Can't get rid of ammonia for 6 months straight

[Ryan231211]

Hello... I've got a really bad problem.. I made a thread on here about my ammonia and I got some great tips.. but I'm afraid I'm back again... I've had my 117ltr tank set up now for 6 months.. I had a lot of fish in it and I always had high ammonia and I just couldn't get rid of it.. so I ended up losing all my fish apart from the 4 I have left.. these are.. 1 platty.. 1 baby pleck.. 2 corys.. so as you will know these are very small fish.. and my tank is a good size for these fish.. so as bit stands my ammonia is at just over 4ppm... I have tried 80% water changes and it just comes back the very next day.. this is with 4 small fish.. I just can't figure out why this is happening.. I could understand before as I was told I was over crowded.. but now there are 4 fish.. I have been told by a friend that my tank is not cycled... I thought it should be after 6 months.. but she says it's not and the best thing for me to do is just leave my tank don't do water changes.. let the ammonia rise to whatever it gets to and let the tank cycle on it's own.... what do people think of this idea? I must admit it is probably the only thing I have not tried... but I'm worried for my fishes lives... someone please help me make the right decision ... im really really stuck now.. 6 months of constant ammonia I don't know what else I can do I'm in need of some help

 

[seangee]

Have you tried a different test kit? At 4ppm for this amount of time your fish would all be dead.

 

[Ryan231211]

Sorry didn't explain myself properly ... ive had ammonia for 6 months now.... sometimes it's only at 0.25ppm... then the next day it can be 2ppm.. it's just going up and down constantly.... but recently it's been really high... like now it's over 4ppm... I'm wondering how my fish are surviving this... I've had a good pet shop test my kit... they said it's working perfect... just don't know what's happening

 

[NickAu]

What test kit are you using?
What water conditioner are you using?

 

[Colin_T]

Have you tried a different test kit? At 4ppm for this amount of time your fish would all be dead.

That depends on the pH of the water. In water with a pH below 7.0, ammonium (NH4) is pretty harmless. But when the pH goes above 7.0 a hydrogen ion gets removed and ammonia (NH3) is left behind, and this is very toxic. The higher the pH the more toxic it becomes.
(I hope I got that right, I hate chemistry)

Any way, if there is ammonia/ ammonium in the water (test kits read both as the same thing), try to keep the pH below 7.0 (6.8-6.9 is ideal).

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For the OP, it would have been easier if you continued the original thread so we could look over what has been written previously. I have no idea what was posted last week let alone last month. (Old Timers disease)

Post a picture of the tank and filter.

If you have driftwood or big rocks in the tank, take them out and put them in separate buckets of water and check the ammonia before you put them in the bucket, and again 24 hours later. Driftwood can release ammonia and so can rotting organic matter on rocks.

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If the ammonia level gets too high the cycle will stall. Keep it under 3ppm.

 

[Ryan231211]

Thank you for the advice.. I don't have wood in there it's all plastic ornimants... I've done a 90% water change today... I'm hoping this has brought it down a lot.. my P.H is normally a bit over 7... but I have known it to be less than 7.. I forgot to tell you all.. I have got my filter running.. it's a 1000ltr per hour.. but I forgot to say.. it's new filter.. been up and running for about 4 weeks.. so I know that's probably not helping my situation... so I have done 90% water change.. was told to do this on my last thread... I very much doubt this has got rid of my ammonia from past experience... so if I still have high ammonia when do you suggest I do another water change? And how much should I take out? Sorry for all questions... just I'm new to keeping fish and I love my tank but I'm worried I'm going to have to get rid of my tank as u just can't sort this ammonia out

 

[Ryan231211]

Here is a photo of my tank and filter that you asked for

 

[Colin_T]

The tank looks nice

What is the substrate?
That might be causing the ammonia.

Take a bucket of tap water and check it for ammonia. There should be none. Add a couple of handfuls of the substrate to the bucket of water and leave it for a few days. If the ammonia level goes up in the bucket of water, the substrate is the problem. Do the same thing with the rocks.

Is there anything under the gravel, plant substrate or something?

Other than the gravel & rocks there is nothing that I can see that would cause this issue.

The only other thing to try is to reduce the flow rate of the filter. Put a sponge over the intake and maybe fit a tap to the intake hose to reduce the amount of water flowing through the filter. It shouldn't make any difference but might.

 

[Ryan231211]

That's great thank you for the advice.. I've tested my water after my 90% water change and now ammonia is showing 0.50ppm.. so it's a big difference now from over 4ppm... still not gone but hell of a lot better... I take it I should do another water change tomorrow? But what I'm not sure about it how much water to change tomorrow.. would another 90% be to dangerous for my fish!

 

[Colin_T]

see how the ammonia goes. If it goes up above 1ppm then do another big water change.
Do a 75% water change if the ammonia is 1ppm
Do a 90% water change if its 2ppm or more.

You can change 90% every day and it won't affect the fish, plants or filter, as long as the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

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Keep a record of what the ammonia levels are each day and what food goes into the tank and when you do a water change.

Make sure nobody else is feeding the fish. And test the gravel and rocks as suggested in my earlier post just to rule them out.

There has to be something releasing ammonia into the water and it isn't the fish.

 

[Ryan231211]

Yes okay then I will do... yes I didn't think it could be the fish either considering there are only 4 small fish... and it's not the smallest tank out there.. I will do another water change... can I ask you a question please... I saw on other people's threads about ammonia .. and some people was suggesting doing 2 water changes a day untill it shows 0ppm ammonia..... what would you say about this.. as I am very tempted to try this method... but wouldn't want to doit untill I got the go ahead from someone with experience...

 

[Colin_T]

You can change the water twice daily but normally one big water change is sufficient. In your case the big water change reduced the ammonia from 4ppm to 0.5 and that is a huge improvement so a second water change wouldn't make much difference.

If the ammonia goes up rapidly, to 3 or 4 parts in a couple of days, then it has to be something in the tank that is producing it. The fish won't be doing that to a tank and I am pretty sure you reduced feeding to once every few days on your other post so food is not the issue unless you are putting a handful of flake in the tank and I highly doubt that is the case. Plastic plants won't cause ammonia and neither do most rocks or normal gravel. However, some rocks can have organic matter in them and some gravel (designed for plants) can produce ammonia. But that's it.

In your tank the only thing I can see that might be producing ammonia is the gravel or the funny round rocks.

 

[Ryan231211]

Okay thank you... I pick very carefully before I get my plants and ornimants... I only go to well known pet shops for my stuff... it's all ment to be in a fish tank... so I would hope it wouldn't be any of my items