# Would dying moss ball cause Ammonia spike?



## steven p (Jun 22, 2012)

Rotting organics will release ammo, but I have a feeling something is up.. has this tank been running for a _long_ time?


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## slavecorps (Jul 7, 2009)

It's very possible the moss ball could have been causing the problem, but on a 20 gallon tank, I would think the beneficial bacteria could have handled it assuming that you had adequate biological filtration for the tank. What kind of filter setup are you using and how long has the tank been running?


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## Sluuuder (Feb 7, 2012)

slavecorps said:


> It's very possible the moss ball could have been causing the problem, but on a 20 gallon tank, I would think the beneficial bacteria could have handled it assuming that you had adequate biological filtration for the tank. What kind of filter setup are you using and how long has the tank been running?


TO respond to both of y'alls posts the tank has been set up for about 3 years. I tore it down once but put in new substrate and water that same day. so id say two years.

Only thing in there are plants(quite a few but none are dead or sheding leaves), I have two 10-15 gallon tetra filters on it(I had a 20 gallon internal filter but I cant stand those it was such an eye sore) I got two because since its 10-15 then it should equal 20-30 right?, about 20 very small snails, a betta I put in there three days ago from another tank, DIY c02, and a 20 gallon glass heater.

Tnak parameters:

ph: 6.0-6.4 (dear god didnt know my high was that high!!!) help!!!!
Ammonia: 0-.25
Nitrite: 0 yay!
Nitrate: 10 ppm

Thanks for posting guys this 20 gallon has always been the tank I just cant get right. I can set up a ten gallon and have hundreds of cherry shrimp :/


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## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

Any detritus will add to ammonia spikes in a tank, thats why I always do my best to take out leaves that have broken off and floating around, or stuck to the filter. My 2 cents.


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## Sluuuder (Feb 7, 2012)

Digital said:


> Any detritus will add to ammonia spikes in a tank, thats why I always do my best to take out leaves that have broken off and floating around, or stuck to the filter. My 2 cents.


Thats the thing I don't have any debris in the tank. No dead leaves anywhere and when I do get them its usually just one or two on the filters that I remove.


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## steven p (Jun 22, 2012)

Honestly, if they are the hob filters I'm thinking of, you might wanna stuff some more media in them. A thorough substrate cleaning would be wise as well. A single betta should not cause that much ammonia.


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## ggrillo (May 26, 2013)

How old and what type of test kits are you using? Sometimes the reagents go bad and you'll get a false reading.


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## Sluuuder (Feb 7, 2012)

ggrillo said:


> How old and what type of test kits are you using? Sometimes the reagents go bad and you'll get a false reading.



Its the tetra master text kit freshwater. Its brand new so its not the test kit. Goes bad in like 10 more years it said. I checked date.



steven p said:


> Honestly, if they are the hob filters I'm thinking of, you might wanna stuff some more media in them. A thorough substrate cleaning would be wise as well. A single betta should not cause that much ammonia.


Yeah I keep cleaning the substrate im thinking of taing it out because there is a serious amount of this nasty clump stuff in it. idk what it is honestly. Ive cleaned the tank like 5 times I think its mainly from when I had serious case of blue algea and I did a black out and killed it all but it sat in the tank.


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## Sluuuder (Feb 7, 2012)

bump. Anyone got an idea of why I have ammonia and a very acidic ph?


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