Above is something you usually never want to see in an established aquarium.
And it's the result I was hoping to get. You see, I've got a bacteria problem, and I got it bad.
Ammonia, the bane of all aquarium newbs. For months I had a constant ammonia reading in my 180 mixed cichlid tank. I was embarrassed to blog about it; after repeated attempts to correct the problem I was even scared to test for ammonia readings.
After all, ammonia's a test I and all of us have passed long ago. So why's it kicking my ass now?
I kept fish in elementary school, with varying success. I got a pair of bettas to spawn in fourth grade -- never any live ones burst from the bubble nest. I had another tank with various tetras and a pair of kissing gouramis, and, knowing nothing of the nitrogen cycle, you can imagine how that turned out in the end.
I returned to the hobby in 2004. I currently operate six systems: a 29 gallon schooling tetra tank (with a true FW red eye puffer), a 55 gallon FW angelfish tank, a 10 gallon nano reef, a nano single seahorse tank, a 10 gallon African clawed frog tank, and my ill-fated 180 gallon.
I realized ammonia was the culprit after I treated for what I thought was a preliminary Ich outbreak. After the treatment, when the fish continued to flash (slam themselves against hard surfaces), and a firemouth that had not grown a cinemeter in months sickened and died, I ran a full water test. I test nitrates pretty regularly, and the nitrate level was up to par. With 15% water changes once or twice a week (and sometimes 30% a month when I was lax), and no other visible problems, with the bulk of the fish thriving, I had no idea I had a water chemistry problem.
I was stunned ammonia came out at just below 2 PPM. Instantly I did a massive water change, fearing a mini-cycle fluke after a recent filter maintenance. Maybe I'd let the beneficial bacterial media in the air too long, or they'd been exposed to some chlorinated water. That had to to be the case, I supposed.
That was six months ago. I wish I could say all the fish survived.
My pair of blood parrots, gone. Juvie firemouth and blue acara, gone. Honestly, with the constant level of ammonia which I'm unable to make disappear, I'm amazed any of my fish are still alive.
Survivors: two full grown oscars, three severums (smallest I moved in with my angels to the 55 gallon, so at least one could survive this debacle), a transplanted 5-inch bala shark who holds his/her own surprisingly well, and a hardcore, nail-eating Raphael catfish.
I've never had a tank as large or intimidating as a 180 gallon. You need a Python or waterbed Jerry-rigged tubing system for water changes, or else you'd be doing the bucket brigade for 2 or more hours. I remember when I first saw the tank, a dream for which I'd been saving for two years, in the fish shop, I thought, "Holy shit, what have you done. That thing could be your coffin and then some."
To make an six-month story short, here's the breakdown of what I thought was building the ammonia:
My canister filter, the biggest, baddest, top of the line Rena: a Filstar XP4.
The intake and outtake hoses were too long and thus water flow was negligible, barely existent. I cut off a couple inches from each hose and bam, water flowing as intended. By all rights this SHOULD have fixed the problem as it's known that a clogged filter, especially the one that's your mainstay, causes ammonia spikes and mini-cycles.
Stale pockets of water within a rectangular terracotta cave.
I smashed the rectangle, making two three-dimensional isosceles triangles cobbled together, allowing for water flow to keep the interior moving.
A massive piece of driftwood anchored down by slate pieces.
I hypothesized anaerobic conditions under the wood base and slate, causing ammonia buildup. Indeed, when I removed the wood and slate pieces, there were hydrogen sulfide bubbles that could have peeled roof shingles. Also, this huge piece of wood was anchored by a stainless steel screw. Perhaps this screw was not exactly rust and waterproof...
Overstocked.
I really didn't believe this one as when the problem started none of my fish were anywhere near fully grown, and nitrate was well under control, as were feedings.
Too much sand.
Substrate is standard cheap playsand, rinsed thoroughly and methodically, but nonetheless fine and impellor-killing. Believe me, if I knew then what I know now, I never would have used fine sand as a substrate for large south American cichlids like oscars and severums. I removed nearly all of the sand and only now have a fine dusting to coat the bottom. I also have playsand in my reef tank, which has been thriving since 2005, as well as my frog tank, and I've had no issues whatsoever with playsand.
Using too much aquarium salt to treat what I thought was an Ich outbreak.
I've only had luck with aquarium salt/ raised temp. with Ich in the past -- I've had no luck with any so-called Ich mediations, including malachite green and Rich-Ich. In fact, both medications did nothing when I tried to cure a planted tank of Ich and was forced to use aquarium salt and raised temperature (86-88 degrees). I used so much salt that my canister filter bled out a salt creep, which ultimately led me to think the saline change caused a bacterial forming problem. (Good news is I have a nice supply of copper, which I bought before I realized I had an ammonia problem, as I suspected gill flukes. Invertebrates aside, you never know when you may need a good dose of copper.)
Pieces of slate. I got some quality slabs of slate from my father-in-law.
Beautiful pieces, they belonged at the bottom of a fish tank. Maybe they were treated with some kind of chemical that nuked the ecology of the system? Even though they were left in the sun and air for half a decade...
There are probably more theories I had that I'm forgetting, but you can see it eventually gets to the point where you're grabbing for straws.
I made sure to use the test kit on my other tanks to ensure it wasn't a faulty reading. And all of my tanks, save my two marine systems, use city water, so I know it's not a water issue.
So that gets us to the present, pretty much. And the milky water. A bacterial bloom! Just what I wanted...
I unplugged everything. I disconnected all three filters -- 2 Aquaclear 110s and the Rena Xp4 -- and gave everything a thorough chlorine-drenched rinse. The cardinal sin, I know. But I wanted to kill everything and do the best I could to start back at zero.
With ammonia readings at 1 PPM or more for six-plus months, what else is there to do?
I pulled out even more sand. I yanked the giant piece of driftwood, the one variable I could figure that was causing the problem since I noticed a discrepancy.
I'm also trying a lab-grade bacteria culture which I was turned on to via my blog.
I've never had anything close to such a chronic problem as what I've had with this tank. Bigger is better, you always hear. Less can go wrong; you have more time to catch a problem than you do with a small tank. Yet I've never had a problem last so long and be so big as what I've had with this system. And the worst part is I have no idea what's causing it, and every time I try to change a variable, the ammonia comes back. Like a bad episode of a show that keeps popping up when you turn on the TV--and you're in the middle of a writer's strike.
Ammonia, the first notch on the newb's belt as he makes his way into fish keeping.
But what do you do when it just doesn't go away?
Josh Day is the creator of Josh Day's The Aquatic Hobbyist, a blog of fish-keeping, aquatic plants, nano tanks, biotopes, paludariums, exotic freshwater species, and more. He's also the author of a how-to guide for beginners on setting up nano tanks.
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