The Puffer Forum

I cant get my levels down!, I have done water changes out the ears! 70% or better since the crash the ammonia has been at 3-4. I have 3live plants and 3 fish in a 29 gal tank. (shrimps too those are usually dinner) What can I do? We use ammonia lock and the Prime and nothing all is well after the water change but the next day whamo back up,
thanks!

Maybe something is rotting in your tank. Check just under the gravel, inbetween the plants.

See my last reply in your other thread about your tank crash: here

It is normal for there to be detectable levels of ammonia for a while after adding bio-spira. It'll take a little while for the bacteria to establish themselves.

How long did you wait after adding the bio-spira before you did a water change? You should wait at least 48 hours before doing a water change to give them a chance to attach themselves etc.

Did you add the bio-spira to the filter, or directly into the tank?

It's also recommended by marineland not to use ammolock or anything like that for the first while as it interferes with the bacteria by limiting the available ammonia.

Just keep using the prime as your water conditioner (maybe a little extra) and do regular 50% water changes.

If there was any ammonia-removing product in the tank when you added the B-S, it is useless. 90% WC must be done before adding B-S, if ammonia-removing product were used.

the water changes were done before the Bio-S. I called a marine company out in my area, Learned something new. When using amlock, and prime together it gives a false reading I took my water in and things are fine. Lesson learned here dont use both can cause a false reading with home test kits, thanks again to all!

Glad to hear!

By the way, what brand and type of test kit are you using?