High Ammonia!

[woody0687]

Hi,

Tested my ammonia past couple of days and its been getting worse! It's now in between 0.5 and 1

I've just done a large water change and that has helped! I've also changed the carbon filter as that's been in since I setup a month ago! I read somewhere that helps!

What can I do next? Daily water changes? Any neutralisers?

Cheers

Ant

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Is your tank still cycling?

 

[attibones]

Daily water changes, sometimes three to four. Did you ever cycle your tank? If so, how long and what method? If you have any ammonia over zero, you need to do a water change.

 

[woody0687]

i thought it had cycled maybe its a bit behind, i had fish in it 24hrs after i setup. and its been a month. its ever since i swapped the original fish for the rasoras.
 
I currently have 6 rasboras, 6 endlers , 2 ottos and 3 shrimp in there.
 
how much water should i change 25% , 50% daily?
 
any other advice need to get this sorted

 

[snazy]

As much water needed to remove any toxic ammonia/nitrItes.
If you've got a 1ppm reading, then doing a 50% water change will only bring the ammonia down to 0.50ppm.
So one can calculate themselves what's needed to bring the levels to below 0.25ppm(shrimp may not survive these levels so you may need to clear the ammonia down to 0)

 

[woody0687]

can i take almost all the water out then in one go? will that not cause more problems ?

 

[snazy]

can i take almost all the water out then in one go? will that not cause more problems ?

 
Yes, there's a risk if the tap water is very different than the tank water. But you can try an 80% water change, leave as much water as needed for the fish to swim freely as not to stress them additionally.  Just make sure the water splashes into the tank if you can do it without causing harm to the fish. This will help outgass possible CO2.  As long as you do that daily, tank and tap water shouldn't be much different so there'll be little harm.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hi,

Tested my ammonia past couple of days and its been getting worse! It's now in between 0.5 and 1

I've just done a large water change and that has helped! I've also changed the carbon filter as that's been in since I setup a month ago! I read somewhere that helps!

What can I do next? Daily water changes? Any neutralisers?

Cheers

Ant

 
Removing filter media means removing the bacteria you are trying to cultivate.  Carbon actually is a great place for the bacteria to live.  Better to leave old carbon where it is as it will do no harm and taking it out will remove bacteria and could lead to a spike.

can i take almost all the water out then in one go? will that not cause more problems ?

 
Yes, there's a risk if the tap water is very different than the tank water. But you can try an 80% water change, leave as much water as needed for the fish to swim freely as not to stress them additionally.  Just make sure the water splashes into the tank if you can do it without causing harm to the fish. This will help outgass possible CO2.  As long as you do that daily, tank and tap water shouldn't be much different so there'll be little harm.

 
Don't forget to temp match when changing that much water.

 

[woody0687]

Thanks everyone for that will try it out after work tonight!!

I should have left the carbon filter in by the sounds of things but its done now, learning curve!!

When cleaning the gravel is it just s case of cleaning the stuff that's visible or do I need to move plants and cover everywhere?

I take it I'm right in adding nutrafin cycle with such a large water change?

 

[the_lock_man]

Cycle is one of those products that causes much debate. If you've already got it, it won't hurt, but I wouldn't rush out to buy a bottle if you don't.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

+1 ^^^
 
 
You should try to get as much out without disturbing everything during your weekly change.  Save the moving of decor, etc. for a quarterly change.

 

[woody0687]

Ok thanks!

Just another question! When taking a sample for ammonia testing can I take it straight from the filter out let or do I need to go down into the tank?

 

[CJH0825]

I always do mine from the tank, that's where the fish live so you'll know what they are living in.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

You need to go down not because that is where the fish live but in order to avoiding getting any of the things that tend to float on the surface into the test water- oils etc. We may not see as well as particles can be floating. Be sure to rinse out your test tubes well both before doing the test and afterwords as the reagents are nasty and you don't want them getting into the tank water.
 
If one is a bug about avoiding potential contamination- just segregate one test tube which you use solely for collecting the water and then pour it into another tube for the actual testing.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I use a plastic medicine syringe for taking water from the tank.   It eliminates a lot of these issues.