Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Does anyone know when goldfish spawn, would it raise the ammonia level in a tank? How can I bring the level back down?

We have a cycled system and I created spring in the tank without realizing it.

pretty much anytime it is warm.

I dont know why it would raise ammonia... maybe once the young grow and get large.

If you have enough filtration for your fish load your media/bacteria will keep up with the slow increase in ammonia output

What do you mean by spring in the tank?

We brought the fish inside mid October and the water was low 60's.
Now after set up and settling in, it has warmed up enough for them
To believe it is spring and spawning started to my surprise. But the
ammonia level is very high right now. It is 72 F, they eat twice per day.
I am cutting back on feed, should i lower the temp?

It sounds like your indoor tank is cycling? maybe overfeeding... definately lower feed.. even stop entirely for a few days would be good.


brian

Would having a Pleco (Algae Eater) in the tank cause the tank to start
cycling again? Is the bacteria in the tank or the growbed?

You said you moved the fish to the tank in october? was the tank already cycled? I am suggesting maybe it hasnt finished from adding this fish load.

how big is the tank and how many gold fish? doubtful the pleco would be significant ammonia producer, he's gonna help clean up some of the uneaten food.


brian

The tank was not cycled when we put in the fish second week of October. It cycled a month later. We added lava rock to the new beds from the outside established bed to help cycle it in November

The tank is 55 gallon, there are 6 fish; one at 6 inches, one at 4 inches and the others are about two to three inches.

I did not think the pleco would add to the ammonia, I thought they may have affected the bacteria in the tank; I am assuming the bacteria is in the grow beds. The plants are growing, but slowly.

The tank is just about spotless, even the pleco are eating the fish food.

It is just recently the ammonia level has spiked and I thought it may have something with spawning. I found out that I have two females, 3 males but the 6th fish may be too young to know the sex yet. Each female has spawned once a week for the last two weeks.