Ammonia Poisoning?

[Chrisjnt]

Hello everyone! I’m new to forums so you’ll have to bear with me . I was hoping for some advice regarding my new tank and specifically advice regarding ammonia levels. I have had my 63 litre tank for 10 days and had fish (3 swordtails and 4 ornate/white tipped tetras) for the last 7 and am worried about their health given the current levels of ammonia. Unfortunately, I was unaware about fishless cycling until a few days ago and my fish shop neglected to mention this which would have definitely been my preferred route to mature my tank! Now that I have fish I’m trying to do the best I can for them so I’ve been testing the ammonia and nitrite levels regularly, feeding them sparingly and changing about 15 litres of water twice a week. Despite this I believe I’m seeing signs of ammonia poisoning as yesterday my swordtails in particular had dark pink gills that appeared to be a little swollen/puffy too. I immediately changed about 25% of the water (dechlorinated) and their gills seemed to look better afterwards although now they appear to have black freckles around their tails and backs (Ammonia burns?). The ammonia and nitrate levels are pretty stable so far at about 1.5mg/l and 0mg/l respectively but I’m expecting things to get worse before they get better L. Do you have any advice on the best things to do to help my fish whilst not hindering the whole cycling process? I bought nutrafin/hagen cycle yesterday which I started adding in the hope to accelerate the cycling process a little but barring that and water changes is there anything else that can be done to help the fish? Will any harm come from more frequent water changes e.g. daily (which seems to be the only thing I can do to help )? Also, has any lasting damage been done to my fish so far?


Thanks in advance

 

[mattlee]

with the fish in the tank you need to change the water daily whenever ammonia is present, i would recomend taking the fish back and doing a fishless cycle as its a lot simpler and no need for water changes etc. the bacteria in a bottle stuff according to most people on here is just a waste of time and money so i wouldnt go buying any more... if you really want to keep the fish then be prepared to change a lot of water...... i was not told about cycling either by lfs and did a fish in cycle and it was a right pain in the backside and a lot more work than fishless cycling! you will need to buy a bottle of ammonia (boots) and add accordingly if you take the fish out though as without this the bacteria wont grow. there is a pinned topic on here to help with cycling with or without fish i would take a look and choose the 1 for you. good luck with your choice

 

[Chrisjnt]

Thank you so much for your quick response!

I think that now I have the fish I would like to keep them if possible. I am more than happy to change the water daily but was under the impression that you weren't supposed to that often . Will daily water changes affect the cycling process at all?

 

[mattlee]

no it wont effect the cycle as long as the water is treated first as chlorine will damage the bacteria..... if the fish are to stay then its more important to look after thier health and ammonia and nitrite is not good for them, as you know already. the fishes poo etc will provide the ammonia needed for the bacteria to start growing, not sure on your fishes toilet regularity but it will possibly take longer than a fishless cycle to cycle. some people even say add more fish to increase the ammonia load (not sure) but dont over stock the tank even when its cycled any more probs then post it on here any someone will help you out, they are very helpfull people on here and have helped me out loads do you have a good water testing kit? most people go for the API liquid kit if not as the paper strip tests are not very accurate.

Matt

no it wont effect the cycle as long as the water is treated first as chlorine will damage the bacteria..... if the fish are to stay then its more important to look after thier health and ammonia and nitrite is not good for them, as you know already. the fishes poo etc will provide the ammonia needed for the bacteria to start growing, not sure on your fishes toilet regularity but it will possibly take longer than a fishless cycle to cycle. some people even say add more fish to increase the ammonia load (not sure) but dont over stock the tank even when its cycled any more probs then post it on here any someone will help you out, they are very helpfull people on here and have helped me out loads do you have a good water testing kit? most people go for the API liquid kit if not as the paper strip tests are not very accurate.

Matt

just to add you do need a small amount of ammonia in the water to let the bacteria build and grow but dont let it go above 0.25ppm as this is seemed bad for the fish

 

[arobinson1984]

Agree with mattlee here on most things.

You need to be doing waterchanges whenever you see levels of ammonia or nitrite higher than 0.25ppm

I'd recommend doing 50% changes everytime, ensure you dechlorinate the water and get it as close to the temp of the tank water as you can (using your hand to judge will be fine)

The only thing I slightly disagree with mattlee is that although he is correct regarding the cycle needing ammonia to colonize the beneficial bacteria, you dont need to let ammonia levels go up to 0.25ppm. ALWAYS aim to get your ammonia levels down to 0 if possible. The cycle only needs trace amounts of ammonia to proceed, amounts so small that the test kit wont even detect it.

Even in a fully cycled tank, ammonia will always be present, just in such small amounts that standard test kits dont give a reading and show zero.

Andy

 

[Chrisjnt]

Thank you for your replies!!
I will definately start changing the water daily! I have a liquid test kit but I don't think it's by API. It only seems to get readings to within 1mg/l or 1ppm so it's not the most accurate - I should probably get a new one. I was trying to find an ammonia level on the internet to aim for so I'm glad you've given me 0.25ppm to work with Mattlee. Andy, I'll aim for 0ppm though! I am using biotopol (I think) to treat the water during every change so that should be o.k. for my bacteria. I'll keep adding the Hagen Cycle formula too now that I have it - figure that it won't hurt! Just worried I may have done harm to my fish already Do they heal well after ammonia poisoning or after injuries in general?

 

[mattlee]

Agree with mattlee here on most things.

You need to be doing waterchanges whenever you see levels of ammonia or nitrite higher than 0.25ppm

I'd recommend doing 50% changes everytime, ensure you dechlorinate the water and get it as close to the temp of the tank water as you can (using your hand to judge will be fine)

The only thing I slightly disagree with mattlee is that although he is correct regarding the cycle needing ammonia to colonize the beneficial bacteria, you dont need to let ammonia levels go up to 0.25ppm. ALWAYS aim to get your ammonia levels down to 0 if possible. The cycle only needs trace amounts of ammonia to proceed, amounts so small that the test kit wont even detect it.

Even in a fully cycled tank, ammonia will always be present, just in such small amounts that standard test kits dont give a reading and show zero.

Andy

i forgot to mention the water temp....... thanks Andy i think you can get an API kit off ebay for about £15, these are about £25/30 in lfs......

 

[OldMan47]

With a reading of 1.5 mg/l of ammonia, you are way past due for a very large, much more than 50%, water change. I messed up and got myself in trouble with a poor filter clone so I was showing some nitrites above what I like. For the last 4 days I have done daily water changes of over 80%, maybe even 90%, to get the nitrites under control so don't hold back. My fish in that tank have allowed me to lower the water so much they had trouble swimming, then refill the tank with fresh water every day. They rewarded me each time by perking up and eating well right after the new water went in. In my tank it was 2 swords and 3 juvenile mollies but the specific fish don't matter as much as the principle. Water changes to remove poisons are always a good idea.