My Amonnia Was 1.0 Is This Bad?

[crazyaussie]

Hi
i got a new 65 liter tank about 2 weeks ago with about 18 fish
i was testing my amonnia and it was 1.0 was this bad?

please help me

 

[chipper_222]

Hey Crazy,

1.0ppm Ammonia isn't good, you should aim to keep it below 0.25ppm at all times. What are your other levels? Nitrite and Nitrate? Nitrite should be kept below 0.25ppm also. You should do a partial water change ASAP.....25% would be good.

Happy Oz Day!!

Chip

 

[st24rsap]

if the ammonia is reading 1ppm you need to do a 50% water change asap to reduce it down to 0.5, then wait for several hour and do another 50% change to get it down to 0.25.

sounds like your doing a fish in cycle so need to test the levels at least once a day and do water changes if the ammonia or nitrite rise above 0.25. this will probably be the case for weeks untill the tank is fully cycled and the ammonia and nitrite levels reduce to 0 on there own

limit the feeding whilst the levels are high

 

[crazyaussie]

hi

ok ill change my water thanx for the help

 

[chicklette]

What kind of fish do you have in the tank?

Ammonia and nitrites should always be a 0ppm.What is your ph?

You are still going threw the cycling process. You need to do lots of water changes, test the tank water daily, and feed lightly.

 

[rdd1952]

You have basically started with a full stock of fish in an uncycled tank. You will need to pay very close attention to the ammonia AND nitrite readings over the next 2 to 4 weeks as both of those can kill your fish. Even the ones that survive can be harmed permanently. The water changes that were mentioned are definitely what you need. You should also look to get some Prime for your dechlorinator as it will neutralize the ammonia and make it non-toxic and safe for the fish until the tank cycles. It will still show on your test kit though. Besides the water changes, cut back on feeding them to every other day. Less food means less waste thus less ammonia and nitrite.

What type fish do you have?

 

[crazyaussie]

Hi
does it really matter what fish i have they all do the same thing ( go toilet eat swim) so whats the point in telling u if u want to see what fish i have just click my detatils and u can see them there



regards : Aussie

 

[chipper_222]

Hi
does it really matter what fish i have they all do the same thing ( go toilet eat swim) so whats the point in telling u if u want to see what fish i have just click my detatils and u can see them there



regards : Aussie

fair point...good luck with your cycle

 

[Hollymolly4]

What type of fish is always a question you'll get here just out of curiosity. But some fish are more sensitive to higher ammonia readings. Ammonia isn't good for any fish, but some will suffer more quickly.
Good luck with your tank cycling! Please let us know how things go.

 

[Tolak]

Thank you for adding your fish to your profile, I sure wish more members would get in the habit of doing this, it makes a swift diagnosis easier in the event of any problems.

The reason rdd asked is that some fish are more hardy than others, and better at surviving a traditional cycle. Different fish produce more or less waste as well, there is a big difference between say 18 ottos, 18 zebra danios, and 18 plecs.

Just by looking breifly at what you have, your tank is too small for the clown loachs & black knife, and may be depending on the species of gourami. Withot those it would be considered overstocked for a mature tank, way over for a traditional cycle. The neons are way to sensitive to be cycling with, as is the goby.

 

[rdd1952]

As Tolak mentioned, you are having problems simply because you are way overstocked. If there is any way possible you should return the clown loaches (12" long) and the black knife fish (20") long) along with at least half the others (neons for sure as they are extremely sensitive to ammonia and nitrite). If you don't, I feel certain, you will lose a lot of them to ammonia and nitrite poisoning anyway.

Regardless of whether you return any or not, you should start by doing a 50% water change ASAP and continue to do them every 4 hours until the ammonia and nitrite readings are below .25 ppm. After that, do 25% water changes as often as needed to keep the levels there.

I'm not certain how you came to have that many fish in a 17 gallon tank and I'm sure you don't want to hear this but your tank is almost totally doomed unless you return a large portion of your fish. The sheer number of fish alone is way too high, some of the species you have get too large and you also have compatibility issues. And I know some of those fish aren't cheap either. Please return some of them so that you don't lose them do disease.

 

[crazyaussie]

i did a recent test and the ammonia is now 0.25 i also have been doing water changes evry 2 days its slowly getting better