Ammonia of 1 or 2ppm is deadly for fish. Aim to keep it no higher than 0.25ppm. Do as many water changes as is required to achieve this.
depends on PH. In acid water (PH below 7.0) it is fine. In alkaline water (PH above 7.0) it is toxic. The higher the PH the more toxic it becomes.
Once again, Colin, it is not as cut and dried at just above 7.0 or below 7.0
Please read my article carefully:
http
/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/15...Ammonia-Charts/
For example, If I had a tank at 27 deg C, with a pH of 6.6, that had 5.0 ppm of total ammonia, that level would be immediately deadly for the average fish. In this case, the split between ammonia and ammonium is 0.02 ppm of ammonia and 4.98 ppm ammonium. Sure, it is overwhelmingly ammonium, but there is still a dangerous amount of ammonia. In this case, the pH is below 7.0, but it certainly is not "fine".
For that matter, any level of ammonia is dangerous to fish. There is an article cited in that link above that demonstrated that even low levels of exposure (below 1 ppm of total ammonia) caused permanent immune system damage to fish. There is no level of ammonia that is "fine."
Similarly to you, backtotropical, you can't say that there is an absolute level that is safe, and a level that is dangerous. As Colin correctly pointed out, it is a significant function of pH and temperature. Again, please look at the link above.
Finally, to the OP. please do follow the advice about doing water changes to keep the level as low as possible. You don't slow down the cycling process, and you keep the fish as safe as possible. It will take about a month, like Colin said. Just be patient, it will happen.
