Tank Levels

[ewooten78]

I am strictly running livebearer tanks and would like to know what levels are best for my livebearers. I have been having a slight ammonia problem yesterday it was at 4 did a 50% water change got it down to 1 then did a 50% water change this morning and it is down to .25. I also put ammo chips in my filter to help elminate the ammonia as well. I have a 29 gal tank and a 10 gal fry tank. I have 18 new guppy fry in the fry tank which is crystal clear but my 29 gal has a slight white hazy look to the water. pH is at 7.6 and the high range pH is at 7.4. Nitrites are at 0 and nitrates are at 0. Im new to the whole water testing thing i usually use the quick dip test strips. Oldman if you could help out or anyone else who can help me that would be great.

 

[5teady_2012]

Ammonia needs to be at 0
Nitrite needs to be at 0
Nitrate, throughout the UK most tap water has around 40ppm in it, but this is acceptable.

If your nitrate levels are higher than 40 then something really should be done, but seems as you got yours at 0 you have nothing to worry about..

test strips are not accurate, you should really invest in a api liquid test

 

[ewooten78]

Any suggestions on how to get the ammonia at 0. Should I do another water change?

 

[5teady_2012]

Yes do more water changes, once u got the level to 0, keep doing regulare water changes until its stable enough not need so many.

 

[ewooten78]

I did another water change and the ammonia levels are at 0. Are there any products out on the market to help with ammonia control that you would recommend?

 

[5teady_2012]

There is this product, http/www.africanaquatic.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=115

 

[OldMan47]

As Livebearer Master said, zeolite can be used to remove ammonia. The thing that we often find is that zeolite is only a short term solution. Zeolite, by its very nature, can remove ammonia directly but cannot provide a long term solution to ammonia build up. What we see most often, and it is more common in new tanks, is that the zeolite removes the ammonia effectively right up until the ion exchange capacity of the zeolite is reached. At that moment, the ammonia in the tank will go from being successfully dealt with to suddenly having nothing to control it. If you do not do very close monitoring of your ammonia, the fish will go from perfect water to deadly concentrations without your knowledge. The only method that I have seen be successful with ammonia build up has been a method that uses partial water changes to remove ammonia paired with frequent testing. When ammonia levels begin to control themselves, the water change rates can be reduced because AOBs are processing the ammonia through to nitrites. At that time nitrite concentrations are used to guide the water change process so that we do not have nitrites become the threat that ammonia levels once had been. In the end, the only truly effective method of controlling poisons in your tank water is a water change with clean water. Everything else amounts to a temporary measure that has risks of its own.

 

[ewooten78]

I did another partial water change and my ammonia levels are down to zero. I have added ammo-chips to my filter in hopes of controling some of the ammonia but I really appreciate the advice from livebearer master and oldman. Thanks a bunch!

 

[OldMan47]

The ammo-chips are a zeolite type product and carry the same risks as any other form of zeolite.