Ammonia Levels At 8.0 Ppm! Help!

[shannonvictoria]

Hello,
We recently noticed that out tiger barbs were just laying around, not eating as much, and losing a lot of color. We are beginners so we do not know much about taking care of fish tanks. It is a fairly new tank it is about 2-3 weeks old. So we bought an API Liquid Test kit and the levels came out darker than the 8.0 ppm level on the card. We also tested the tap water we are using for the tank and our tap water was at about 1.0-1.5 ppm. After we saw the levels we did a partial water change and retested and still have the same result in the tank. PLEASE HELP BEFORE IT HARMS OR DOES FURTHER DAMAGE TO THE FISH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
10 GALLON TANK
5 TIGER BARBS
1 PICTUS CATFISH
1 RED RAINBOWSHARK
LIVE PLANTS ALSO
these fish are very young.
weve also used Api aquarium salt, tetra aqua safe plus, and tetra water clarifier
 
They also seem to be doing much better after the partial water change, salt , and aqua safe
 
 

 

[stanleo]

I think you should do more of water change. About 75 % at least and make sure to temperature match the water when doing that much. Then do 50 % a day until your tank cycles. That is the issue you are having. Do you have a friend with a cycled tank? If you do ask them if you can have some of their mature filter media and add it to your filter. That will help speed up the cycle process. You can also get some from your LFS if its a good one.
 
Have a read here and it will explain more about cycling. YOu want to pay particular attention to the fish in cycling as that is what you are doing. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/
 
Good luck and please ask as many questions as you would like.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You have WAY too many fish in the 10 gallon tank.  Tigers are best in a minimum of 30 gallons.  
 
Pictus catfish
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pimelodus-pictus/
 
Red Rainbowshark
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/epalzeorhynchos-frenatum/
 
Tiger barbs
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/puntius-tetrazona/
 
 
 
No matter how many water changes you do, that tank isn't going to work out well.  These fish either need to get returned or a larger tank needs to be acquired ASAP.
 
 
What's the pH of this tank?  If the pH is under say 6.5, then you only need to bring the ammonia down to 1.0ppm immediately.  If its higher than that, you need to bring it down to under 0.25ppm.

 

[ThatAquaristChick1234]

I agree, your tank is far to overstocked. 

 

[ech0o]

Yes immediate 80-90% water change, followed by around 60% daily water changes, and there are a couple of things I am going to suggest that are honestly going to help your situation immensely.   First off, you need to go to your fish store immediately and buy 2 things.  The first is Seachem Prime, the second is Seachem Stability.    You are going to want to overdo the Prime for sure.  I don't even measure, I have a 5 gallon and I just trickle a nice amount in, I'm sure I dose somewhere around 3X the amount, but Prime will not hurt your fish and will detoxify Ammonia/Nitrites.  The Stability is a bacteria formula that honestly works if used right, exactly as the bottle reads, except shake it for around a minute before each use, the liquid should pour cloudy.
 
These few things may save many fishes lives.  The prime should give them a little needed boost to possible survive, and the stability should begin to attack those ammonia levels and get your tank along its cycle faster.  Most other chemicals and additives are just not needed, I have cycled a few tanks with purely those 2, and swear by them!!!
These guys are right though, that shark and catfish will be way to large for your tank, and the tiger barbs generally will attack eachother and fight in small tanks, the dominant one causing the rest to hide in fear.  How are the tiger barbs acting, do they school or is one of them nipping the rest?  You may need to rehome some of those fish before to long.

 

[shannonvictoria]

I will do that first thing in the morning! thank you all I for all the information but I did need a quick solution. As will I continue out the rest of the care needed. I am hoping it clears up soon, we are continuing to check the water and I will update tomorrow if there are any further problems.. 
and yes we were aware of that when we got them. they are still very young and have many place to hide in plants and some decorations. The first day the biggest Tiger Fish was tending to be more dominant and nippy. we kept an eye on him assuming the had to establish a sort a pack. and eventually they did they get along really well! the school all together and sleep together. They will chase each other at some points but I honestly think its playful (even the little one will chase the big one), we have kept a close eye for nipping, or any damage on the fins none since the first day. and they all seem pretty happy, as the same for the catfish and the shark. we are also aware that if they get to big we will have to sell them/take them back. The catfish is one that we have to kind of keep an eye on. he dose not show too much aggression but sometimes (rarely) chase the biggest tiger barb. it only lasts about a second or so, then he does his own thing.
 
THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!!!
 
 
 

 

[Blondielovesfish]

we are also aware that if they get to big we will have to sell them/take them back. 
 

 
Its not a matter of "if", its when. I'd recommend that you take them back to your LFS or sell them as soon as you can. If they're kept in your tank for too long they could become stunted which is really bad for their health.

 

[the_lock_man]

THe other thing you want to do is to contact your local water utility company, and ask them about the quality of their supply. Tapwater at 1.0-1.5ppm is disgusting. I have never yet found whether there is a legal maximum in the US, whether at state or federal level, but what I can say is that the UK has a legal maximum of 0.5ppm, with a guideline maximum of 0.05ppm. I have looked at my local utility stats a few times, and I have never seen them even getting close to the 0.05ppm level.

 

[ech0o]

the_lock_man, i have wrote it off as false testing.  there was someone else claiming the same thing before, and i am pretty sure it is a false read as 1.5ppm is pretty dangerous.   Shannon the solution i gave you is the quickest solution there is.   You will have to do those things in order for your fish to live, period. 

 

[shannonvictoria]

My local fish store is actually an aquarium place. went to them told them the situation and about the seachems. and unfortunately the tap water testing seems to be true. I live in Pittsburgh area and they said the water is filthy and is really bad for the fish. They also said my ammonia levels in the tap water seemed about normal

 

 

  gross right.(all my friends think im crazy for never drinking the tap water!proves them wrong) So they said do not change the water it will only make It worse. They gave me the seachem prime, fritz zyme, and amquel plus (ammonia detoxifier). We put in half a bottle of the fritz zyme and 5 mL of the amquel. Unfortunately, one passed before we could get the solutions. Wish there was someone who told us all about this before we got the fish... looked up information I guess just not enough. Did a test after an hour of using the bottles and it is down to 4.0ppm!!!!!!!!! Hopefully they can hang in there until this problem is fixed. Now just to clarify do I keep repeating these steps everyday until it is down to zero?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I suggest doing the water changes.  The water changes will keep the ammonia low enough that they can survive.  Not doing the water changes is not something that I'd suggest, and I don't feel comfortable giving any advice with that.

 

[shannonvictoria]

I suggest doing the water changes.  The water changes will keep the ammonia low enough that they can survive.  Not doing the water changes is not something that I'd suggest, and I don't feel comfortable giving any advice

Need different water before I can do water changes.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Probably true.  You need to find someone with a mature tank.

 

[ech0o]

See I always forget that a lot of people can't just run their faucet for tank water, ours comes at at 7.5 pH with good hardness, a little dechlorinator and its off to the races!

 

[CJH0825]

My local fish store is actually an aquarium place. went to them told them the situation and about the seachems. and unfortunately the tap water testing seems to be true. I live in Pittsburgh area and they said the water is filthy and is really bad for the fish. They also said my ammonia levels in the tap water seemed about normal

 

 

  gross right.(all my friends think im crazy for never drinking the tap water!proves them wrong) So they said do not change the water it will only make It worse. They gave me the seachem prime, fritz zyme, and amquel plus (ammonia detoxifier). We put in half a bottle of the fritz zyme and 5 mL of the amquel. Unfortunately, one passed before we could get the solutions. Wish there was someone who told us all about this before we got the fish... looked up information I guess just not enough. Did a test after an hour of using the bottles and it is down to 4.0ppm!!!!!!!!! Hopefully they can hang in there until this problem is fixed. Now just to clarify do I keep repeating these steps everyday until it is down to zero?
 
They gave me the seachem prime, fritz zyme, and amquel plus (ammonia detoxifier)

All you needed was Seachem Prime. Prime does the exact same thing that Amquel does and the Prime will also remove metals from the water. They over sold you. If you can, Return the Amquel and just use Prime. Follow the directions on the bottle exactly!