Ammonia Levels

[scottish_ash]

My ammonia level seems to be sitting at 1 ppm and i can't seem to get it down, i am doing 20% water changes every 2nd day. Is there anything else i can do to bring it down.
 
 
Thanks

 

[sawickib]

You can do a very large water change around 75% and then it should lower it. is your tank cycled?

 

[Lunar Jetman]

You can do a very large water change around 75% and then it should lower it. is your tank cycled?

 
This. Remember if you have Ammonia at 1ppm and change 20% of the water you've only dropped the Ammonia levels to 0.8ppm so you might even be registering the same level on your test as they're fairly inaccurate.
 
You need to do as sawickib suggests and change 75% of the water now, then I'd do 50% tomorrow and then 25% for a couple of days afterwards to clear out the ammonia levels.
 
How long has the tank been set up, how big is it and what have you got in it?

 

[Ch4rlie]

A couple of questions.
 
Is your tank cycled?
 
By cycling i mean, did you get your tank/filter ready for fish using a method such as this, 
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
 
What are you water parameters/test results exactly?
pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
 
What test kit are you using?
Liquid based or a paper strip dip kit.
 
How long have you had this tank set up?
 
Do you have any fish/shrimps/snails in this tank?
 
Does your tank have any live plants?
 
Hopefully we can be of more help if you can provide as much information as you can.

 

[scottish_ash]

the tank has been set up for a month n a half now, I have 6 neon tetras and 3 panda corys in it, the tank was cycled before i put any fish in.
 
pH is 7.2
Ammonia is 1.0
Nitrite is 0 
Nitrate is 0 
 
Im using a liquid based test kit 
 
and i have live plants 
 
and its a 40 ltr tank 
 
thanks

 

[Ch4rlie]

How did you cycle the tank if you don't mind my asking?
 
I ask this since you do not have any nitrate showing, usually a cycled tank will show some nitrates. There may be several reasons why you may not be showing nitrate, faulty test kit or a inaccurate reading (nitrate tests can be inaccurate), or you may have a very heavily planted tank that absorbs all your nitrate.
 
Ok, couple more questions.
 
Have you made any changes to your tank recently?
Added decor, changed substrate/gravel/sand, use a different dechlorinator etc
 
Have you recently cleaned or changed your filter media?
If so, how did you clean or what did you change in the filter?

 

[scottish_ash]

it was done on a fish less cycle and in my filter i have a green filter that apparently removes them from my tank.
 
I changed from gravel to sand but that was a while ago now.
 
I cleaned my filter media a few days ago and i cleaned it out in the water i took out the tank.
 
I was given quick start to use in the tank by my LFS but that doesn't seem to be making any difference.

 

[Ch4rlie]

it was done on a fish less cycle and in my filter i have a green filter that apparently removes them from my tank.

 
Do you mean green media inside the filter or a actual green filter, like Eheim brand for example?
 

I changed from gravel to sand but that was a while ago now.
 
I cleaned my filter media a few days ago and i cleaned it out in the water i took out the tank.

 
When did you change the sand, even though you say a while ago, was that last week, a month ago, last year?
 
Did you clean everything in your filter?
All the filter media?
 
And one another question, what dechlorinator do you regularly use?

 

[scottish_ash]

i have green media inside my filter, 
 
and was a couple of weeks ago i think i asked on here how to do it, but can't remember exactly when. 
 
i cleaned the 2 pads in the filter 
 
and i use tap safe and also put in stress zyme 
 
thanks for your help  


 

 

[b3cca]

I think he/she means the green juwel nitrax filter sponge  which Juwel claim will stay active for 6 weeks : --
 
Juwel state - "Nitrax is a biological filter sponge containing specialist microorganisms to break down poisonous metabolites (ammonium/nitrite) and reduce Nitrates in your aquarium"
 
I have used the brand new green nitrax sponges that came in both the Juwels tanks I bought and honestly didn't notice any difference to anything at all.  
I still saw the usual ammonia, nitrites and nitrates throughout my cycle

 

[Lunar Jetman]

It doesn't sounds like you cycled your tank as per Ch4rlie, e.g. you've put ammonia in the tank until the bacteria appears and starts to work in your filter.
 
What you need to do is some regular high quantity water changes starting immediately for the next few weeks to ensure the levels are as low as you can get them until your bacteria mature enough to handle the fish in the tank.

 

[scottish_ash]

i did cycle the tank before adding fish,
 
i cannot seem to get this level down tho, my fish don't seem stressed in anyway they acting normal and eating fine...
 
if i can't sort this i can see this being the end of fish keeping for me... i don't want to be harming fish.
 
i have been doing water changes for the past 4 days and its not changing the readings at all.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

 
i have been doing water changes for the past 4 days and its not changing the readings at all.

 
That in itself should provide a big clue. There are only two realistic possibilities here:
 
1. You have ammonia in your tap. Unlikely because ammonia turns to nitrite. If you have excess ammonia, you will get excess nitrite. But you report no nitrite. So that would indicate the ammonia reading or the nirtie reading must be wrong.
 
2. If you have 1 ppm of ammonia and you change 50% of the water you should have only .50 ppm of ammonia. But instead you have no change. In fact you have changed water 4 times and no change at all. Again this makes no sense. There are only two explanations for this. You have ammonia in your tap or your test results are not right.
 
3. You could have no ammonia in the tap but your water company could use chlormaine. If so and your dechlorinator doesn't contain an ammonia detoxifier, breaking down the chlroramine results in neutralized chlorine and ammonia. So if you are changing water and dechlorinating under these conditions it would produce ammonia.
 
4. Some dechlorinators, because they do contain an ammonia detoxifier, can give false ammonia readings. One needs to test the water soon after dechlorinating to have a shot at close to an accurate reading.
 
5. When all is said an done whether any given level of total ammonia is affecting fish negatively must not rely solely on test kit results. There is plenty of room for error and bad kits or bad test procedures etc. So one must also look to the fish themselves for clues. One can test and get results that say the level should be an issue but the fish behave normally and one can get results that seem to say levels are safe yet the fish are showing signs of ammonia poisoning. Fish behavior always tends to trump hobby kit test results. You read ammonia yet your fish appear fine, that too is a clue.
 
6. if the ammonia reading is real, one of the things has to happen. Either the bacteria multiply to handle it and it goes to 0, or if there are no bacteria reproducing, then the ammonia should be building up, not staying level. The ammonia must move up or down but should not stay contstant.
 
One last thing, in most cases I would not uses Stress Zyme. It does not process ammonia or nitrite. It does not contain the proper bacteria for this. It contains spores for bacteria that may do other things in a tank but the one thing the do not do is process ammonia and nitrite. Most of the products sold to help with the cycle do not and are a waste of time and money., imo.
 
Given the information supplied, my gut says there is not really 1 ppm of ammonia in this tank day in and day out.

 

[scottish_ash]

thanks for your reply 
 
the thing is i had it tested at my LFS and they said the same thing and they gave me API quick start to use as they said with that level of ammonia that my bacteria would all be gone... Is that right?
 
 
I'm so confused right now....

 

[Gruntle]

Your LFS is in the business of selling product. Cash in the door is their main concern.
 
Ammonia does not kill bacteria, because it is the food source for that bacteria.
 
I'm sorry but I cannot answer the question of your readings, I don't know enough about the chemistry side of things.