My tank tanks

[shredaspud]

I have a couple clown loaches in my 29 gallon tank. I also have one of those nasty Pleco bottom feeders (like many politicians), 2 tetras, and 6 mollies. One of my loaches is skinny and the other one looks pretty healthy. I've been having problems with ammonia lately and I've been doing 1/3 to 1/2 water changes every two weeks. Immediately after the changes ammonia gets pretty high. Occassionally it shoots up and then tapers off. The fish get stressed, especially the loaches. They swim slowly at an angle and sometime almost vertical at times. They seem to swim like this on and off. Sometimes it lasts for days at a time.

Any ideas on reducing ammonia levels? I'm wondering if I should execute some of my mollies. I want the tank to "normalize" again, like it used to. That way the loaches can start clowning around again. Even the Pleco is mild mannered. It has an attitude when it is feeling healthy. I've reduced the feeding drastically as well because the filter clogs up with brown gunk. Even after I change it, it gunks up again. Fortunately, I've got the filter problem fixed for now by reducing the feeding. I just can't get a handle on the out of control ammonia situation. The temp is 79F and the water flow is pretty low.

[cider]

hi Shred ,
yikes ! hope you mean 'take back to the store ' when you say '' execute mollies''

not sure about the amonia prob, I am sure others can help better ,but will need more info ie tank size, fish stock , filter capacity etc. but perhaps you need to add another filter, not sure, but if it is clogging that much, seems like another ,may help. You said you are feeding less, what food were you feeding and how much, and what about now ?
About the plec, sounds like you are less than fond of him... do you know what kind it is? this info would help others advise you better, hope you can clear you your amonia prob . also, what is your ph ?
sounds like with food cutback and wc's you're on the right track, just need to figure out what else you can do. Good luck
G

[shredaspud]

It's a generic pump I got from PetCo. I don't recall the volume per hour but it's rated for aquariums from 20-40 gallons. My aquarium is 29 gallons. I could go bigger to get more circulation for the loaches. I feed them flake food twice a day. Occasionally I throw in a broken up wafer to get the Pleco excited. Wafers make the fish go crazy.

I was being sarcastic about my Pleco. It's a bristlenose Pleco and it's unusually mild-mannered. It won't go after the other fish that swim too close to it like my other Pleco did (it croaked). It will still stick out the barbs on the sides of its head when the loaches "whisker" it. It has ALOT of bristles on the nose too. A few of them are branching bristles as well. I wish it would get bigger but I'm pretty limited on aquarium space.

[Ashleigh]

You say the ammonia gets high after water changes. Can you explain in a little more detail how you go about changing the water, what treatments you use if any for the water, if you switch your filters off etc. Please give as much info as you can, even little minor details can explain a simple problem

You say that your filter is filling up with brown gunk. Weird question, but what does it smell like? Does it smell fishy or does it have a earthy/soil smell? How do you go about cleaning your filter, sponges/media, do you wash them in tank water, tap water do you replace the media and pads each time, is this all at once or bit by bit?

You also say that one of your loaches looks skinny, there is a term 'skinny disease' which is classed as a 'pinched' in look on the head of the loach. This is primarily caused by internal parasites but bacterial secondary infections can also play a role. Do a search for skinny disease in the forum, look specifically for posts from Shari, Chefkeith, Diana and Emma Turner for details on how to treat as treatment avalibility varys in regions. Loaches are primarily bottom feeders so have the joys of picking up unwanted nasties from the substrate. Usually most fish are fine with a low parasite burden - wild fish get no treatment and they survive well. The problem happens when the fish is stressed say in your situation that your ammonia is high, the immunity is them compromised.

In the mean time, can you try and increase the aeration in the tank - move the internal filter up a bit so it causes surface disturbance, or add an airstone, and if you can get hold of a product called 'PRIME'. It is a water conditioner but also detoxifies ammonia to a degree which may help in your case. Do not clean your filter, keep feeding reduced, and when changing water make sure theres no uneaten food in the tank and that you treat all tap water added with dechlorinator (prime does this also). I would increase water changes also and keep your ammonia as close to 0 as possible, even if this means a 50% water change every day as long term if you are leaving it every few weeks it will do your fish more harm than good. If you can also get tap water results - see what your ammonia reading is out of the tap, it should be 0 or close to but just to rule that out as a possible cause of the spike after each water change.

Ash

[shredaspud]

I always change my filter at a different time from water changes now to reduce stress if any. I used to wash the spongy filter in tap water but now I use a bucket of tank water. Usually I but a new bag of carbon in as well and take care to soak it in the bucket of used tank water. Right now, the ammonia problem has subsided. I add straight tap water and add a water safe product. I never really tested it for ammonia. I don't have a back up tank to store water in.