High Ammonia!

[PermanentXHate]

I tested my water in my 32 Gallon Tank today around noon and it read like this:

• Ammonia: 8.0 ppm
• Nitrate: 5 ppm
• Nitrite: 0 ppm
• pH: 7.6

I went to my lfs and got some Top Fin Ammonia Remover and added 5 mL for every 10 gallons as the instructions told me to do to get rid of ammonia. I also got pH Correct Fizz Tabs and added 1 tab for every 10 gallons.

I retested the pH and ammonia two hours later and they read like this.

• Ammonia: 8.0 ppm
• pH: 7.0

The pH corrected. The ammonia didn't. I know this can cause major stress and even some deaths in fish. I haven't had any deaths yet. How can I prevent that and lower my ammonia?!

 

[dzsigmond217]

I had a problem with the ammonia in my 29 gallon tank today as well. Not as high as yours but..I did a massive water change 50% and added some ammonia remover. 2 hours later I checked and the ammonia was almost all gone.. I think I'm going to do another 40% water change now. I would think that the first problem is to find out why your ammonia is so high. Is your tank overstocked? Have you done your weekly water changes? Good luck and let us know!

 

[PermanentXHate]

I'm not sure why it is so high. I heard over feeding and over stocking can lead to it. But I don't over feed them, in fact I've recently cut down on the feeding and that was BEFORE it spiked. Then I set up my ten gallon tank and took some fish OUT of my 32 gallon tank to make sure it wasn't overstocking. It didn't fix. I'll try the water change and the remover and then let you guys know.

 

[Amunet]

Is the tank cycled? Might be a silly question but... 8ppm of ammonia is pretty dern high and I just had to ask.

Also... don't mess with your pH. 7.6 is absolutely fine for your fish. They'll adjust to it on their own.
Those fizzy tabs and all of that other mess to make it the 'perfect' reading of 7.0 will only cause you to waste money on it and will stress your fish out due to the pH swinging all over the place.

I don't know if I would use the ammonia removing stuff anymore. I would just keep doing water changes until the ammonia reading is eithr 0 or close to 0. Maybe try something like Prime. It's supposed to make ammonia less toxic or something, but still useable by the beneficial bacteria.

 

[PermanentXHate]

Is the tank cycled? Might be a silly question but... 8ppm of ammonia is pretty dern high and I just had to ask.

Also... don't mess with your pH. 7.6 is absolutely fine for your fish. They'll adjust to it on their own.
Those fizzy tabs and all of that other mess to make it the 'perfect' reading of 7.0 will only cause you to waste money on it and will stress your fish out due to the pH swinging all over the place.

I don't know if I would use the ammonia removing stuff anymore. I would just keep doing water changes until the ammonia reading is eithr 0 or close to 0. Maybe try something like Prime. It's supposed to make ammonia less toxic or something, but still useable by the beneficial bacteria.

It should be cycled by now. If it isn't then we have more of a problem then just high ammonia lol.
Thanks about the pH, I'll leave it be from now on.

The tank has been set up for about three months, about three weeks ago I had to do a 100% water change though to get rid of some aquarium salt, I decided I didn't want a brackish tank. I only lost 3 small zebra fish to that but I'm not sure why, it was sudden, they kinda spazzed as soon as they hit the watter. Stress probably. But the tank has some algae growth in it and keeps clear and I assumed it to be cycled again.

I have only had my 10 gallon tank running for a week and its ammonia is only 2 ppm. But that's normal for JUST starting out. I don't understand my 32 gallon though. 8 ppm worries me.

 

[Colin_T]

if you ever get a high ammonia reading the first thing you do is stop feeding. The next thing you do is a 75-90% water change using dechlorinate water with a simliar temp & PH to the tank.
The water change will remove most of the ammonia and give you a chance to work out what happened.

You might want to check the test kit. If you actually did have an ammonia reading of 8 your fish should be dead, especially with a PH of 7.6

 

[st24rsap]

You might want to check the test kit. If you actually did have an ammonia reading of 8 your fish should be dead, especially with a PH of 7.6

i second that!
is it a liquid test kit you are using?
whatever you are using to test the ammonia it may be worth geting it tested somewhere else as well as 8ppm is very high and im amazed the fish are still alive

 

[PermanentXHate]

You might want to check the test kit. If you actually did have an ammonia reading of 8 your fish should be dead, especially with a PH of 7.6

i second that!
is it a liquid test kit you are using?
whatever you are using to test the ammonia it may be worth geting it tested somewhere else as well as 8ppm is very high and im amazed the fish are still alive

it is a liquid test kit. i'll check it again to be positive. although i have tested it like three times.

 

[st24rsap]

what are the latest readings?

have you lost any fish as yet or are they acting strange in any way?

 

[PermanentXHate]

OK, so far I've just been replying to you guys. But here is a full update.

After checking with you guys here is what I did.

I tested the water again and the reading was still 8ppm. I did a 50% water change, tested the water again: still 8 ppm. Added 15mL of Top Fin Ammonia Remover (5mL/10gal as directed). Retested again in 2 hrs.

Results: 4ppm

We're making progress. Tomorrow I will do another 50% water change and repeat the above steps.

No, there has been no weird behaviors or deaths in ANY of my fish. This is why I'm confused because everyone says at 8ppm they shouldn't be alive. Maybe I have special fish Who knows but I'm glad they are still alive!

Yes I am using a liquid test kit.

Just tested my tap water, the reading was: 1 ppm.

I'm thinking bad test kit? I'm about to test some distilled water to make sure.

Distilled Water Results: .50 ppm

Def. a bad test kit. DANG!

I'm going to exchange it right now then test our water again. Be back later.

 

[PermanentXHate]

PHEW!

I went to my lfs and got a new test kit and here were my readings:

• 32 gallon: 2 ppm
• tap water: .5 ppm
• distilled water: 0 ppm

MUCH better!

I think I just got a bad test kit. But there is still ammonia in the tank so I'll be doing a water change.

But 2 is way way way better than 8.

 

[Colin_T]

The ammonia you have in the tap water would indicate you have chloramine in your mains drinking water.
You shuld look for a dechlorinator that is suited to treating chloramine and not just chlorine.

 

[PermanentXHate]

The ammonia you have in the tap water would indicate you have chloramine in your mains drinking water.
You shuld look for a dechlorinator that is suited to treating chloramine and not just chlorine.

any suggestions of what some of those are named?

 

[st24rsap]

Stress coat is 1

 

[pastabake]

I use Tap conditioner by API, its 3 drops per 3.8l for chlorine removal and something like 9 for chloramine. Its the same people that make Stress coat but unlike stress coat it has no Aloe extract in it - I use it whenever I add a new fish or do a big water change, but some people claim it can clog gills.

You should contact your local water supplier as they will tell you what they put in the water to treat it, no point in dosing for chloramine if it isn't there.