Lowering Ammonia

karawr · Apr 9, 2011

I've got ammonia of 0.25ppm. I read in the "what's in your water?" guide to use activated carbon/zeolite in your filter. Can anyone tell me how often you have to replace it, anything about it.

I do a weekly water change of 30% and it's continued to be 0.25ppm for 3 weeks now.

Could this be due to over feeding? I give my 5 fish (3 balas, 2 CAE) a pinch of flakes in the morning, and another pinch at night. My "pinch" is about 1/4tsp. And I have a turtle (RES), I don't know if this will contribute to ammonia or what.

Thanks!

fluttermoth · Apr 9, 2011

Carbon won't remove ammonia. Zeolite will, but I've never used so can't comment on it.
Anyway, in general it's not recommended to use chemical filtration like that; you need to find the root cause of the problem and sort it out that way.

First of all; are you sure you're doing the test right? Following all the instructions carefull; washing and cleaning the test tubes properly? Reading the results in daylight and not under a flourescent tube or energy saving bulb?

That sounds like a lot of food, but how big are the fish? How long does it take them to eat the food? How big is your tank, what filtration do you have and how long has it been set up?

It could very well be to do with your turtle. It's really not a good idea to keep a turtle in with fish; the fish will end up being eaten as soon as the turtle is big enough/works out that it can. You should get it into a separate tank ASAP.

In the meantime, more water changes are needed although if your pH is below 7 the ammonia wont be quite as toxic, you still want to get it down to zero if you can.

Caprichoso · Apr 9, 2011

That seems like a lot of food plus turtles are major waste producers too. Up your water change to 50% every week and see if that helps. Cut the feeding to once a day or 1/8 twice. That may even be too much food but the your ammonia result will speak for you. It should always be at 0.

Good luck!

karawr · Apr 9, 2011

I'm pretty sure I am doing the test right. I use the right amount of drops to water, in clean test tubes and read under natural light.

The fish are 2~3" each. It's difficult to say how long it takes for them to eat it, since my turtle likes to get in on their food too (I do make sure they get their share though). I realize keeping turtles and fish together is a hazard, and know this from experience. The reason I got Balas and CAE is because they are faster and he can't catch them. He now leaves them alone and the cohabit peacefully. He is 5". I appreciate your concern, but this setup works so far and I will not be separating them.

I have a 75G tank running rena XP3. The tank's been set up for almost a year now.

I will up my water change and see if this helps. I will also try feeding them less (everyone in my tank is going on a diet, my turtles food has recently been cut down too! :lol:

) also. Thank you both for your input! :good:

rachard1583 · Apr 10, 2011

Alternately you can add tiny amounts of ammonia to the water as a replacement for fish waste. This method is known as fishless water cycling and can be achieved using any pure ammonia product from a grocery store.

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karawr · Apr 10, 2011

I don't think I want to add ammonia if my goal is to reduce it.

BigbruiserAl · Apr 10, 2011

Dont think richard read your opening post right lol :lol:

fishnovice · Apr 10, 2011

karawr said:
I'm pretty sure I am doing the test right. I use the right amount of drops to water, in clean test tubes and read under natural light.

The fish are 2~3" each. It's difficult to say how long it takes for them to eat it, since my turtle likes to get in on their food too (I do make sure they get their share though). I realize keeping turtles and fish together is a hazard, and know this from experience. The reason I got Balas and CAE is because they are faster and he can't catch them. He now leaves them alone and the cohabit peacefully. He is 5". I appreciate your concern, but this setup works so far and I will not be separating them.

I have a 75G tank running rena XP3. The tank's been set up for almost a year now.

I will up my water change and see if this helps. I will also try feeding them less (everyone in my tank is going on a diet, my turtles food has recently been cut down too! ) also. Thank you both for your input!

It's almost certainly the turtle that is causing the problem. I have sliders and when it comes to poo they are 100x messier than large plecs inc commons!Also how big is your tank? CAE will grow to 8in or more

karawr · Apr 11, 2011

fishnovice said:
karawr said:

I'm pretty sure I am doing the test right. I use the right amount of drops to water, in clean test tubes and read under natural light.

The fish are 2~3" each. It's difficult to say how long it takes for them to eat it, since my turtle likes to get in on their food too (I do make sure they get their share though). I realize keeping turtles and fish together is a hazard, and know this from experience. The reason I got Balas and CAE is because they are faster and he can't catch them. He now leaves them alone and the cohabit peacefully. He is 5". I appreciate your concern, but this setup works so far and I will not be separating them.

I have a 75G tank running rena XP3. The tank's been set up for almost a year now.

I will up my water change and see if this helps. I will also try feeding them less (everyone in my tank is going on a diet, my turtles food has recently been cut down too! ) also. Thank you both for your input!

Click to expand...

It's almost certainly the turtle that is causing the problem. I have sliders and when it comes to poo they are 100x messier than large plecs inc commons!Also how big is your tank? CAE will grow to 8in or more

As my post says, 75G. And I have less concern about the CAE, the biggest concern is with the Balas that grow 14". As they are now small, the tank is suitable but I will most definitely be upgrading since my turtle will need at least 90G. I am thinking 125G (maybe larger) but will look at it more when I get there.