Ammonia Getting Higher! Pls Help!

[Meggie :)]

I tested my water a few days ago and the ammonia was .25 ppm so I did a 20% water change that day and the next...the next day I had ZERO time to do anything with my tank and today I tested it and ammonia was 0.5 ppm! I am doing a fifty percent water change right now, but what else can I do to make it go down fast? Tank has been set up for almost 4 years, it is a ten gallon, it has 2 adult female balloon mollies, 1 adult female guppy, 3 cherry shrimp, 3 ghost shrimp, and 30+ balloon molly and guppy fry...I am transferring them to a new tank as soon as I can, but I don't know when I can buy that new tank! I emailed the guy about it today but idk when he is going to respond...but none of my fish seem to be reacting to the off balance of chemicals...Here are the rest of the water parameters:

Temp: 76
Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrite: looks like 0, but might be between 0 and 0.25 but on the low side if anything
Nitrate: 0.25
PH: 7.6

Pls pls help asap!
Thanks,
Megan

 

[fluttermoth]

Larger water changes and maybe a new filter; I suspect that your current filter is getting overwhelmed by the amount of fry you have and the bacteria can't keep up.

Had you thought about a plastic storage box as a grow on 'tank' for your fry? Much cheaper than a proper tank.

 

[Meggie :)]

Good news! my lfs will take most of them off of my hands...but I still need a new tank as they can't take the younger ones cuz they are less than half an inch long...and fluttermoth my filter is less than a month old...it's a penguin biowheel 100 and i think it is for a 20 or 30 gallon. How many water changes and how big of water changes should I do?

Thank you for your quick response!

 

[fluttermoth]

i have no experience of biowheel filters, sorry, but I'd be doing 50% a day water change until you can get a larger tank sorted.

 

[Fishy friend2]

50 to 80 percent should do the job

and like fluttermoth said 50 percent every day also

 

[Meggie :)]

Thanks guys! just finished a 50% water change...will do another one tomorrow...i'll be getting rid of most of the fry today, might have a few left over which I will move into the new tank I'm getting...I think it will be a 30 gallon with an eclipse filter system.

Thank you for your fast responses...should my fish be okay with the high ammonia until the water changes can bring it down?

 

[Fishy friend2]

i think they should but you still might want to do 25 to 50 percent water changes until it goes down to zero then do 50 percent the next day and stop when your ammonia stays at a constant zero without water changes every day

 

[Meggie :)]

Okay will do! Thank you for your help!

 

[fluttermoth]

...should my fish be okay with the high ammonia until the water changes can bring it down?

No...anything over 0.25ppm can kill (especially fry) or permanently damage gills. Your aim (as in a fish-in cycle really) is to do enough water changes to stop the ammonia going above 0.25ppm before your next change.

Hopefully once some of the fry have gone things will settle down for you!

 

[Fishy friend2]

ur welcome hope the ammonia go's down fast

 

[Meggie :)]

Hopefully! This tank hasn't had problems like this in almost 4 years!!!

 

[Fishy friend2]

they will probably be fine as long as you keep ammonia lower than .25ppm better at 0 than above 0

 

[KittyKat]

You say your filter is only a month old, did you cycle it? How?

Remember about cycling if you buy a new filter and when you set up your new tank.

 

[Fishy friend2]

You say your filter is only a month old, did you cycle it? How?

Remember about cycling if you buy a new filter and when you set up your new tank.

forgot about this, so did you cycle it did you use mature media or what did you do?

 

[Meggie :)]

yes, unfortunately the old filter media couldn't fit and isn't the kind that I could have cut to fit...I had to put in the brand new filter with new media, too, but I kept the old filter running in it for a long time...actually it's probably almost 2 months old now, sorry...