Ammonia Peak

[ShannonKoletti]

Hi everyone,

I took my water to be tested as one of my guppies sadly passed, and was told everything’s fine except my ammonia which is at 1. I’ve done a 20% waterchange a couple days ago then yesterday did another 30% water change. Today I tested my water with an API ammonia kit and it’s still at 1. The water is also a bit cloudy but everyone is quite happy?

I’ve been feeding twice a day admittedly which I cut to once a day and a small amount, my PH is stable at 7 and water temp is 26.

Due to the spike I’ve bought aqua one ammonia neutraliser which says it turns ammonia into ammonium but doesn’t fix the issue, should I be adding the recommended dose every day until my ammonia is stable?

I’ve also just finished a bottle of API QuickStart I used recommended dose every day until the bottle was empty which was recommended to me by the aquarium store. I’ve bought Nutrifin Cycle as well to try and boost my bacteria.

When starting my aquarium I was allowing it to cycle fishless but heavily planted, then added filter media from my established tank to kick start it and will be stealing some pebbles as well..

I always scoop out dead debris from the plants. Should I do another water hanger today is there anything I can buy or do differently? It’s a community tank.

 

[NickAu]

What declorinator are you using?

Is the tank cycled?

Today I tested my water with an API ammonia kit and it’s still at 1.

You need to do a 75% water change now, then test for ammonia tomorrow, and if there is any ammonia another 75% water change.

I took my water to be tested as one of my guppies sadly passed, and was told everything’s fine except my ammonia which is at 1.

Shows how little the LFS knows, with a reading of 1 there is no way " everything’s fine " its far from fine.

 

[Colin_T]

if you have any ammonia or nitrite readings in the tank, you should do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean each day until the readings are at 0.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

 

[ShannonKoletti]

I’m using Blue Planet Water Conditioner which I use for my big tank and never had an issue.

Yes tank is cycled.

Will the fish be okay if I do a 75% water change every day?.. taking out that much won’t stress them too much? Also the neutriliser chips I bought should I be using them everyday? They change ammonia into ammonium but don’t eliminate of course just make it so it’s not harmful for fish, do I keep using that?

LFS said do a 30% water change cut back on feeding and I should be sweet.

How do I make sure it’s free of chlorine? I usually add the water then tip my water conditioner in once all water is added, do I add it to each bucket of water?

Can ammonia be caused due to not enough oxygen? My pump failed for the whole day while I was at work and when I got home two fish were dying that have now sadly passed.

 

[Colin_T]

I am not sure what is in the Blue Planet water conditioner but the website says it breaks down chlorine and chloramine, so presumably it has sodium thiosulphate in, which neutralises chlorine & chloramine.

Before you do a water change, get a fish only bucket and fill it with tap water. Add the required amount of water conditioner (blue planet) to the bucket of water, and aerate the water & conditioner for about 30minutes. Then use that to fill the tank up.

Ammonia does a lot of damage to fish and the quickest way to lower it is to change some water. A big water change (75%) and complete gravel clean (with a gravel cleaner) will dilute any harmful substance in the aquarium water much more effectively than a small 30% water change. And as long as the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank, the fish should be fine.

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I am unsure on the ammonia chips you have but ammonia absorbing granules and ammonia binding products are not worth using because they can absorb the ammonia (which is what they are designed to do), but this prevents the filter bacteria from using it. If the filter bacteria does not get any ammonia for a couple of days, it will go dormant.

Big water changes & gravel cleaning the substrate, and reducing the amount of food going into the tank will fix ammonia problems very quickly.

Anything that breaks down in water (be it fish food, fish waste, dead fish, dead plant, etc) will produce ammonia. The more food, the more waste and the more ammonia that will be produced. Reducing the feeding will reduce the amount of ammonia produced. And big water changes dilute the ammonia.

Big water changes also reduce harmful disease organisms more effectively than small water changes, so the fish have cleaner water to live in.

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If your pump/ filter was without power for any length of time, the oxygen levels in the water would have been reduced a bit but it will not cause ammonia to occur. What will happen is the beneficial filter bacteria start to die if they are without oxygen for a few hours and then there is insufficient bacteria to remove the ammonia from the water.

Depending on how long the filter was without power and the type of filter, will determine how much beneficial filter bacteria died and how quickly it recovers.

 

[ShannonKoletti]

Okay thank you so much for your help I really appreciate it I’ve just gotten home from work and am about to do the big water change (wish me luck)

By pump I meant air pump like the air stones had no air coming out of them they were just dormant, not my filter so no oxygen was in the tank.

When I let the water sit should it be warm or room temperature water? I’m worried about putting cold water into the tank

 

[Colin_T]

As long as the new water is a similar temperature to the tank water it is fine. A few degrees is not a big issue, but if the new water is noticeably colder then add a bit of boiled water to warm it up.

If you have a power filter and it was still running but the air pump had stopped, the power filter will be alive and the bacteria in the filter will be fine. Any surface turbulence will help excess carbon dioxide come out of the water and allow oxygen into it so having a filter running and creating a ripple effect on the surface, will help keep oxygen levels high.

Air pumps blowing air into air stones create the highest level of surface turbulence and increase oxygen levels faster than other forms of aeration.

 

[ShannonKoletti]

I tested it this morning and it’s still at 1, I left the water for 30 mins and everything not sure what to do now, I think I’ll test my tap water with three different variables, clean water, added water conditioner, and added ammonia neutraliser to see if anything is giving a false reading. I’m wondering if the ammonia neutraliser does as such.

 

[NickAu]

As far as I can see Blue Planet water conditioner only deals with Chlorine and Chloramine, It wont neutralize Ammonia Nitrites and Nitrates..

Have you tested the tap water for Ammonia?

 

[ShannonKoletti]

When I say ammonia neutraliser I’m referring to the Aqua One Ammonia Neutraliser I purchased, nothing to do with my water conditioner. Should I be purchasing a different conditioner that does everything? What brands would do that?

Not yet as stated above I plan on doing that tonight after work including testing different variables. I’m wondering if the aqua one ammonia neutraliser I used is giving off an ammonia reading, it states it can do that but wonder if it would still be present in the tank after the big water change? I’m guessing so.

 

[NickAu]

aqua one ammonia neutraliser I

Ok this explains a lot, API Ammonia neutralizer converts ammonia to ammonium, Most water test kits cant tell the difference between the 2.

 

[ShannonKoletti]

Yeah I know that’s why I bought it..

I took my water to get tested before purchasing it and was told my ammonia is at 1 so bought it in fear of losing more fish, then did a big water change so I assume that’s still why the reading is high.

Do you recommend a different water conditioner? Like Seachem Prime? Should I do another water change tonight?

 

[Colin_T]

Which country do you live in?
If you are in America you probably have chloramine I the tap water. Chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia and it stays active for longer than chlorine. When you add a dechlorinator to water with chloramine in, the dechlorinator breaks the chlorine ammonia bond and gets rid of the chlorine, leaving behind the ammonia.

This could be causing the ammonia reading in the tank.

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If you have chlorine only (no chloramine) then just do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until there is no more ammonia or nitrite.

Reduce the feeding to a small bit every second day.

 

[ShannonKoletti]

Thanks so much, I’ll deifnitely test my tap water when I get home. I live in Australia. Seachem Prime states that it rids of Chlorine, Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite from tap water so I’ll purchase some of that.

The big water changes won’t harm the fish or the bacteria colony growing? I’m worried as have done a water change every day for about a week now.

 

[NickAu]

Seachem Prime states that it rids of Chlorine, Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite from tap water so I’ll purchase some of that.

Seachem also tells lies.


Prime will bind ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for 24-48 hours. At which point they are released back into the water.


PS
To any Seachem rep who might read this, Prove me wrong.

I only use and recommend Easy-Life Filter Medium - Easy-Life