ammonia issues

[Duffishy]

so, i have a 120-gallon tank that had 2 10in oscars and one of them got sick. I tried caring for him and he ended up not making it. towards the end i got my water tested and found out I had high ammonia levels. I've done just about anything I can think of to help lower the levels, but it keeps testing high levels. I've tried ammo lock, doing a 50% water change and cleaning my canister filter. and through all this my other oscar seems completely healthy to me, he's as active as he's been and eager to eat when its feeding time. I'm just wondering if it's possible I'm testing nontoxic ammonia and my water is fine and I can get a new fish or if I'm doing something wrong and can fix it. please let me know (praying hands emoji)

 

[Colin_T]

If you have ammonia problems in the water, it is either too much uneaten food rotting in the water or a filter that hasn't developed the beneficial bacteria that converts ammonia into nitrite, and nitrite into nitrate.

How long has the tank been set up for?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

What sort of filter is in/ on the aquarium?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
Is the filter run continuously (24/7)?
Have you had any power failures recently?

Ammonia becomes toxic in water with a pH above 7.0. The less toxic form occurs in water with a pH below 7.0.

The easiest way to treat an aquarium with ammonia is with massive (90%) daily water changes until the levels are 0ppm. You should gravel clean the substrate each time you do a water change.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[Duffishy]

If you have ammonia problems in the water, it is either too much uneaten food rotting in the water or a filter that hasn't developed the beneficial bacteria that converts ammonia into nitrite, and nitrite into nitrate.

How long has the tank been set up for?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

What sort of filter is in/ on the aquarium?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
Is the filter run continuously (24/7)?
Have you had any power failures recently?

Ammonia becomes toxic in water with a pH above 7.0. The less toxic form occurs in water with a pH below 7.0.

The easiest way to treat an aquarium with ammonia is with massive (90%) daily water changes until the levels are 0ppm. You should gravel clean the substrate each time you do a water change.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

I’ve had the tank running for about 3 years.
Change the water every 3weeks and clean gravel while doing that
I add tap water conditioner while adding water
It’s an aqueon canister filter that runs 24/7 with no outages recently

 

[Archerfish]

so, i have a 120-gallon tank that had 2 10in oscars and one of them got sick. I tried caring for him and he ended up not making it. towards the end i got my water tested and found out I had high ammonia levels. I've done just about anything I can think of to help lower the levels, but it keeps testing high levels. I've tried ammo lock, doing a 50% water change and cleaning my canister filter. and through all this my other oscar seems completely healthy to me, he's as active as he's been and eager to eat when its feeding time. I'm just wondering if it's possible I'm testing nontoxic ammonia and my water is fine and I can get a new fish or if I'm doing something wrong and can fix it. please let me know (praying hands emoji)

Welcome to the forum. Sorry for your loss. Did you test the water or take it somewhere else for testing? Was the water tested before or after the 50% water exchange and filter cleaning? You mention the tank has been up and running for about 3 years. How long have you had the Oscars? What type of illness did the one Oscar die from? What else is in the aquarium? Again welcome to the forum.

 

[Duffishy]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry for your loss. Did you test the water or take it somewhere else for testing? Was the water tested before or after the 50% water exchange and filter cleaning? You mention the tank has been up and running for about 3 years. How long have you had the Oscars? What type of illness did the one Oscar die from? What else is in the aquarium? Again welcome to the forum.

Thank you for the welcome. I took water to my local spot for testing before the water change while the fish was still sick. Not 100% as to what he had but I think it could’ve been rot. And I’ve had them as long as the tank. The only other tank mate is a sailfin pleco who is like 3 inches