Ammonia Issue Please Help

thegabzzz · Nov 25, 2011

So I went to the fish store today and got my water tested, ammonia 0.4 and nitrates 40.
I'm panicking, I have planned out that I should do a 50% water change immediately and a 20% water changes every second day?
Anyone think this will prevent my fish from dying?

eaglesaquarium · Nov 25, 2011

Yes, proper water changes will help your fish, but your water changes that you have planned are sort of out of whack. Do you have a liquid test kit of your own? You need one. You need to test daily and perform as big a water change as possible to keep the ammonia well under 0.25ppm (more like 0.05ppm). You'd be much better off doing a 90% water change immediately. That will bring the level down to 0.04ppm. Test tomorrow morning and again tomorrow evening. If it comes up at any tinge of green, do another large water change. Test daily and do as big a water change as you can to keep the level as low as possible. The higher the level, the greater the damage to the fish.

Some folks mistaken say that these large water changes will slow your cycle. That is hogwash, honestly. If you need to do the water change, it is because there is excess ammonia being produced by the fish. As soon as you remove the ammonia through water change, the fish will produce more to offer the bacteria something to munch on. Besides, you didn't remove ALL the ammonia, no matter how big the water change is, because you can't do 100% with fish still in the tank. So, there will be something for the bacteria. Ultimately, the bacteria will reproduce if there is enough ammonia for them to survive. Dr. Tim Havonec did some research that showed that the bacteria we are looking to cultivate reproduces best when the levels are under 0.14ppm. Our fish survive best when the ammonia is as close to zero as possible. The goal is to meet the needs of both as best you can, which means 0.05 or so.

thegabzzz · Nov 25, 2011

Thanks for the quick reply,
I will do as big of a water change as I can now
I will do another 50% w/c after Tommorow
I really hope my fish don't dye

eaglesaquarium · Nov 25, 2011

If you stay on top of the water changes they can. Have a read through the fish-in cycle thread linked in my sig. The most important thing for you is to get a test kit ASAP. You won't know when you need to water change, nor how much you need to do one with it. You could go to your local fish store daily with a sample, but you'd probably spend more in gas doing that for the length of this cycle (2 months plus) than a good master test kit (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH) would cost, about $15-$20.

thegabzzz · Nov 25, 2011

Ok I'll try and do that but this tank has been set up for about 3 months already?

eaglesaquarium · Nov 25, 2011

Well, you should have a test kit no matter how long the tank is set-up. If a problem arises, the first thing that people do is test their water conditions immediately, rather than take a sample to the LFS. You want to test it regularly just to make sure things are fine. You want to know how things are developing. It might just be a mini-cycle, but without a test kit, you won't know when it is over. Hopefully that is all it is. Have you been able to isolate what might have caused this?

thegabzzz · Nov 26, 2011

I think I found the cause!
While I was doing the w/c I took out a 30cm long rotting leaf.
Could this be causing the ammonia?

thegabzzz · Nov 26, 2011

Can anyone help me on my last question?

librarygirl · Nov 26, 2011

thegabzzz said:
Can anyone help me on my last question?

It could be the cause but hard to say for sure. At least you found it and removed it.

I'd still do the larger water changes; nitrates at 40 are getting into the high range for fish. What is your regular water change schedule? What size tank and what fish? if you're overstocked that could be an issue of why toxins are rising as well.

thegabzzz · Nov 26, 2011

Yes I'm still going to do 20% water changes every other day. I know my tank is overstocked so I normally do A 40% water change every week. My stocking list:
1 pleco, 2 medium gold gouramis, 1 medium blue gourami, 1 dwarf gourmai, 25 neon teras, 4 columbian tetras, 10 rummy nose tetras, 10 glo-light tetras, 10 guppies, 4 mollies, 1 platy, 10 harlequin rosbaras, 4 blind cave teras, 3 cory doras, 3 albino algae eaters, 3 danios

The Taffy Apple · Nov 27, 2011

librarygirl said:
thegabzzz said:

Can anyone help me on my last question?

Click to expand...

It could be the cause but hard to say for sure. At least you found it and removed it. I'd still do the larger water changes; nitrates at 40 are getting into the high range for fish. What is your regular water change schedule? What size tank and what fish? if you're overstocked that could be an issue of why toxins are rising as well.

Are they? I mean, 40ppm for NitrAtes? I was under the impression anything over 100 is deemed 'dangerous'..?

Terry.

BigbruiserAl · Nov 27, 2011

Seems to be allot confusion on NitrAtes, some fish will not tolerate anything over 20ppm. Normal community tank fish can live in waters of 300+ppm NitrAtes but is not good for them at all. 40ppm is where allot of information about says that fish are more prone to ill health and can weaken them. In a mature tank doing weekly or fortnightly water changes with 40-60ppm NitrAtes is about where you want to be IMO