a bit more, up to .50-.75 or so... I did about a 30-40% water change immediately to try and offset the amount of ammonia, and I'm hoping that helps... I really don't want to lose anybody else, since I'm already 1 fish down.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I think you are doing exactly right. Checking 2 or more times a day and changing water when the level is heading toward high enough to hurt fish.


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## Essian (Feb 3, 2010)

well, I am going to wait a few more hours to test the water again, since I did a test about three hours ago, and testing every few hours won't give the water time to filter and progress... but since I'm only about 3 days into adding fish, it's the ammonia heavy part of the nitrogen cycle, so things are going to get worse over the next few days before they get better. And then comes the really fun party, the Nitrite heavy days. And I don't have a nitrite testing kit.... great...


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