Ammonia Spike!!

[Annie]

Hi I have joined because I need some advise on my fish keeping.
I have a 5 gallon tank with four guppies and one neon tetra.
All was going great until Wednesday when I noticed my neon swimming into the side of the tank and it looked like he was trying to get out. So I checked the levels. The ammonia level was at a 1.0 and by Saturday it hit a 4.0. On Wednesday I did a water change and continued to do level checks. PH:7.8, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate was lower than usual it was 5.0 and it was at 40, KH: 3 and GH: 10. So on Saturday my Nitrate is at 0 and ammonia at 4.0 and I got a white out in the tank. Today is Monday and the bacterial cloud has gone and the water is clear but my ammonia levels have not dropped.
On Saturday when the ammonia spiked I went to the store and bought ammo-lock but later read that is was not the best to use because it messes with the readings so I discontinued using it and went with Prime. I wanted to protect the fish and have them survive the spike. They are well and vibrant, eating is not a problem and their breathing is regular. I took readings today(Monday 15,2011) and the Nitrite is 0 and Nitrate is 0. The ammonia is 3.0 and I can't get it down. All the other levels are where they should be. So my question is am I missing something or is this just part of the cycling process. I would like to know what caused the "good bacteria" to die in the first place. I do water changes every Friday because my KH is at 3 so I don't get PH swings and with that I add a cap full of Stabilize and some aquarium salt. Oh and I have had them in there for 3 or 4 months... I don't have real plants and I took everything out of the tank. I have a Bio and carbon filter also. I don't think I have left anything out but I am sure you will ask if I have.

[Wackytpt]

Hi there,

Welcome to AQ. I will shift your thread to the correct sub forum and maybe you will get more response there.

Cheers

[sianxz]

having plants will definitely help to lower ammonia level to a certain extent. Simple plants like hornworts / frogbits should work. Also i believe neon tetra prefer neutral to acidic water, while your water is alkaline, you may want to decrease your pH by a little or at least stop it from rising. Usually pH will drop with time ( very very long time )

However, you may want to deal with the ammonia problem first before tackling the pH as it is not so critical since your fish has been in there for few months already