I'm Afraid These Fish Won't Survive...

[Ale_xis]

What I was going to do tonight was replace pretty much all of the water and test until 0ppm. However... I think I know the cause to the constant ammonia.
First of all, the 3 platys poop so much. I mean it's ridiculous, each time I look around, one is pooping. I haven't fed them since Saturday since I've really been trying to bring these levels down, but now they're eating the sand.... So I'll see bits of sand as they're going. I'll be feeding all of them tomorrow and then do a major water change hopefully, but my fear is it won't do anything because they poop so much, they'll just bring the levels back up. Do you think it will be possible with this many fish to cycle it properly or does it seem overstocked and pretty much impossible to bring the levels down?
And 2nd, the plants that I have in there now started to turn brown a little. I read online that this was normal, because they are getting used to the tank and to just leave them alone. The wilted parts wouldn't be really adding onto the ammonia right? There are a few dead pieces that float around that I take out...
Sorry for being paranoid and impatient. I'm stressing this because I really need to get these levels fixed in the next 2-3 weeks, since I'll be leaving for about 2 days over the holidays. I'm sure they'd be fine for that long, but still... I'd rather not risk it. That would mean they would probably go 3 days without a water change since we get back that night.

Also, both yesterday and tonight I did 50% changes and still the same results. I forgot to test the tap water but I will do that tomorrow.

 

[KCB]

Unfortunately you can't stop the fish pooping lol. The bacteria will build-up enough to handle the ammonia they produce but it's going to take time. As for your stocking, I can't exactly remember what your fish are but I seemed to think they would be ok. How big is your tank again and how many fish are you down to?

Are you using a liquid test kit? Could you post a picture of your results? They can be a little difficult to read sometimes so maybe we can take a look at them and make sure they're right.

 

[Ale_xis]

Alright, now im slapping myself in the face. I should have tested the tap water long ago... Did it just now, and got 0.50 ppm... Boy do I feel stupid. all those water changes I feel like were for nothing haha.
So it's one of two things- either the water is actually .50ppm or perhaps I have a faulty kit? I have no clue.
Okay, so new problem... How can I possibly get it down to 0 when the water here is at .50 straight from the tap with conditioner in it? Now I'm REALLY lost.
I changed 50% tonight but I'm stopping water changes until I find out how to resolve this...

 

[snazy]

If the tank water is 0.50 ppm or less ammonia, no point doing a water change in this case. Get a dechlorinator like Prime, it will detoxify the ammonia for 24 hours at least, then redose or do a one large water change if ammonia is over 0.50 ppm and then redose prime. I suppose it's been covered already in the previous pages, but if you get a friend or even if the shop gives you a bit of a cycled medea/sponge from a filter that you can squeeze into yours would be great to speed up the cycle.

 

[Ale_xis]

The gravel and the nasty looking water from the old tank's filter seemed to kind of help it begin cycling, so I might get a bit more of that if I can. I'll check tomorrow if the school has Prime, and if not I can pick some up this weekend. It's safe just to directly put it into the tank right?

 

[snazy]

Yes, it is safe putting directly. It's a dechlorinator. Read the label how much for the tank volume. Make sure you have plenty of surface movement for oxygen. The best way is to get filter gunk, media, etc... and cycle it normally. Prime and similar products that detoxify ammonia will slow down the cycle.

 

[Ale_xis]

Okay I'll keep that in mind. I haven't recently tested Nitrate again but last time it was at 5ppm, and people say to have it anywhere below 20ppm. So how do I know my tank is safe/ fully cycled? I mean the ammonia thing hasn't gotten to 0 because I kept adding in tank water which was constantly adding in ammonia, so I'm wondering if the tank can cycle and get rid of that ammonia if I leave it alone for a couple of days. Maybe it can cycle with the amount of nitrates it has...
Again I'm still learning this so I hope I'm making sense I'm not all for adding more chemicals into the water (my nitrates are still pretty low so I'd hate for those to get messed up/slowed down) so I was hoping that with patience, the tank can just naturally cycle the ammonia. I think I might wait until Friday night, test, and if the ammonia has rose, I'll go out and buy Prime this weekend.
Does this sound good, or is Prime like, a must in this situation?

 

[snazy]

The tank will eventually cycle naturally, but the fish have little hope of survival if ammonia/nitrIte levels are not kept below 0.25ppm and as close to 0 as possible. I wouldn't even bother testing nitrAtes until ammonia and nitrIte are both 0. Also, once on the nitrIte stage, keep in mind that most home tests convert nitrAtes to nitrItes in order to measure the level, so any amount of nitrItes in the tank would give false nitrAte levels.

 

[Ale_xis]

Okay, tonight I bought Prime and another plant (tank is still looking very unfinished but getting there). I added half a gallon of fresh water, then put 1 ml of Prime straight into the tank and kind of mixed it around. Now here's the part where I'm confused. The bottle says it detoxifies Nitrites, Ammonia and Nitrates. I thought tanks needed a little bit of Nitrate? Does it just mean it makes it less toxic to the fish but doesn't actually get rid of them? I had asked a person at the store and she said you don't want ANY nitrate readings...
Anyways, tested water last night and got an interesting result. Ammonia still 0.50 (that's good it didn't raise) but the nitrite was very odd. It wasn't a single color on the chart... It was still closest to 0pm but it was a faded blue, not the same color though. But it wasn't even close to 0.25 so I won't stress.
As of now, what do I need to do on a regular basis? I won't do water changes unless they go over 0.50, but do I just add Prime every 24 hours until Ammonia is 0? Again, thank you everyone for helping these past couple of weeks. I've come a long way with these guys and I'm happy to say they're much happier now in their new home. Couldn't have done it without the help from all of you~

 

[snazy]

Not sure about Prime and nitrAte to be honest. But a cycled tank should always read some nitrAte, even with plants in it, because they need it as part of their nutritients. You don't want it to be 0, around 10ppm is best but anything below 30ppm is just fine.
There is a dosage on the bottle that tells you how much ammonia Prime detoxifies per dosage, have a look. I think the normal dose detoxifies 1ppm, can't remember now though...But your test may still read the ammonia, although it's not in a different, non-dangerous form..Dose every 24 hours I guess as after that period it will return back to ammonia

 

[CezzaXV]

Ideally you want to be doing water changes every time ammonia or nitrite is above 0, as 0.5ppm is toxic to your fish. Your filter will cycle with levels of ammonia and nitrite our test kits can't even detect, so there's no need to worry about that, just the fish.

In an ideal world, water would have 0 nitrates but it very rarely happens. Thankfully it is only harmful to most fish in super high concentrations (at least 100ppm+), so there's really nothing to worry about.

The prime will turn the ammonia to a less toxic form, although not an entirely non-toxic form. Same goes for nitrite.

Just keep testing and keep up with the water changes and everything will be fine

 

[Ale_xis]

Tested tonight, and got some good news! Got 0 Ammonia but still 0.25 Nitrite. Should I put another dose of Prime, or just leave it alone? I haven't done anything today, no prime or water changes. Tomorrow I'll add in about half a gallon of clean water w/ conditioner and Prime since some water evaporated, so should that help bring down the nitrites? I did feed them tonight so I'm expecting the ammonia may rise by tomorrow, so I'm not too sure if I should put another dose of Prime inside the tank, or just in the replacement water I'll add.

 

[snazy]

The bottle really tells you what dosage neutralizes nitrItes and what dosage ammonia. So it's really up to you what you want to do. Keep in mind that nitrIte stage can be longer than ammonia stage.