Ammonia - AMRID

[kevore]

Hi all, Newbie here. I just started a 10 gallon aquarium with an AquaClear mini filter that I loaded with a sponge filter, a carbon filter and an ammonia remover filter (amrid). I set the tank up 3 nights ago and bought 5 fish (2 mollies, a platy, a rasbora and a danio) tonight for the tank as the worker at Petco said that should be okay to start with. Earlier this evening, my fish looked to be suffering (weird bobbing behavior or staying near the surface of the water) so in trying to find some answers, I went online and discovered this board. I now realize that I may have overloaded the tank which resulted in too much ammonia. So after reading past posts I realized that I needed to do a water change (did it, and the fish look to be happier for it), but now I'm wondering why the AMRID filter didn't do it's job of clearing out the excess ammonia.

And how long am I supposed to leave it in the filter basket? If it does have effectiveness, does it lose it after awhile? Am I supposed to replace it every month as instructed on the box? Was it a mistake to use it at all and should (can) I remove it now to get on with the cycling process??

Anyone with any experience with this product please help!

Thanks in advance,
Karen

 

[jayB]

Hi Karen

Setting up three nights ago was possibly too soon to add fish !! oops

It should take a bit longer than that as you need to get your filter functioning properly with the right ammount of healthy bacteria that will be able to convert any ammonia present into nitite (slightly less toxic) and then bacteria to feed on the nitrite and convert it into nitrate (which in controlled concentrations is ok for fishes)

The products in your filter are ok I suppose but still they need time to establish before they can accept the additional loading of fish waste.

The amrid sponge that you are using is basically impregnated with a chemical that would work to convert the ammonia into a less toxic ammoniac ?? (I think)
If you dont have a problem with using chenicals you could try to add some ammolock available in most good stores/LFS as an emergency measure !!!

The water changes are good, but dont over do it, and make sure that you treat the water from the faucet with a de-clorinator and try not to add it at a vastly different temperature than the existing tank water.

I would also look at getting a good test kit to be able to monitor your water parameters --- ammonia levels (toxic)
nitrite levels (toxic)
nitrate levels
water pH

these are the 4 main parameters that you need to keep tabs on (there are others see your LFS)

As you are cycling the tank using the traditional method of using fish as opposed to fishless then you really do need to keep a close eye on their well being and their water conitions untill the tank has matured and finished its cycle. Some people use hardy or (dare I say it) sacrificial fish to start off a traditional cycle setup - but I believe that you can still achieve the same results as well as look out for the fishes health and welfare ??

Once this has completed and you have a healthy population of bacteria to naturally remove ammonia / nitrite then you should no longer need to use the amrid filter media but it would do no harm leaving it in until its expiry, then remove as it would possible be saturated ?? (dont know for sure as not familiar with product??) it should atleast save you the cash of replacing it monthly !!

I am by no means an expert but I hope I have helped a little

Good luck

Jay

 

[kevore]

Thank for the response Jay! When you say "don't overdo the water changes" what exactly do you mean?

Last night when the fish were looking so bad, I did a 10% change (as per what I read by Alien Anna in the pinned post for New Tank Syndrome) and the fish didn't seem any happier. So I decided to do an even bigger 25% water change and that did the trick.

What do you recommend from now on until I'm through cycling?

Thanks,
Karen

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Hi Kevore

Your ammo-locking filter media takes ammonia and converts it into a harmless form. The ammonia is still in the tank, and must be removed thorugh water changes. The problem is that if the ammo is being converted, then what ammonia is left to cycle your tank?

My point is that you should remove that stuff altogether or a) your tank will have a hard time cycling and B) you end up wasting money on a filter media that does nothing that your natural bio-filter won't do when it's established.

I would recommend taking the fish back and starting your cycle again with just 2 or 3 danios. They are very hardy and with just the few fish in the tank the toxin levels will peak out at lower levels, and you won't have to struggle to keep the fish alive.

While you are at the fish store ask them for some well estabilished gravel or filter floss, and get them to put it in a bag of tank water. Then put the media (not the water) in your own filter. This will introduce bacteria into your aquarium and speed up the cycle.

Whether you take back the fish or not the best way to lower the toxin levels is water changes, and the best way to keep them at safe levels is to do as many water changes as it takes to keep them down. Chemicals only add more junk to the tank and interupt your cycle.

Good luck

 

[kevore]

The tank needs the ammonia to cycle! Of course! Jeez, why didn't that occur to me before? I just removed the amrid filter and will get some gravel from the pet store--thanks for the advice.

Problem about returning the fish though. My 6-year old daughter has already given them names and fallen in love with them so I fear I'm going to have to attempt cycling with all five fish or else I'm going to have to deal with a very upset 6-year old.

I'll keep the water changes going and hopefully we won't have her upset over dead fish instead...

Wish me luck,
Karen

 

[thecichlidaddict]

I'll keep the water changes going

If you are diligent with this part, and it sounds like you will be, then it should work out fine. keeping the ammonia as low as possible is the key.

Good luck

 

[jayB]

Hi Karen - Appologies for not responding to your last question - have been mad busy !!!

What I meant by dont over do the water changes was .......

Yes, as The cichlidaddict says, water changes are the only measure to keep the water parameters at acceptable levels, but there are no hard and fast rules as to the ammounts replaced at each water change.

I my opinion, smaller daily changes would be better than trying to overdo it by changing more than say 40% in one go. That is basically what i was meaning by "overdoing it". Unless you are suffering from particularly poor water params, I would avoid doing large water changes (above 40%) as any significant chemical differences between the old and new water may upset the fish (even though properly treated)

Smaller daily changes (10 - 15% as suggested by alien anna) would be the answer and definately less of a shock to your tankmates.

Over a reasonably short period of time, you should have gotten the water params to a satifactory levels !

Hope you are having luck and finding this forum useful and that your daughter is enjoying her new fish.

I know I am (it seems to get addictive and you spend your whole time living,breathing,typing ?? fish) We didnt realise just how much time it would take up when we bought of kids their first tank and we are now on tank No. 3

Best of luck

Jay

 

[kevore]

Thanks Jay (and everyone)!

I have taken all of your advice (removed amrid filter, added gravel from established tank and I'm doing 10-15% water changes daily) and things are looking good so far.

My daughter is enjoying the fish tank tremendously, especially in light of the fact that one of my starter mollies decided to give birth a mere 4 days after we purchased her. (And I thought she was just FAT!) That resulted in a fast run to the pet store for a breeding basket and the discovery (later that evening on a hunch that there might have been more babies) that most of her fry had been sucked into the power filter. There they were, poor things, scared and huddled under the media basket when I pulled it out to check. So a total of 8 fry into the new basket and the tank's still cycling! (Let's keep our fingers crossed for them)

But that's not all! The night before, my daughter noticed that the towel under the aquarium was sopping wet. Of course my immediate thought was that the tank was cracked somewhere but no, it was the cheap plastic on the power filter which had cracked at the spout. A slow drip had been going down the back of my tank for two days! And naturally this was discovered at 8:30 pm, kids in jammies ready for bed, me alone, husband at work. Throw some clothes on the kids, yank the filter off the tank, race down the freeway, make it to the pet store just as they're closing, exchange the filter, zoom home, set up filter, remove 60% of water into various pots, pans and buckets placed all over the bedroom (all the while kids excitedly jumping on bed), heave up the aquarium to remove sopping towel, replace with dry towel, carefully pour water back into tank then plug everything back in. Water, water everywhere....

My scissortail rasbora developed shimmies as a result. Nerves, I'm sure, as mine were pretty much shot too.

So here we are with a still-cycling tank and a basket full of molly fry. My daughter thinks this has been the best thing to happen around here in an age. Me? The jury's still out.

But thanks for all your advice and well wishes. You've all been very helpful and I truly appreciate your taking the time.