High Ammonia Level In Tank

[Tej]

Hello,

I have a 60 litre tank which has been established now for at least 3 months. We have introduced fish into tanks slowly. We began with 7 tetras and 1 plec - all the tetra died from what we think ammonia, we then changed at least 75% water everyday for a week as reccommended by the forum. After a week and a half we added 3 fighting fish, 1 male and 2 female. We brought APU freshwater master test kit to test the water regulary.

We tested the water everyday as we were obviously worried and the ammonia level was always 0.25-0.50 so we continued water changes everyday for at least 2 weeks.

We then added 3 mollies to the tank and then 4 Hatchet. Sadly all the Hatchets died - we expect ammonia even though we have changed water everyday.

Where I am is struggling is the ammonia level. At the moment we are having to change the water everyday as the ammonia level is at least 0.25 - 0.50. I know it's meant to be at 0 so we change at least 15 lites of water per water change.

We are also adding 'Weekly water cleaner' - "removes harmful ammonia and nitrite" and Nutafin Cycle. We are feeding the fish once a day Nurafin Max Complete flake fish food.

We currently have 3 fighters (1 male and 2 female), 3 mollies and a plec in the tank.

Is there any way we can keep the ammonia level low so we dont have to do a water change every day? The Nitrate, Nitrite and PH are all at the correct level its just the ammonia.

My partner and I will be off on holiday in a few weeks for 10 days and we would like to leave our fish knowing that the water may not need to be changed everyday.

Is this natural for a tank this age? Is there anything we can do to keep the ammonia level low?

 

[bassbonediva]

What kind of pleco do you have? The common plecos are huge waste producers, which leads to more ammonia in the tank. Also, most (if not all) pleco species get too big for a 15gal tank.

Also, I'm a little concerned about the three "fighting fish" in one tank. I'm assuming you mean betta splendens? It's not a good idea to house male and female bettas together, ESPECIALLY in a 15gal tank. Males are extremely territorial and will kill the females if they get the chance. I would move your male to his own heated, filtered ~5gal tank.

I would discontinue the use of Cycle, if I were you. I would instead use Seachem Prime. It immediately detoxifies ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Have you tested your tap water to see if it contains ammonia straight from the tap?

 

[Assaye]

Sounds like your tank never cycled. A 3 month old tank should be stable by now.

What filter do you have, what is it's flow rate and do you clean the filter? If you do, how do you clean it?

For now keep up with the water changes. If you have ammonia problems change much more than just 1/4 of the water at a time. Only changing small amounts won't improve matters.

Plec could be a problem - they produce a lot of waste and can grow fast, which means they always add a higher bioload to the water. What sort of plec is it?

I agree with bassbonediva about the fighting fish - males and females should not be housed together and if someone is going to be reckless and do it, it needs to be a VERY large tank (200 litres +). Sounds like you got some poor advice on that one.

 

[mattlee]

also if your struggling to keep the ammonia at 0 then stop trying to add new fish......

let the tank stabalise and be stable for a week or 2 before adding anything else. you really need to be changing 75% as you are/have been and then re test. if there is a reading for ammonia 30 mins after the water change then do another change until it reads 0. then keep testing and any sign of ammonia do a water change of the relevant size to reduce it to 0.
with a tank as unstable as this i cant see it surviving without the changes while you are away im affraid

 

[OldMan47]

The daily water change is a "must do" chore in an uncycled tank. You need to look at the thread we have on this forum about fish-in cycling since that is what you are doing. There is a link to it in my signature area. As others have already suggested, please stop adding fish. They are adding to the work it takes to keep your chemistry in line. If you want to do less water changes, thew answer is simple. No new fish until your cycle has completed and restrict the feeding to as little as you can get away with. By reducing feeding, you reduce the amount of decaying food in the tank which should make things easier to control. By not adding any fish, you reduce the biological load on the filter and give it a chance to catch up if it is close to being good enough for your bioload.
Another consideration that may be the cause of your difficulties is that you may be following the manufacturer's suggested maintenance for your filter. If you toss the old cartridge every month, as so many of them suggest, you are getting to start all over again each month with an uncycled filter cartridge. A far better approach to filter maintenance is to simply rinse out your filter media in used tank water and put it right back where it came from. I will be doing that this evening on my huge canister filter. If you have replaced the media or cleaned it under running tap water you have destroyed any progress your filter might have made toward cycling.