How To Lower The Ammonia Level?

[conrad9900]

Anyone know the quickest way to lower the ammonia level in a tank other thank shop bought fluids. tried the additives and no real difference....water is murky and green as a result of the ammonia...filter media is all ok and no food is going to waste....causes?

 

[Livewire88]

WATER CHANGE And change as much as possible as soon as possible. (ie; now)

Has your filter been cycled correctly?? have you tested the water to be sure the ammonia level is high?

 

[CezzaXV]

WATER CHANGE

This.

Assuming your tap water has no ammonia (or at least less ammonia than what's currently in your tank) a water change will dilute the ammonia.

 

[conrad9900]

ammonia is high...water changes have been done ..any filter media that was changed was changed a good 2 weeks apart i.e filter sponges...tank has been running around 2 months and contains 15-16 fish..

 

[Livewire88]

ammonia is high...water changes have been done ..any filter media that was changed was changed a good 2 weeks apart i.e filter sponges...tank has been running around 2 months and contains 15-16 fish..

How much water have you changed and when? What size is your tank? What fish do you have?
What Filter do you have? Was the Filter removed from another tank? if so what fish were in that tank?

These questions need to be asked because your filter obviously cant deal with the amount of Ammonia that is being created by your fish, you may have to start doing larg daily water changes intill your filter can cope with the amount of Ammonia being created by your fish.

 

[conrad9900]

110 litre with a fluval 2 plus filter some guppies,pleco,silver dollar,tiger barb,platys,swordtails,angel fish, the filter IMO is not suited for the tank...i am upgrading to a tetratec2400 and UV along with a new tank but for now i just want the fish to be able to live in the smaller tank...so my best bet is a 25% water change?

 

[Livewire88]

Your best bet is to change as much water as possible, so all but enough so the fish can stay upright.

then replace with clean dechlorinated water that is a similar tempreture as the water you have removed, you will have to check the water stats daily and keep changing a lot of the water intill your filter can cope with your fishes waste.

Have a read in the beginers section and look at "Fish In Cycle"

 

[DrRob]

Don't change filter sponges, just wash them gently in water you've taken from the tank if they get dirty enough to slow flow down. Replace carbon sponges with normal ones if you want to.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Massive Water Change asap, then another the next day will solve the ammonia issue.

How big is the pleco? How many of the other fish do you have? Along with the angel you are knocking on the door of overstocked.


Tom

 

[waterdrop]

Large water changes with proper technique are indeed likely to be the important and immediate approach except in those rare cases where we come across a neglected tank. It's called Old Tank Syndrome and what happens is that the mineral content has been allowed to build and build over time because of -additions- of water rather than -changes- of water. The fish then adjust to these higher mineral levels and can be killed by a very large water change that takes the water instantly to a much lower mineral level.

In a true case of OTS, the water changes need to be very small but frequent with a gradual change to the fish. A conditioner like Prime can be used for short one day relief from the high ammonia level that must remain.

It is more likely though that you simply have an ammonia problem without the mineral situation, in which case large water changes done with a gravel cleaner siphon and return water treated with a good conditioner and roughly temperature matched (your hand is good enough for this) will be the important and urgent solution.

The members here are great, they'll keep and eye on you,
~~waterdrop~~