Help me lower my ammonia levels

[Colin_T]

The sparkle you sometimes see is simply light reflecting off the fish's scales and nothing to worry about. However, white spots on the body or fins is a serious problem. You can try Nick's idea of raising the temperature to 31 degrees Celsius and keep it there for a couple of weeks, then lower it back down to 24C over a week.
Keep doing 75% daily water changes & gravel cleans during this time because it will help dilute any whitespot parasites and keep their levels low until the heat does its job, assuming it works.
No offense to Nick or others that use this method, I just haven't had a lot of success treating whitespot with heat. But try it first, because it's safer than adding medication.

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The original black widow/ skirt tetra looks like the fish in the following link.
http://www.tankfishtips.com/black-phantom-tetra-megalamphodus-megalopterus/

The white or albino version looks like
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/characins/ColoredSkirtTetra.php

And the painted version looks like
https://www.google.com.au/imgres?im...PLZAhVj7YMKHVvtAvIQMwhkKCIwIg&iact=mrc&uact=8

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If you turn your mobile phone on its side so it is horizontal instead of vertical, it will film in widescreen mode rather than having a thin clip in the middle of 2 black edges

 

[Cassiopeia]

Got myself a gravel cleaning siphon and did a good water exchange, cleaned out the gravel a bit. I picked up a couple small plants but they looked a little dirty so I rinsed them in cold water first, I hope that is ok. The store didn't carry driftwood but said they have an alternative that would work for what I need. What do you guys think? If it isn't right, I can return it and find a store that has regular driftwood. They didn't have any small pieces so I got a medium one and figured I can put it upright against one side of the tank so it doesn't take to much space. Not doing anything with it until I get some feedback from you guys to be safe.

 

[Colin_T]

Driftwood is simply wood (branches or roots from a plant) that has been in water. Mopani is simply a brand name of driftwood and is fine and will work nicely. It will make your water turn yellow or brown. This is natural tannins that leach out of all plant matter when it is put in water. The same as a cup of tea, the tea leaves release tannins into hot water and you drink it.

Rinse the mopani wood well with water only. Then put it in a bucket of water and change the water several times a day for a couple of days. Then put the wood in the tank.
*NB* your tank water will turn brown with the wood in it but it is fine for the fish. Fish from rivers all around the world live in brown tea stained water that has dead branches in. Tetras and plecos naturally occur in water with tannins in.

Your pH might also drop and become acidic (pH below 7.0) because of the wood. If it drops too much you will need to add something to stabilise the pH but don't worry too much until it happens (assuming it does).

The reason you rinse and soak the wood is to remove any dust and contaminants that might have gotten onto the wood during transport to the shop or when it was at the shop. Rinsing gets the dust and dirt off the wood. Soaking allows the wood to become water logged (gets the air out of it) and sink to the bottom. Soaking will also leach some tannins and theoretically anything harmful (like chemicals) out of the wood.
Soak the wood for a couple of days until it sinks, and replace the water several times each day to prepare it for the tank.

*NB* the wood will displace some water in the aquarium so if you ever have to treat the fish, remove the wood and then measure the water volume in the tank. Small bits of wood won't displace much but bigger pieces do.

If you find the wood is too big you can cut it with a saw or break it up with an axe. Try not to leave any sharp pointy bits on the wood. Rinse and soak wood after cutting it to make sure nothing from the saw blade contaminates it.

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The darker tannin stained water will make it harder to identify diseases and fish health issues. Because you have a tetra with a couple of white spots, I would like you to keep the wood out of the tank until we know if it is actually whitespot disease.

Daily 75% water changes will help dilute the tannins and eventually after a period of time, the wood will stop releasing tannins and the water will remain clear. However, this can take weeks, months or even years before the wood stops releasing tannins, usually several months.

 

[NickAu]

The tannins are actually beneficial to the fish,

 

[Cassiopeia]

Ok I have been doing daily water changes to control my ammonia levels and its still a constant battle to keep it down. The plants I got turned brown and did not look healthy anymore and little pieces were breaking off and getting stuck in the filter, so I removed them. I have not put any wood in yet, still trying to keep an eye on potential disease and discoloration. I have one tetra that is always attacking the others, not sure why. And another tetra has some interesting spots. I am not sure if it is disease related. I had someone tell me they are dyed fish and the dye will wear off. Not sure if this is dye wearing off or an illness. But I had another tetra die, it did not have spots like this one. Managed to get the one with spots on video for you. Please let me know what you think.

 

[Colin_T]

How much water are you removing during the water changes? You want to remove at least 50% and up to 75%. If you are doing big water changes and still getting ammonia readings, check the water supply for ammonia.

Check ammonia levels before and an hour after feeding. And food you add will cause the ammonia levels to go up.

Only feed once every second day and remove any uneaten food within 5-10minutes of feeding.

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If the fish are painted (yes they actually have a kid with a paint brush painting the colour onto the fish) then the scales eventually drop off and the colour goes. Some companies inject die under the skin and that can fade but takes longer. Most just paint it on.

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Good plants to try include Ambullia, Narrow Vallis, Hygrophilla polysperma and the common Amazon swordplant, altho swordplants can get big so buy under good conditions. And if you want a floating plant, try Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thallictroides).

True aquatic plants cannot support their own weight when lifted out of the water. So if you buy plants from a shop and the plant remains standing straight up when taken out of the tank, chances are it's a marsh plants and might not do well under water.

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When you film the fish, turn your camera on its side so the entire screen gets the image, rather than the middle only. It makes it easier to watch the fish

 

[Cassiopeia]

I am using a siphon and draining until there is about 2-3 inches of water left for them. Its about a 75% water exchange I would say. Checked my well water and has no ammonia in it. I have been feeding a small amount every other day and scooping out whatever pieces I can gind with a net after. Do you think it just looks like dye wearing off then or does it look like sometging else?

I have another tank 180 gallons set up that has been cycling fishless for almost 2 weeks. I added bottled bacteria, nitrosomonas, and nitrospira. Its levels have been staying at

ph 7.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
Temp 74.5

Im trying to do this tank right. Is there anything else I should add? Are the levels good enough to add fish? Maybe I could move them over, as long as nobody is sick. Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Cassiopeia]

I was going to wait on the 180 gallon tank but I knew I would eventually need one and turned out I have a friend who was trying to sell his.
He used it for a bass but couldn't keep it when he moves since it takes up a crazy amount of space. So he sold the bass and took down the tank. He gave me an offer I couldnt pass up. It came with 2 great filters. I set it up to make sure there's no leaks and everything works and then I liked it and didnt want to take it down. I figured I will just let it cycle fishless until it is perfect and I make sure all my fish are in good health. It is beautiful even without fish.

 

[Cassiopeia]

 

[seangee]

Did you add ammonia to the 180G? Your numbers suggest the cycle is complete but 2 weeks seems very quick and the bacteria do need ammonia to feed on. Just in case check out the "cycling a tank" post under "How to Tips" in the menu.

 

[NickAu]

How long was it between the time the tank was taken down by your friend and when you set it up? Did the filter media dry out?

If it was only about a week or so and the filter media was wet then the good bacteria didn't die.

 

[Cassiopeia]

It was down a week before we got it and we set it up same day. Filters were still wet. We did add ammonia when we first set it up. Its been down to 0 since yesterday.

 

[seangee]

If it were me I would move the fish. (Wait a while for others to comment because possibly not everyone will agree ).

My logic is that you and the fish are all stressed at the moment because they are in a partially cycled tank. Even if the new tank is partially cycled it will take 10 times as long to reach the same levels and even longer if you do a 10% change daily. Keep monitoring the water and be prepared to do a 50% change if the levels do get too high. Hopefully you have sussed the logistics for actually doing this including (if applicable) getting the water up to temp.

The reason I suggested 10% daily is that is about the same amount of water as you are doing now and you won't need to worry about the temp as its such a small percentage.

 

[Cassiopeia]

If I start moving them over, should I only do 3 at a time and wait?

 

[Cassiopeia]

We adjusted the heater and temp is climbing. It is at 77 now. Will see where it settles. My 20 gallon is at 78.