Ammonia Problem

[Naringlo]

Hey, I'm new and a novice with aquariums. I have a problem with my 170l tropical freshwater tank. Inside it I have 5 Siamese Fighters, 2 Figure 8 Puffers, 2 Angel Fish, a Black Ghost Knife Fish, 4 Zebra Danios, 4 Platies, a Glass Cat Fish, a Half-Banded Spiney Eel and 2 Plecos. I have sand as a substrate and most of the levels are fine. The ammonia level is high and I think it is from the fish waste lying on top of the sand. I do my best to syphon it but I was wondering if there was a specific fish or something I can do to make it a bit easier for myself. Obviously a crab would be great but my puffers will kill it. Any ideas or help?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Sorry to say but your stocking is like a tank of death. I suggest you look up eash fish's care sheet and decide what to keep and rehome in the mean time teat the tank as a fish in cycle

 

[Naringlo]

Thanks but that doesn't really answer my question. I know some of the fish seem violent but they all seem to get along and I always ask my local aquarist's at the shop that I go to and they tend to warn me about which ones are not compatible and so far it's been good. I do tend to have a thing for the tank of death. Is it the size of fish you are talking about or just the fact some will kill each other for some other reason? My apologies, I'm still learning but I'm very keen about fish and wanting to learn more everyday.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Holy lethal fish cocktails, Batman!

We could really do with an ammonia and nitrite reading from a liquid test kit, rather than "ammonia level is high," but given you go on to say "fish waste lying on top of the sand" I'm going to presume the worst and your tank may well be at risk from "old tank syndrome" and you need to sort this out ASAP (read this evening)...
Turn off the heater and filter, give them ~20 minutes to cool down beofer continuing.
Syphon some of the existing tank water into a fish safe bucket(s)/container(s), the bigger the better, but not anything that has been exposed to washing up liquid; bleach etc.
Net all the fish into these bucket(s)/container(s), which will probably need all the furniture and plants removing.
Syphon all the water out of the tank, trying to suck out all that waste.
Refill the tank with fresh dechlorinated water of a similar temperature to that you removed.
Acclimitise your fish to the new fresh tank water, ideally by the drip method, but failing that add ~30ml of tank water every 10 minutes or so until you have at least doubled the amount of water in each container of fish.
Put the plants and furniture back in the tank.
Top up the tank water with some more fresh dechlorinated water, to account for what you have used to acclimitise the fish
Net the fish out of the containers and add them back to the tank.
Gently rinse your filter's sponges/pads in the water containers your fish were in.
Put the filter back together and get it back in the tank with the heater, turn them back on.

Once you have the fish away from death's door, then the stocking mess you have can be sorted out over the weekend...

Do you have a gravel cleaner such as http/www.ebay.co.u...=item35af7a5788? These help syphon out waste a lot.

 

[Jay1983]

You wont find a fish that eats other fishes poo. Like the above said you need sort your stocking out. You also need to do lots and lots of water changes like 50% + everyday, until you get the ammonia down to 0.

So 2 things you need to do is address your stocking and massive water changes. Also you may need to upgrade your filter if there is lots of mess on the surface of your sand

Jay

 

[soybean]

Woah. For a second I thought this was a troll post!

"5 Siamese Fighters, 2 Figure 8 Puffers, 2 Angel Fish, a Black Ghost Knife Fish...."

Just...wow! How are these fish still alive?!

Decent advice has been given, I really hope you follow it.

 

[lucasluke]

Hey, I'm new and a novice with aquariums. I have a problem with my 170l tropical freshwater tank. Inside it I have 5 Siamese Fighters, 2 Figure 8 Puffers, 2 Angel Fish, a Black Ghost Knife Fish, 4 Zebra Danios, 4 Platies, a Glass Cat Fish, a Half-Banded Spiney Eel and 2 Plecos. I have sand as a substrate and most of the levels are fine. The ammonia level is high and I think it is from the fish waste lying on top of the sand. I do my best to syphon it but I was wondering if there was a specific fish or something I can do to make it a bit easier for myself. Obviously a crab would be great but my puffers will kill it. Any ideas or help?

Firstly, do everything N0body of the goat has put first before continuing.

Seriously - that stocking is lethal. If the fish store sold you all them fish and said they would be fine with each other then I think you should find another fish store. 'The ammonia level is fine'? We need numbers for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The ammonia level isn't high because of fish waste lying on the sand, it's because you either didn't cycle your tank or you added the fish to quickly. Did you cycle your tank? Fish wont eat each others waste, neither will a crab. It's waste that has no nutritional value at all. You do know that crabs need access to land right? They are no good in an aquarium. Please get back to me with these results, preferably by tonight and then we can all help you get this sorted out.

 

[CezzaXV]

This is a secondary thing, as the advice given is good stuff, but how big is your tank? Apart from the stocking stuff that's already been said (I'm a beginner and even I know that I'd never keep figure 8 puffers in a tank with anything but themselves), whatever type of pleco you have, it's probably going to grow too big for your tank. As for the siamese fighters, even if you have 1 male and 4 females, it's still a very bad idea as they'll get agressive. If you have 2 or more males, it's a miracle you haven't witnessed a fight to the death yet.

The stuff that N0body said is good advice. Follow it, then do some reading on fish-in cycling. If you don't already have any, it may be beneficial for you to add some plants to your tank as they'll help deal with the ammonia in your tank. They won't get rid of it, but they will consume some of it.

 

[Naringlo]

It's a 170l tank. It contains a moss ball and an amazon sword. It's also 4 females and 1 male fighter. I have 2 common plecos. If any of my fish do grow too big, I wouldn't want them to suffer so I'd give hem back when they do as all my fish are small at the moment. I cycled the tank for a week as that was recommended by the store, and online. Last week when I went to the local fish shop, they said that the nitrite was near to nothing but the ammonia was nearly at 6 I think. I will sort this out tomorrow and I'm going to the fish store for a talk with the "experts" and to buy a master test kit. I've been doing 1/4 water changes all week plus over half today, syphoned the sand every time, I fully cleaned the filter till nothing was on it or inside it, noted the behaviour of my fish (I'm newly 18 and I'm in college so but half term has given me all the time I need to take care of the tank). The puffers I put in because everyone says they may randomly attack anything at any given moment but not constantly and so far they get along with everything. (just a reason, not an excuse or accusing you guys of being wrong). My local and as far as I know, my only fish store which is still far away, said to not feed my fish for a week and do frequent water changes. And so far no dead fish, tank is looking cleaner and better than ever, but obviously I can't see nitrite and ammonia. It's a 2 month old tank now and I add fish roughly 1-2 weeks and usually about 3 fish at a time but not recently. I do appreciate all the advice by the way. Is there anything I can add to the tank that would help? Aquarium salt? Oh and one other thing, the tank is a rectangle and it is stuck to the left side facing the right so it goes a long the tank, is this okay? And the filter IS set on a low power because I thought the fish would have a hard time constantly swimming against the current and sand would blow everywhere. Any advice there? Thanks

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I do tend to have a thing for the tank of death. Is it the size of fish you are talking about or just the fact some will kill each other for some other reason? My apologies, I'm still learning but I'm very keen about fish and wanting to learn more everyday.

These two sentences contradict each other in the worst of ways. As a beginner, for one, take out the black ghost knife. He will get to be about 20 inches and is too big for your tank even if he was alone. Not only that, they need different conditions that what is in your tank. Please remove the male betta. He will eventually start attacking your females. Especially if he decides to mate with one of them. He will try to kill her the moment she lays eggs for him. 2 common plecs can equal 48 inches of fish. Rehome them and shoot for a couple of Bristlenose plecs.

Personally, if I were you, I would rehome every one of those fish. Gut the tank and restart. Do a fishless cycle. You can find instructions for this in the beginners resources. While your tank is fishless cycling, research fish compatibility.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

You have been given two very valuable bits of advice which so far reading your reading your current questions you have choose to ignore. I suggest you look up eash fish's care sheet and decide what to keep and rehome in the mean time treat the tank as a fish in cycle and from what you have said your LFS does not have experts i can tell you that for a fact if what you posted is accurate. please dont think we are barking at you for the sake of it, we all have the fish best care at heart and are trying to save you some cash.

If you ignore the true experts i can tell you:

Your fish will start to fight
your water stats will get worse
you fish internal organs will be stunted
your fish fish will die

 

[soybean]

Personally, if I were you, I would rehome every one of those fish. Gut the tank and restart. Do a fishless cycle. You can find instructions for this in the beginners resources. While your tank is fishless cycling, research fish compatibility.

This is the best advice I've read so far.

The people at the shop, if they're responsible for this stocking, are not experts.

Nor would an expert advise you to cycle for a week - anybody who suggests that doesnt have a clue what cycling is.

You need to rehome the plecs etc NOW not before they get 'too big' - they're already too big for that tank because fish should be housed in tanks suitable for their adult size from day one. They are at risk of being stunted.

I fully cleaned the filter till nothing was on it or inside it

Thereby destroying ANY bacteria you had, meaning you are starting again from scratch with an uncycled filter.

I appreciate you are new to fishkeeping but you clearly haven't done a scrap of research into the needs of the fish you have, and just relied on the people at the shop - who must've been rubbing their hands in glee everytime you left.

All you can keep at present is the platys and danios, if you're prepared to commit to a fish IN cycle. This is massive daily waterchanges - almost all the water - and daily testing with your own kit. If you don't want to do this (which I suggest you don't) you need to give away every single fish, buy a bottle of ammonia, and do a fishless cycle. Details of both are in the link in my sig.

And please don't listen to a single word those idiots in the shop say ever again.

 

[Akasha72]

Hi ColbyLeung and welcome to the forum. I've also got a problem with ammonia at the moment too and I'm also new to fish keeping. You should listen to the guys on here, they've been more help than any of the staff at the local fish store.

Also, the stocking ... you must be very brave to have that lot! As a newbie I wouldn't dare have any of the 'complicated' fish. You need experience to look after them properly. Stick with the easy ones for now - guppies, platies and tetra's. They may not be as pretty but it doesn't hurt so bad to loose a fish that cost a couple of quid when your tank water turned toxic.

Hope you get that ammonia under control - good luck

 

[CezzaXV]

Anything above 0 on ammonia is toxic to fish. When we do fish in cycling, we advise you never to let your ammonia go above 0.25 at the absolute most as even this is too much. If your fish are swimming around in 6ppm of ammonia it's a wonder they're still alive. This really isn't something you can sort out later, it needs to be done now if you want to have any fish left.

Think of ammonia like radioactivity. It might not kill you straight away, but even a small bit of exposure can cause you major problems down the line.

 

[Naringlo]

I cleaned the filter of the stuff inside it, not the bacteria. I just meant a good thorough clean. I have done research but it's just very difficult to find good information, hence why I joined this site. Internet says a lot of different things so that is why I thought everything I have done so far is okay but you guys and the ammonia is proof of the opposite so I'm getting right on it now as it's daytime and thank you for teaching me!