Ammo Lock, Stress Zyme & Stress Coat

[Bambi001]

Hiya,

I am a little worried as I have had my tank for about 7 weeks now and was told that I needed to wait for two weeks before adding fish. To be on the safe side I tested the water and when conducting all of the relevant tests everything seemed fine and I then added two Dalmation Mollies.

Well, after another two weeks I noticed that the Male was darting up and down the tank and I had concerns that it was stressed and I started to use Ammo lock with every water change, as well as Stress Coat and Stress Zyme. He continued in the same manner and this is when I was told that he was alright, just displaying to the female. So I added another female Molly to calm him down a little and it worked, well a little.

I still want to check something though as I don't want to be doing anything that I shouldn't. As I have been using Ammo Lock, Stress Coat & Stress Zyme with every water change I don't know if I am not helping the filter work effectively. When carrying out tests I am also getting constantley high levels of ammonia within each reading. I decided to take some water to a local store to be tested and the readings were the same. They told me to add some plants, dont feed them for a week and continue what I am doing with all three solutions. I have not fed my fish for 5 days now and although I know they can last longer than this there are no positive changes in the reading on the test some 5 days later, if anything it is worse. Also, the plants that I added 5 days earlier are decaying and they told me there was nothing special that I had to do to keep plants. I have the light on for roughly two hours a day, but I am not even sure if this is enough and whether I should have added them in the first place.

Can anyone offer any advice as I am starting to panic a little (sorry, I love my little Mollies and don't want to loose them). I have read that stopping using Ammo Lock may kill off my fish as the filter will not kick in (as I haven't let it already with using it all the time). If I am stop using it and do partial (10%) water changes daily to get rid of the ammo lock that is there will this help? Also, am I still alright using Stress Coat and Stress Zyme?

I would really appreciate any help you can give me as I want to make sure my water is free of Ammonia before I add any more fish naturally, but don't want to be harming the fish I have by doing the wrong things.

Thank you

Bambi x

 

[littlest]

Unfortunately waiting two weeks doesn't do anything unless you cycle the tank by adding ammonia (which takes longer than two weeks generally), which it doesn't sound like you did,

Since you didn't do this, there wasn't hardly any bacteria present to process the ammonia when you added the fish, hence high ammonia levels now and stressed out fish.

FIrst off, you should be relying on frequent (probably daily) waterchanges to reduce the ammonia, rather than Ammo-Lock or any other products. AT the moment, how often are you doing water changes and how much are you changing?
How big is your tank? and what are the exact readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH?

 

[Bambi001]

Thank you so much for your reply. It sounds like I have received bad advice from the shop I went to and they are not really helping me so I really appreciate your help.

I have carried out the tests for Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia and tested the PH which is 6.0. Everything reads alright with the exception of the Ammonia which at moment is between the 4ppm and 8ppm mark on the test kit (API). The Nitrate and Nitrite readings are both 0ppm.

I carry out weekly water changes, only changing about 25% of the water, but when adding the solution I add the amount indicated on the bottles, but I am concerned I may be adding too much. The tank I have is a 180L tank.

I will continue with the daily water changes but what will I be best adding to take the chlorine out of the water. I have been using Stress Coat for this.

Thanks again

Bambi x

 

[Tobigara]

i've got bad news for you. Very few fish shops will give you proper advice for good fish keeping. you best bet is to listen to the experts on this forum. i'm not an expert but i can tell you from experience that you need to stop using ammo lock all together because it stops the tank from cycling. if i were you i would read this...

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

This will tell you about fishless cycling. However, if you are unable to temporarily rehome your fish to do a fishless cycle then i would bring the temp up to 80 degrees and start doing bigger daily water changes...50%+. don't stop feeding the fish but maybe cut it down to every other day or every 2 days. eventually if your fish survive, the ammonia will drop to zero and your nitrIte will spike. Keep up with the water changes and eventually your nitrIte will drop to zero. Now the nitrAte will go up. Once your ammonia and nitrIte are consistently at zero you can start doing smaller water changes only once a week and bring the temp down to whatever is ideal to the fish you have.

there are a couple of pinned topics that you can read to give you a better understanding of cycling a tank but here it is in a nut shell.

Fish create ammonia. Bacteria will grow that eats the ammonia and turns it into the slightly less deadly nitrIte. More bacteria will grow that eat the nitrIte and turn it into even less deadly nitrAte. NitrAte is removed/diluted by regular water changes.

If i wasn't late to pick someone up from the airport i would go into greater detail. i'm sorry. i hope this helps you at least a little.

 

[madgap]

The most important thing, Bambi, is you seek advice. and you are doing that now. Take the critisism as advice too. and stick a it. When you begin to get it right, you'll really enjoy fishkeeping

 

[fourthtimelucky]

I was told at the fish shop that I could run my tank for ONE DAY and then add enough fish to overstock even a fully cycled tank!

I think everyone on these forums has received similarly bad advice from fish shop employees at some point. But you are doing the best thing now by researching it all properly. Hopefully you will be able to get your fish through this. Good luck!

As for your plants -- they probably need a lot more light to begin with. Then, depending on the plant, you might need to look into CO2, fertiliser etc... all the "nothing special" stuff they decided not to tell you about at the shop. But for now I would just concentrate on your fishies.

 

[rdd1952]

If your ammonia is between 4 and 8 ppm, you need to do a 75% water change ASAP and then do smaller 25% WCs as often as needed to get the ammonia (and nitrite) below .25ppm and keep it there. You may have to do the 2 or 3 times a day until your tank cycles. Once you have 0 ammonia and nitrate for a full week, you can add a couple more fish and start the testing and water changes all over again.

 

[arvlyn]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe AmmoLock can give false ammonia test results.

 

[rdd1952]

Ammo-Lock converts ammonia into ammomium. Our test kits measure Total Amonnia which is the combined amout of ammonia and ammonium in the water. So when you use ammo-lock, the reading you get on your test will not change but the reading you get will be all ammonium.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Plants often don't survive well in a cycling tank I'm afraid. Unstable water parameters and consequent alage growth generally don't benefit any plants. You've also probably been sold unsuitable plants. If you post a pic here I'll have a go at IDing some of them for you if you want. There is a link in my sig. to easy to grow plants and if yours are an easy to grow species then all they will need is a weekly liquid fertiliser like Plantamin.

 

[rdd1952]

As mentioned, the plants my not be the right type. As a general rule, plants with varigated leaves are not suitable for underwater.

 

[Bambi001]

Can I thank you all for the advise you have given me. I have completed one water change and only added aquasafe to dechlorinate the water. I noticed this morning that one of my fish (Petita - sorry I have got attached already and they have been named after the 101 dalmations) seems to be swimming slowly and very unsteadily at the bottom of the tank until the male pushes her and she starts swimming again. It really is heartbreaking and they are so friendly, trying to see what I am doing everytime I go near them. They are so beautiful and I really hope that I have not hurt them with my inexperience and the bad advise I have received.

I have taken the plants out as I noticed one of them starting to rot and I was worried this would add to the ammonia.

My only remaining question is should I add anything to help them get through this, like medication of any type, or should I just continue with the water changes and testing.

Thank you again, I really do appreciate the time you have taken to help me.

Bambi x

 

[vinylman]

The best thing you can do for your fish if you can't temporarily rehome them is to keep up the water changes and testing. You're not the first newbie to be given rank advice by a shop and, sadly, you won't be the last. Don't be afraid to ask whatever you want here; there's always someone lurking, whatever the hour. You've found the right place. There's plenty to read here in the numerous pinned threads. Read away.