# Cycling and Ammo Lock, ugh



## pyewacketsid (Apr 4, 2011)

Hi y'all, it's been a million years since I posted here. I didn't have any tanks for awhile, woe.

Well, I got a new 10 gallon in mid-October. I put one betta fish in there, and I monitored the water carefully -- any time the ammonia got over 0.25ppm, I'd do a partial water change.

After month or so, the ammonia was down to zero, and I wasn't showing any nitrites, so I got 4 bronze cory cats to live with him. I know, that's more that doubling the bioload, but I figured the bacteria was already established, so I'd just watch carefully and keep up with the water changes.

Well, Thanksgiving was coming up, and I had planned to be out of town, My ammonia was still trying to creep up to 0.50ppm despite 20% water changes every 2 days, and I was afraid it might reach toxic levels if I was gone for 5 days, so I did something I've never done before and got some Ammo Lock.

I don't know whether to bless this stuff or curse it. My fish are active and aren't showing any reddening around the gills, but my test readings are alarming. I know that the Ammo Lock changes the ammonia to ammonium, which will still test positive on the ammonia test, but I didn't expect the readings to go sky high like they are. The bottle said to add more every 2 days until the filter catches up and the level starts coming down, but after a week of that, I was afraid there would be more chemicals than water in there!

I've done a 20% change and then a 40% change in the week since I started using Ammo Lock (I stayed in town after all), and when I tested again tonight the levels were beyond what the color chart can even match. So I did a 70% water change, and now it's "back down" to 4.0ppm. I added another tank dose (5mL) just to be sure none of it is toxic.

I also took the charcoal bag out of the filter; I think it was restricting the water flow too much, so now there's just the coarser bio-sponge. The dechlorinator I use has slime coat added in, and I think I was using too much of it and clogging the filter. I'm hoping stronger flow/oxygenation will encourage bacterial growth (it's a hang-on-tank filter).

WHY are the readings so high? Does ammonium test stronger than ammonia in the same amounts? It's making me nuts.

Anyway, my current plan is to do daily 70% water changes. If the ammonia after a change reads higher than 1ppm, I'll add more Ammo-Lock. If I can dilute it down to 0.5 or under, though, I'm going to quit using that stuff, hopefully forever.

Poor fishies, they've been very patient with my shenanigans. I hereby swear never to buy new fish less than a month before planning to leave town again.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i keep tellin folks..."leave the chemicals alone..."
" The more you mess with your tanks ; the more problems you cause for yourself"...what do you think could have changed do drastically if you had not treated the tank and went out of town ?? 5 small fish is not enough to cause a problem....
so here is what i suggest...............................

put the chemicals away.....
put the test kit away....
leave the carbon out of the filter.....
once a week do a 30-40% water change....
feed your fish once or twice a day using a variety of quality foods..
clean your filter every 2 weeks....rinse the media until it starts to fall apart..(this could take awhile)

enjoy your fish......

we have about 75 tanks set up and running..all use either a sponge or undergravel filter..30% + water changes every week..10 different foods....no chemicals ; except for Chloram X for dechlorination...


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2014)

I am going to suggest the same thing as lohachata. NO CHEMICALS. You have created more problems for yourself by using chemicals. Do not use Ammo-Lock, actually stop using it, it does nothing for your tank but create more ammonia and problems. Do exactly what lohachata has suggested. I don't test my tank unless there is a disease or something is wrong. Quit with the chemicals, they are very bad for your tank.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

loha - 

I'm in 200% in agreement with you and I have followed your advice since. 

Two times in the past, I asked my brother-in-law how's his fish tank is. He told me both times he has only 1 or 2 fish in his tank. I asked him what happened to all his fish he had? (This is a 20 gallon mind you) He told me they died. He keeps talking about his pH is too high and tried using a buffer to balance it. Good grief.. I really need to tell him to "LEAVE THE DANG TANK ALONE AND QUIT ADDING CRAP TO HIS TANK!!" No wonder his fish died. I think he keeps doing weekly water tests and if something's off, he tries to fix the problem. I think he does more harm than good doing this. 

Funny thing is he asked me before Thanksgiving holiday how's my pH and what were my other levels were and whether I test every week. I tell him I rarely test my water and just do water changes every so often (2 weeks). The look on his face is a look of shock. I try explaining him there's no need to mess with the tank if they're healthy.

AS I said, I rarely test my water but I do regular water changes every couple weeks, sometimes every 1 1/2 weeks. The less you mess with your tank, the better off you'll be.


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## pyewacketsid (Apr 4, 2011)

Well, I did stop using the Ammo-Lock. I'd have to do a control test to be sure (away from the fish!), but I swear I think it was elevating my ammonia test readings beyond what could possibly be in the tank. I just don't understand why.

On the other hand, it seemed risky to just leave it all alone, so I've been doing big water changes every day, around 60%. I also took out a live plant that wasn't too healthy and severely restricted feedings. Finally, after almost a week, I've got it down to a trace amount around .25ppm again. The fish can breathe easier, and so can I. 

Hopefully the filter can take over from here!


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

often chemicals will give you a false positive reading...so you add more chemicals ; which gives you a higher false positive reading ...so you add more chemical which gives you......
know what i mean..


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Just to be fair to Ammolock I used to use it all the time as a dechlorinator and when cycling. It did perfectly fine but Yes the ammonia reading are still showing. However it is in a non toxic form.

Now I have been using Prime as a declorinator for the past 7 years or so. It also shows an ammonia level if there is in fact ammonia in the system. I have talked to both product technicians and now just assume they do the job they were intended to do, used in the way the instructions say.

As for adjusting ph and hardness levels -no way-


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

A very good point mousey. It could be used depending on your local water source too when using Ammolock as a declorinator and cycling. Not everyone's local water source are the same.


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