Ammonia

[glyndawn]

hi folks

my tank as been running now for 3 months with guppies and tetras and frogs in but i keep loseing fish

every time i test my water the ammonia is allways to high so i change water just done a test again and the states are

ph 6.0
nitrate 5
nitrite 0
ammonia 0.50

why isnt my filter dealing with the ammonia

i change the water every other day due to this

my tank is a 180ltrs


with a external filter whould putting another filter in as well help this ?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Was the filter "cycled" before you added fish? If not, you need to be prepared to do big (>75%) water changes twice daily, to keep the water safe for your fish.

How much water are you changing every other day? With an ammonia reading of 0.5, I would remove all but enough water to cover the fish, that is a lethal concentration.

Can you give us a full list of what fish/frogs you now have?

 

[glyndawn]

im changing 50% every other day no the filter was new

whould another filter in there be any use also how long does it take to mature as ive been doing this for 3 months now

 

[the_lock_man]

3 months strikes me as a long time to have made no progress in cycling.

When you change the water, are you using a dechlorinator additive in the new water? Something like Prime or Stress Coat?

Have you cleaned the filter, and if so, did you rinse the filter media in old tank water, or new tap water?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

If changing 50% every other day is giving 0.5 ammonia, you need to do bigger changes more often. If you did a 50% water change now after a reading of 0.5mg/l ammonia, that would still leave a lethal concentration of close to 0.25. You need to do a massive water change ASAP, leaving the fish in just enough water to cover them on the tank floor.

Another new filter is not going to quicken the cycling period. Some filter media or a sponge from someone with a mature cycled tank would help, or even someone's sponges rinsed in dechlorinated water.

Have you ever rinsed your filter sponges/media in tap water that has not been dechlorinated? Water straight from the tap will kill the bacteria, the chlorine is lethal.

Have you been buying new fish when others have been dieing? Hopefully not, you should not be buying any new fish until you have a mature, cycled filter.

Check for rotting food inside the filter or on the sand/gravel, if you have not already done so.

Feed your fish very sparingly, each fish only needs the equivalent size of one eye per day.

 

[MissTracy]

What kind of filter are you using? Is it large enough to hold the beneficial bacteria you need for 180 liters? Have you added any new fish? Did you change your filter cartridge? How many of each fish/frogs are in the tank? Do you maybe have a dead fish decaying somewhere in your tank you missed?

 

[glyndawn]

no no dead fish ive just changed 75% of the water im using stress coat i have to use a bucket which i refill fill 10ltrs a time so im putting 2.5ml of stress coat in the bucket then back in the tank

 

[glyndawn]

well ive changed 75% of the water 30 mins ago just retsested it and its gone to 50ppm again

 

[Essjay21 136]

Is your pH really 6.0? Is this the lowest your tester can go, if so the actual pH may be lower than 6.

Filter bacteria grow best at a pH above 7; during fishless cycling, a pH that low can stall the cycle. I'm wondering if your filter is undergoing an extremely slow cycle because of the pH.

 

[glyndawn]

yea thats the lowest my test will go