Established tank crash? How to get back on track?

[MetalRavioli]

Hello MFK!

Anyone who's seen my posts knows that I have a 90 gallon tank with a leopard ctenopoma, and six keyhole cichlids. (two of which have paired) I cycled the tank itself in The summer, and added the fish to the tank in July. Until now, there have been no issues with water quality at all, bar nitrate getting somewhat high a few times. However, a few days ago I came home to find the tanks water cloudy did water tests and nitrite had spiked. I check the filter (FX6) and found that it had been unplugged. I don't know how long it had gone unplugged, at most a week, but likely a few days. I plugged it back in and hoped for the best.

Since then, nitrite has gone back to normal. However, the ammonia levels have been high, and have not gone down significantly. In the past week its always been at anywhere between 0.25 to 1.0. (possibly 1.5, possibly.) And it has not cycled down. This could be because of an extra amount of bioload from the fry in the hang on tank and the excess food from them, but I highly doubt it. I'm really not sure what to do, or what even happened entirely. Did a water change today, even after the change the water is still very cloudy. Fish are obviously a bit stressed. If there's anything anyone can suggest or help me with here, be it insight on what could have happened or guidance on how to fix this (majorly appreciated) I would be very grateful. If pictures are needed I can post some.

 

[duanes]

If it were me, I'd be doing either daily, or twice daily large water changes to dilute the ammonia.

 

[phreeflow]

Your ammonia is high because your cycle is restarting. All the good bacteria in your canister is likely dead so you should clean it out because it has a lot of trapped waste that’s adding to the high ammonia levels.

If you have a seasoned sponge filter, you should add it to the tank until the canister reestablishes a healthy bacteria colony. Better yet, if you also have seasoned media, add it to the canister to kickstart it.

You can add some extra Prime to help lock up the ammonia. Do lots of frequent water changes and don’t feed the adults too often until the filter can reestablish…maybe only feed sparingly once twice a week and add a day each week. For the fry, you will have to keep feeding them

 

[JackEmerson]

try to find cycled matter from another tank. If you don’t have another tank, your LFS may be willing to sell you some.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

I would have cleaned the filter if it had been off that long before starting it back up. Lots of waste in it would have gotten all anaerobic.
But, there's lots of bacteria on all the surfaces, gravel, plants, etc so it should reseed the filter really quickly. I'd be doing a big water change every few days though. Should be fine in a week or two.

 

[Joshuakahan]

Hello MFK!

Anyone who's seen my posts knows that I have a 90 gallon tank with a leopard ctenopoma, and six keyhole cichlids. (two of which have paired) I cycled the tank itself in The summer, and added the fish to the tank in July. Until now, there have been no issues with water quality at all, bar nitrate getting somewhat high a few times. However, a few days ago I came home to find the tanks water cloudy did water tests and nitrite had spiked. I check the filter (FX6) and found that it had been unplugged. I don't know how long it had gone unplugged, at most a week, but likely a few days. I plugged it back in and hoped for the best.

Since then, nitrite has gone back to normal. However, the ammonia levels have been high, and have not gone down significantly. In the past week its always been at anywhere between 0.25 to 1.0. (possibly 1.5, possibly.) And it has not cycled down. This could be because of an extra amount of bioload from the fry in the hang on tank and the excess food from them, but I highly doubt it. I'm really not sure what to do, or what even happened entirely. Did a water change today, even after the change the water is still very cloudy. Fish are obviously a bit stressed. If there's anything anyone can suggest or help me with here, be it insight on what could have happened or guidance on how to fix this (majorly appreciated) I would be very grateful. If pictures are needed I can post some.

Like the others have said, you’re cycle is restarting, I’d buy some bottled bacteria and try to get cycled media somewhere, even some decor or substrate from an established tank. That will all kick the process into high gear

 

[MetalRavioli]

Thank you everyone! I will make sure the cycle is restarted without any detriment to the fishes. Ill get some fritz products (turbostart probably) and do more frequent water changers.