Newbie Still In Need Of Help....

[platyfish1]

Got loads of replies to my last post... you guys are fab.
Went to local fish shop at weekend and bought loads of tests that were recommended and have found out that my tank has amonia in it, <0.5.
As advised, have done a 50% water change and have got up this morning to find another of my fish dead - I'm totally gutted!!
Just tested again and have gotten the same result, any ideas what to do next??
We purchased a new filter too, a Fluval U2 & put that into the tank y'day alongside the old one... the only thing that we didn't do y'day was vacuum the gravel but I didn't want to scare the fish too much - any answers really appreciated!! Thanks

 

[soybean]

Keep doing daily water changes and those levels will come down

 

[platyfish1]

They told me every 3 days, was worried if I did anymore it'd send the fish into shock.... will do more change when kids in bed x
Will it help bring the levels down if we vaccuum too?

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

I would do larger changes, 80-90% daily and make sure you do a gravel clean every time. Much less stressful than swimming around in toxic water.

The reason I say do 80-90% changes is that doing a 50% change will only bring the level down to 0.25ppm which is still harmful for the fish, as you are finding out.

Also if you use prime dechlorinator, this will convert ammonia into a much safer toxin ammonium for about 24 hours, but this will still register on your tests, so I would still treat the reading as ammonia.

But keep up with those water changes and I'm sure your fish will be much better for it

 

[fluttermoth]

I'd just like to add to the advice to do more water changes.

As long as the new water is warmed (to roughly the same temperature), is dechlorinated and not literally poured on the fish's heads, water changes won't shock fish

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Oh yeh. I always forget to say something. Thanks again fluttermoth

 

[platyfish1]

Thanks guys, appreciated!! We were really disappointed by advise initially given at local shop as we told them that we were absolute beginners and there were so many things left unsaid....
We'd been using hot water from the tap mixed with cold to get the temperature correct but they've now told us not to as the water's contained in a copper tank... we're now boiling a kettle but we could've done all these things from the start.
I was having a problem with vacuuming the gravel and have since found that the problem was because we'd been sold a sand syphon instead of a gravel vacuum... They've sold me some other tests now which I have carried out but they haven't told me what the impacts are if anything else shows up in the water.
I've gone from having loads of fry to now having my own bred fish dying. You guys I'm sure will be great help so thank you in advance for advising me on my newbie problems. x

 

[soybean]

The best solutions are the simplest. Clean water, clean tank, happy fish. It'll all come together in the end

 

[QuantumOptician]

I am no chemist, but I would not advise boiling the water to get rid of the copper, as it will not "boil" away. However, at best you will actually be increasing the copper concentration as you are removing clean water (through the process of boiling) while retaining all of copper remains. Thus your copper concentration increases. I would suggest some sort of product that removes or reduces heavy metals, I am sure someone around here has experience with these sorts of products (as I do not) and may be able to recommend one for you.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Most dechlorinators remove heavy metals. Just double check on the bottle, also boiling water will also remove some small particles that your fish need, hence why RO or distilled or even bottled water isn't suggested, it is also far more expensive

 

[platyfish1]

Okay so what water should I use?? The guy said to use cold water from the tap into the kettle and then boil it up...
I cant just use cold otherwise the temperature will be terrible for the platys... how do you go about the water?
I always add an additive for tap water even after adding the boiled kettle water? OMG, what a learning curve this is proving to be!

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Use hot from the tap, just make sure that the dechlorinator removes heavy metals

 

[Essjay]

Using a dechlorinator that removes heavy metals will make your hot water safe from the copper point of view, but you should also consider contamination in the cold water header tank (usually in the attic). People have found dead rats etc in them! It's quite easy to just look inside the tank to see what's there before using the hot water.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

That is quite true, that's why it's a good tip to test both hot and cold water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, just incase there are any irregularities