Hi thanks for reading..
But I have a problem with ammonia in my (2) 10 gallon tanks..
About 2 weeks ago I did an API test on ammonia and nitrite and they were both at 0. Now ammonia has spiked up to about .5 to 1.0 ppm... I always do water changes every 2 weeks about 3 gallons to each and I change their carbon pads as well.. I got neon tetras in one and the other with mollies and barbs.. The mollies are swimming up and down the glass for the first time and my barbs and tetras are swimming normally... What could be causing this ammonia problem? I feed these fish small amounts so they eat it all, now I got ammonia problems? I always condition the water with aqua safe plus yellow bottle and let it sit in my 5 gallon capped bucket for a couple of days before I throw it in the tank... What am I missing? None of my fish have died since Ive gotten these last month..

Did u cycle the tank?

__________________
55 Gals. Plants Anubias,Amazon Swords and more. Tetras: 6 Sarpaes.4 Red Eyes,5 Black Skirts,4 Giant Danios,2 Lemons, 2 Emerald Cory,4 German Blue.
10 gals. tank : Plants, Full of Guppies; 20 Gals. Tank planted Full of Guppies: 1 gal tank filled with Guppies

Yes. Left them empty for about a month and a half with the filter running and slowly added fish. One by one every couple of days and they're swimming fine...all of them are swimming fine.. Just the mollies, they're crazy. 2 of them calmed down a little...but the other is breathing pretty rapidly by the look of her gills..she's pregnant too so idk if that has anything to do with it.. Never in my years of experience I've had this particular problem.. :/ do any sort of ammonia detoxifier liquid work?

The pregnant Molly kind of struggles to swim around since she's pretty big..idk if that's got anything to do with her crazy breathing..and idk if mollies are this active because when I always watch mollies in tanks they're always active...but I've never had any active fish in my fish owning experience..always lazy fish like loaches, plecos, angelfish, etc..but I'm still worried about the ammonia reading.. :/

Not only that but the male Molly is very aggressive he chases both of them around but the one breathing rapidly really gets it... What is weird is, if I raise my hand above the surface, the Molly stops breathing rapidly and waits for me drop in some food...after I remove my hand from the top, she stops her crazy breathing...really weird..

Not sure what is going on lately.....cycling does NOT refer to letting a tank run empty. It refers to the nitrogen cycle. You might want to read up on it. It wil take you 5min and you'll understand what is going on or going to happen in your tank. The nitrogen cycle does not start until there is a source of ammonia in the tank. This is what your fish are providing. So the day you added your first fish, is day 1 of your "cycle". The cycle will usually take 3-6wks.

You have ammonia present and your fish are suffering. The remedy is a water change. How long ago were fish introduced?

Ammonia is generated in a fish tank through the decomposition of protien. The Protien is usually from food or dead fish. Don't feed your fish for a few days and your ammonia should drop. In a normal fish tank high ammonia readings are only temporary, they rapidly cycle into Nitrite and Nitrate. Make sure you have good filtration and aeriation. Remember that Mollies do best in a high ph and hard water environment.

Well I just did a water change today.. Ammonia was present after the water change...but the fish are swimming normal now.. It's just that ammonia reading. I know I dont over feed them because I feed them small portions smaller than my pinky finger nail, nothing ever touches the gravel. Even if it does, my Pleco is my last line of defense. I'm pretty sure the cycle didn't complete.. I usually cycle with just a driftwood and a filter running for about 2 months and nothing ever pops up like this..
Do you guys predict any fatalities within this cycle? How long will this cycle last if it is a cycle? Damn it has never happened to me... ):

Running the filter for 2 months in the tank will do nothing if no fish are in it. You have to have a source of ammonia in the tank for it to start a cycle.

Well if it is in fact cycling, are these mollies capable of surviving? The barbs and tetras look perfectly fine I hope they make it...but that one Molly seems to be breathing a little too rapidly...I'm not sure if it's due to the harassment of the male..

Update: ammonia shot down to 0. Now nitrite is pretty high. Fish are normal, no signs of lethargic swimming. Tank is too cloudy... Idk if I should do water change...

Now your really cycling ,another water change will low de nitrates ,one thing when you gonna change filter media, don't change all at the same time,because you wanna save the beneficial bacteria other ways you have to cycle again. But for now keep an eye on the fishes and wait doing water changes every day at least 25% to 50%.

__________________
55 Gals. Plants Anubias,Amazon Swords and more. Tetras: 6 Sarpaes.4 Red Eyes,5 Black Skirts,4 Giant Danios,2 Lemons, 2 Emerald Cory,4 German Blue.
10 gals. tank : Plants, Full of Guppies; 20 Gals. Tank planted Full of Guppies: 1 gal tank filled with Guppies

stop adding food until nitrItes drop down.

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

What is "pretty high"? If the values are higher than 1ppm, I would do a 25% water change. If the values are 3ppm or higher a 50% water change....cutting feeding will help, but will not make it go away.

Values are higher than 3ppm.. I did a 30% water change, will do a 50% tomorrow. Then I'll retest. So no feeding at all? Won't that make the fish weaker to fight this cycle?

I just changed the cotton pad filled with carbon little less than a week ago when I did a pwc, so I guess I'll be good with the same carbon and cotton for the rest of the cycle? Fish look fine so far, I guess I'll keep doing the daily pwc at 25% and see if that cuts down the cloudiness

It won't make the fish get weaker and die? Nitrites are pretty high...so I should keep doing these water changes at 25% ? It won't delay the cycling process?

As far I know not really,Just get the nitrites little bit down to keep fishes ok.

__________________
55 Gals. Plants Anubias,Amazon Swords and more. Tetras: 6 Sarpaes.4 Red Eyes,5 Black Skirts,4 Giant Danios,2 Lemons, 2 Emerald Cory,4 German Blue.
10 gals. tank : Plants, Full of Guppies; 20 Gals. Tank planted Full of Guppies: 1 gal tank filled with Guppies

I have left my fish for 10 days while on vacation with no food. They will be fine.

Thanks for the great advice. I'm just doing a 25-50 % water change every day depending how cloudy the tank looks.. I hope this nitrite stage ends pretty soon...these water changes are a bit tiring lol