newbie314

I'm having too much ammonia in my 20g-long tank. About 0.75-1ppm even after water changes.
The pH was 7.0 at the time and I assume it is about 7.4 this morning.

Any reason not to get ammonia-absorbing crystals and place that into the new filter (see 20g-long link in signature about new filter).

Will I take too much out for the plants.

I believe the ammonia is mainly from some of the algae covered plant (dead branches) and the drift wood (the wood is probably the culprit). Also dead algae maybe causing it too.

The bio-load is: 5 glow-light tetras, 10 Red Cherry Shrimp, 2 Dwarf Cray Fish

It maybe the soil but it is the same type used on the 2.5g tank and didn't have an ammonia problem (then again the ammonia test was pretty old (5years) and they are better now. Bought a new test kit so maybe I'm seeing more than I'm used to).

aquabillpers

For how long has the tank been set up?

Did you do anything to the soil before you added it to the aquarium?

Do you have a reason for keeping the dead plants in the tank?

IMO you would be better off eliminating the source of the ammonia than by removing it with the chemicals.

Good luck!

Bill

newbie314

The tank is at 3 weeks.
Did nothing to the soil. It's the same type I used before.

It's not so much of keeping dead plants in the tank but not knowing if they are alive. Algae has been a problem.

I don't really want to remove the drift wood since the crayfish seem to like it.
I though Zeolite removes ammonia and it is natural.

I wonder if the 2x4200k bulbs are not enough for the plants

aquabillpers

To answer your last question, 40 watts of lighting (if that's what you have) is fine for a 20 gallon long tank.

4200 K is OK too, as long as you like the color. The plants don't care.

Bill

newbie314

Yeah it is 2x20W. I was just concerned since I want the color to be yellow-green for plant growth without the high frequency releasing the iron to the water column for the algae.

Well being an engineer and pramatic, I took the advice and got rid of the dead wood ummm I mean drift wood. I also pruned like a mad man with new shears on a hedge. I took what I think was a dead amazon, and got rid of anything that didn't look productive with the expection to the anabius. But then again the anabuis looks like it is getting a new sprout.

I also took out lots of algae, since it is getting less sticky due to the filter on the tank starting to starve the algae. Can't wait what it looks like in a week.

I did an approx. 10g water change.

The ammonia went from 1-2ppm to 0.5-1ppm. Man those color charts are hard to see.

The real time meter I use as a rough reference looks like it is even going down later today with the lights on. I guess the plants are getting more productive with the water more clear.

Found the two crayfish, yeah and at least 8 red cherry shrimp accounted for (8/10 not bad).

Anyway thanks for the reality check, didn't like to take the wood out but it was definately rotting in the tank.
Maybe I'll put it back in the future when the tank can handle more of an ammonia load.

The 2.5gallton tank was tested today and it had zero ammonia. Funny how small NPTs are easier than large ones, kind of opposite of the conventional aquarium wisdom.

Carissa1

Zeolite works by doing ion exchange, sodium for ammonia. It is natural in a sense that it doesn't add any chemicals to your water. However with an NPT you may or may not have an actual cycle going, since the idea is that the plants will take up the ammonia directly without the need of cycling. If you were to use zeolite you would be removing a lot of the ammonia from the plants reach as you surmised. If you have an established cycle in the tank you will still get nitrates which will feed your plants too. But if you don't, after about a week or maybe two the ammonia trapped in the zeolite will start cycling itself and you'll get a nitrite spike at that point. Then you'll have to remove it. But then if you haven't fixed the problem you'll have ammonia again. So long story short I don't think zeolite should be used on NPT's for more than a very temporary measure to preserve fish health while addressing the underlying cause of the ammonia spike.

If you're planning on leaving the filter in the tank and would like to get a cycle going, zeolite can be a good help to prevent ammonia spikes which usually are what lead to algae outbreaks in the first place. But it will eventually cycle as I mentioned so you have to be prepared to get the nitrite spike too.

aquabillpers

Newbie,

Maybe being pragmatic is a key to solving problems with planted aquaria. As your plants grow in, they should sop up that remaining ammonia. Keep at it!

Carissa,

The use of Zeolite adds sodium to the aquarium, not a good thing. That is another drawback to its use. As I said earlier, and you touched on it, it is much better to remove the source of the ammonia than to try to remove the ammonia itself.

Bill

newbie314

Yeah, I'm at it.
My meter this morning said the ammonia didn't go up over night (just an estimate).
Which is good.
I'm definately looking forward to the plants doing the uptake of the ammonia just like the 2.5g which is doing a perfect job.

This evening I'll do an ammonia test to see if it went up. Hopefully it's stable with a downward trend.

Not really a full newbie on this since the 2.5g is 6+ months old, but the big tank is definately a challenge.

Part of the ammonia could also be dying algae, so I'm going to rinse the filter media daily, just in case I'm getting ammonia decomposing on it.

Thanks for the replies.

Hey if it was easy all the time, most of us wouldn't do it.