Ammonia

[Meggie :)]

So I just randomly tested my tank for ammonia and it's at 0.25 ppm! It's my ten gallon...I think it is because I am way overstocked...but can anyone suggest how many of how much of water changes I should do?

And could you help me find the cause of it, as well? could it be the fluval plant substrate (like the little dirt balls) that I just put in it a week ago? because I heard that this can raise the ammonia?

thanks in advance,
Megan

 

[fidjet2]

What fish have you got in there?

 

[Meggie :)]

2 female balloon mollies (adult) , 1 female guppy (adult) , 4 ghost shrimp, 3 cherry shrimp, and about 30+ fry...but the oldest are only a month old and the youngest about a week so they are all pretty small...I am giving them all away as soon as I can sex them, and in the mean time I am still searching for a ten or 20 gallon tank to buy to put the fry in...and it is a planted tank...moderately to heavily planted

 

[fidjet2]

hmmm if it is overstocked, it isn't VERY badly overstocked....i think but you will need to get the fry out ASAP

sorry if that doesn't help much

 

[Mowbz]

Fry from what? I can only assume its Cherry Shrimp since you wrote about the fry directly after?

If it is Shrimp fry, i would very much doubt its causing your ammonia build up. Shrimp normally tend to have such a low impact on your bioload that its not worth counting them unless you have hundreds.

Its possible the dirt balls in the substrate my alter the pH, but im not sure about the ammonia level (Allo, anyone else?)

I know you have probabloy posted these elsewhere, but for this new thread could you give us;

Tank temp
All readings possible (Nitrite and pH would be handy immediately.)
Anything added (living or not) in the most recent few weeks


...and we'll pitch in to help!

Ben

 

[Meggie :)]

so sorry i wasn't specific! It's guppy and balloon molly fry but they are still very young.

Nitrite: 0 ppm
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm
PH: 7.6
Temp: 76 degrees ferenheit

the last things i added were about 9 days ago...many, many live plants (i was starting it as a planted tank for the first time) that fluval stuff, and 3 cherry shrimp.

 

[Meggie :)]

Anybody?

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

Some LFS will sell a nice filter material that specifically filters Ammonia. It looks like a brown scrubby pad and they're very cheap. You can just cut the size you need and pop it in your filter. They work great for me, and I had the same problem!

I would also try vacuuming the gravel. I had an ammonia buildup problem quite severe once. I gave the gravel a good cleanup to remove residual food and waste between the substrate. The ammonia went down drastically. I would then buy a few gallons of cheap water (walmart water is just fine) and make sure you add a conditioner to remove any chlorine. that shoud definitely take care of that. I it REALLY doesn't change, add some chemical like "Prime" which will at least lock the ammonia away and keep your fish from dying until someone can post a better solution.

Good luck! I've experienced the same problem and it's super frustrating!

 

[Meggie :)]

thanks for your help...I have sand though! I will try to get to the pet store this weekend and see if I can pick up one of those ammonia filter things! All the fish seem to be doing just fine though which is weird...none have died or even showed any reaction to it...