Ammonia 4.0

[ks2012ks]

I waiting nervously for the bio filter to kick in but i have never got a reading of ammonia this high before ammonia 4.0: the ph was 6.6 : nitrites 0 , and nitrates 0: will my bio filter kick in soon! I don’t see how i am suppose to feed a beta fish once a day if this food is making ammonia levels crazy high. After getting this reading i added a 10 gallon measurement for prime, ammon lock , and i added a ph up to it too!

 

[ks2012ks]

The beta fish seems to be doing fine! Which is why i added ammon lock

 

[ks2012ks]

I just did a 15 % water change 2 days ago

 

[Naughts]

Change 75% of the water every day that the ammonia or nitrite is above 0.
Reduce feeding to once every other day.

 

[ks2012ks]

Change 75% of the water every day that the ammonia or nitrite is above 0.
Reduce feeding to once every other day.

What about all the good bacteria i put into already!

 

[shabash]

Your bb, won’t be affected by water changes. Most of it will be on the surfaces of your tank, substrate, decor, plants. But since your ammonia level is that high, I’d wager there isn’t much bacteria there So your priority should be on the well being of the fish until your cycle kicks in.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

You're likely overfeeding, so cut the amount in half and see how that does. I do a water change of about 75%-90% weekly. 15% will do no good.

Also if you see piles of leftover food get a siphon and remove it before you feed again. I accidently do that sometimes and get the siphon out, remove the excess and don't worry about it. If you are only occasionally seeing 20% then you're getting close to learning how much to feed, but if you see it all the time - start reducing the amount. (I hate starving them but some fish are really bad about leaving a lot of debris, while others eat every last scrap.

As far as the bacteria - you can also try adding Tetra Safe Start each time you do a water change - just a tablespoon or so and it will boost the amount of those ammonia bacteria - they have to equal what your feeding then life will be good. ( having too many fish before you grow enough bacteria can happen too - Safe Start will help with that too).

 

[Naughts]

What about all the good bacteria i put into already!

You can only let ammonia build if you are doing a fishless cycle. As you already have a fish you have to remove the ammonia as it will kill the fish. As Shabash says, you 're beneficial bacteria are on the surfaces (filter sponges, substrate etc.) so will continue to develop. Any bottled bacteria that you've added will have adhered to the surfaces and won't be in the water column.

 

[Tttay89]

I'm confused.
Are you cycling using a betta?
Bacteria will be mainly in the substrate, ornaments and in the filter media. Do a 50-60 percent change twice (keeping to temperature) and a 50 percent change daily untill the nitrite reading appears... To save this fish of course...

 

[ks2012ks]

I just dumped the water and started over. I kept 10% of the water the betta fish didn’t survive the temperature change ... i am not going to give up .. its all a learning experience for me. But this is even more dedicated than a ****ing cat... kind of have to be a MAD scientist in order to get these fish to survive !

 

[Byron]

You may be doing more than necessary here. A single Betta is not going to have much of a problem in a 10g tank (is my reading of this correct, the tank is 10 gallons?) and even less if you have live plants (floating are needed for a Betta anyway, so double benefit) as they take up all the ammonia a Betta can create.

Never use pH adjusting chemicals in an aquarium with fish. These chemicals are seriously stressful to fish, and chances are they will not work long-term anyway. The pH is closely connected to the GH, KH and dissolved CO2 levels.

The above are just issues I spotted in the thread, I can elaborate if asked.

 

[ks2012ks]

You may be doing more than necessary here. A single Betta is not going to have much of a problem in a 10g tank (is my reading of this correct, the tank is 10 gallons?) and even less if you have live plants (floating are needed for a Betta anyway, so double benefit) as they take up all the ammonia a Betta can create.

Never use pH adjusting chemicals in an aquarium with fish. These chemicals are seriously stressful to fish, and chances are they will not work long-term anyway. The pH is closely connected to the GH, KH and dissolved CO2 levels.

The above are just issues I spotted in the thread, I can elaborate if asked.

I agree, definitely over thinking this... i just freaked out when the ammonia level was 4.0 i had live plants in it but not long enough they too got destroyed through the water change . Lol i am a freak i just sit in my apartment looking into the fish tank. But nevertheless i get up and try again...

 

[Byron]

I agree, definitely over thinking this... i just freaked out when the ammonia level was 4.0 i had live plants in it but not long enough they too got destroyed through the water change . Lol i am a freak i just sit in my apartment looking into the fish tank. But nevertheless i get up and try again...

May I ask how a water change destroyed the plants? And did you add any artificial ammonia to get it up to 4?

 

[ks2012ks]

No artificial ammonia at all.. the plants didn’t survive only because when adding the new water to the tank it destroyed the roots and broke apart the aquatic plant.

 

[Byron]

No artificial ammonia at all.. the plants didn’t survive only because when adding the new water to the tank it destroyed the roots and broke apart the aquatic plant.

I'm somewhat confused, but I would like to help you solve this if you agree. I will need some more info. First, some generalities.

I assume the plants were floating plants? Floating plants are "ammonia sinks," it is remarkable how much they can assimilate. I asked about the artificial ammonia because ammonia is toxic to all life forms depending upon how strong it is, and 4ppm ammonia would kill many (perhaps all) aquarium plants. It can be done, but I would never use ammonia to cycle a tank if live lants are present. This is just for info, as I realize you didn't add any. Which begs the question, how did it get to 4 ppm?

With an acidic pH, "ammonia" is primarily ammonium and this is harmless to fish. Though I would want to know why it was 4 if it were my tank.

How did the temperature change to kill the fish? And how could the water change break them apart...what plants were they?