Very High Ammonia Level

[kittrulz]

Hi everyone,
I'm currently having a bad problem with high ammonia in my jv guppy tank. I have recently lost some of the tank members and thought it to be an ich outbreak. However, im not seeing anything physically wrong with them. I tested the water last night and found that my ammonia is at 8ppm. I immeditaly did a 25% water change and tested the water again. It was still at 8ppm. When I awoke this morning, the fish that were in my sick net appear more vibrant and lively then they did the night before. It appears that the water change helped, but when I tested my water again it is still at 8ppm.

My question is when should that change?
Should I do another 25% change?

Im using the test kit: API Freshwater Master Test Kit (uses water in a tube and drops)
tank size: 30 gal
fish: juvnile guppies and swordtails approx 20; 1 snail and 1 cory catfish

Any help would be greatly apprecated!!

 

[FreedomFighter]

8ppm, how the hell did you get up to 8ppm?

Right, quick questions:

How long has the tank been set up?

How often do you water change?

Do you gravel vac?

Do you clean the filter media in tap water?

And, you need do to many many large water changes, that ammonia needs to be 0 stat! Can you move the guppies to another tank whilst you get the levels down??

 

[kittrulz]

8ppm, how the hell did you get up to 8ppm?

Right, quick questions:

How long has the tank been set up?

How often do you water change?

Do you gravel vac?

Do you clean the filter media in tap water?

And, you need do to many many large water changes, that ammonia needs to be 0 stat! Can you move the guppies to another tank whilst you get the levels down??

The tank has been set up for about 8 months or so. I try and to a 25% water change once a week. I do gravel vac but only usually when I clean or do a total tank tare down and back up. I'm not sure what u mean by the 3rd question; if you mean if i treat my tap water, i do with a fish water conditoner. I can move them to a 5 gal bucket that i use to fill my tanks and dump dirty water as well. If i need to do that I will get on that as soon as I hear it (or i guess read it).

I appreciate the fast reply, please keep them comming!

 

[anon02]

I would say that you need to remove enough water so that you leave just enough for the fish to swim in, replace with conditioned temp matched fresh water then test. repeat the above often enough to lower the ammonia readings to 0.25ppm maximum

 

[kittrulz]

I would say that you need to remove enough water so that you leave just enough for the fish to swim in, replace with conditioned temp matched fresh water then test. repeat the above often enough to lower the ammonia readings to 0.25ppm maximum

Just to ease myself, i tested the water stright from the tap. It reads at 1.0ppm. Is there any way to get it to .25 if I dont even get that from my tap?

Also I will leave enough water for them to swim and start changing it now!

 

[FreedomFighter]

1.0 ammonia at the tap? Seems odd.

Get it down to that and we'll go from there.

Do you use test strips, or liquid test kits?

I suggest you check the tap water once more, then contact your water board or local health board and discuss it with them, you shouldn't be getting ammonia from your taps to be honest.

 

[kittrulz]

1.0 ammonia at the tap? Seems odd.

Get it down to that and we'll go from there.

Do you use test strips, or liquid test kits?

I suggest you check the tap water once more, then contact your water board or local health board and discuss it with them, you shouldn't be getting ammonia from your taps to be honest.

I use a liquid test kit. I'm going to take out the fish and place them in a new one while I do this large water change. Hopefully it will cause them less stress.

 

[FreedomFighter]

Yeah. Only other option I can think of is to run a second filter to get more bacteria colonies to tackle your ammonia issue.

 

[kittrulz]

UPDATE: After a 75% or more water change, the readings have changed to 1.0. Its the same as the tap water ammonia. I'm not sure I can get it any lower. I have been medicating my fish in case it was an ich outbreak. Im wondering if I should cease that since the fish do not appear to have that problem and put the filter back in so that can start work again. I currently still have the fish in a 1gal tank. Should I just go with what I have and put them back?

Also is there anything I can buy to help keep that ammonia down?
Oh I do have a live plant in there, does that help or make it worse? If it makes it better would it help to add more of them?

 

[FreedomFighter]

Yeah if the tank is clean as it can get for now then you can move some of them back if they're cramped in the 1g.

Live plants can help towards the ammonia levels, but only if they are healthy, any decaying leaves and stems can add to your problems. There are products that supposedly deal with ammonia,but I cannot recommend any as I am yet to use one that worked for me.

 

[mark4785]

Yeah if the tank is clean as it can get for now then you can move some of them back if they're cramped in the 1g.

Live plants can help towards the ammonia levels, but only if they are healthy, any decaying leaves and stems can add to your problems. There are products that supposedly deal with ammonia,but I cannot recommend any as I am yet to use one that worked for me.

Waterlife Bacterlife is a good ammonia and nitrite oxidiser. Best on the market in my opinion. Since W/C's are not going to solve the OP's issue since the tap water is not up to standard (maybe you should make a formal complaint since you probably shouldn't be drinking water with ammonia in it?) I'd recommend the use of Bacterlife P in conjunction with zeolite media installed in your filter which absorbs ammonia.

 

[CrustyOnEastCoast]

Perhaps the ammonia detected in the tap water is reading the ammonia+chlorine combination which is what chloramines are comprised of. Some municipal water authorities (in the U.S. at least), use chloramine instead of chlorine since chloramine is more stable and won't evaporate ... making the water presumably safer for people (but worse for your fish).

My ammonia reading from my tap is actually 1.5ppm! (The API liquid test kit is reading the ammonia from the chloramine). That metric is so high that I have decided not to use my tap water at all. I will use RO water and add minerals ... but my situation and the OPs are rare.

Using dechlorinators that "detoxify" the chloramines don't really help, either, unless you have a really mature biological filter in place. All these dechlorinators can do is temporarily change the ammonia to ammonium .. but your biological filter still needs to consume the ammonium within 24 hours or so, before it changes back to deadly ammonia. Some of these dechlorinators won't even change the ammonia to ammonium at all.