Ammonia High Wont Go Down Need Help Fish Are Dying

[h4hapoo]

i agree i don't care for wikipedia much, people could purposely steer you wrong. This forum is great i know i am glad that i found it! I'm sure BigT will feel the same. I think that shops should be more regulated. So far in my little experience it is hard to find someone who really knows much about this hobby in a LFS. There is a topic on here about LFS it gives a review and rating.
So should we try to get BigT on track? Are you out there BigT? Have you done any reading that was suggested? Is your tank now empty of fish?

 

[BIGT]

u read the fish in cycling thing. couldnt really understand it. kept talking about watching the levels of the water. couldnt find anything about if u add something or anything except the one part of adding water. as for the fish store yea it kind of makes sense now they sold me 2 angel fish as well they both died that die and they refused to give a full refund. they said that angel fish are ok in a freshwater tank with a bunch of other fish liek mollys and platys. what do you know happend? that was not true. the mollys started attacking the angel fish. so i did some research apperently angel fish are very diry fish and carry alot of dieses and sicknesses and are not recomended to be in another tank with certain types of fish.

 

[meguro]

I think it's obvious from the first post, that BIGT actually cares for the well being and health of his fish as evidenced by his treating the water with correct doses of various things etc. And that he was simply mislead by a questionable lfs staff.

Doktor doris should consider that many people paint pets with the same brush. If you can spontaneously buy a dog and keep it healthy and happy, then you can do the same with fish. That's what I feel is how the general public views fish keeping. Of course, they know that you need to treat the water, but pretty much no one knows that you have to grow your own biological filter. And that is where BIGT is at right now, he needs a biological filter.

@ BIGT
I agree with the large water change previously suggested. Doing this a minimum of every 2 days (more frequently preferred), will help give your fish a good chance for survival.

Once you start getting some bacteria forming in your filter material (sponges etc.), the levels of ammonia will start to drop (and eventually nitrite too). Once this happens your tank will be what's called "cycled" and you should be able to add more fish slowly ie. small quantities to your tank.

Also, don't clean your filter in tap water. Rinse it out in tank water that you've siphoned out into a bucket. The tap water will more than likely destroy your good bacteria in your filter material (sponges etc.).

 

[waterdrop]

I think it's obvious from the first post, that BIGT actually cares for the well being and health of his fish as evidenced by his treating the water with correct doses of various things etc. And that he was simply mislead by a questionable lfs staff.

Doktor doris should consider that many people paint pets with the same brush. If you can spontaneously buy a dog and keep it healthy and happy, then you can do the same with fish. That's what I feel is how the general public views fish keeping. Of course, they know that you need to treat the water, but pretty much no one knows that you have to grow your own biological filter. And that is where BIGT is at right now, he needs a biological filter.

@ BIGT
I agree with the large water change previously suggested. Doing this a minimum of every 2 days (more frequently preferred), will help give your fish a good chance for survival.

Once you start getting some bacteria forming in your filter material (sponges etc.), the levels of ammonia will start to drop (and eventually nitrite too). Once this happens your tank will be what's called "cycled" and you should be able to add more fish slowly ie. small quantities to your tank.

Also, don't clean your filter in tap water. Rinse it out in tank water that you've siphoned out into a bucket. The tap water will more than likely destroy your good bacteria in your filter material (sponges etc.).

Good, excellent post by meguro. But just a minor note that you don't need to be rinsing out your filter during your fish-in cycle unless the flow actually slows down a lot! During any type of cycling its preferable to leave the filter alone if you can get by with it.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

I can go one more step now BigT, since I am not being rushed by needing to leave for work.
A fish-in cycle is a lot of hard work that is not very technical at all. You measure your tank's water for ammonia and nitrites with a liquid type test kit. If you see any value as high as 0.25 ppm of either one, you do a large water change using a dechlorinator. The new water should be the same temperature as the old or slightly cooler. Do not make the fish adapt to large temperature swings. When the water is taking care of itself, you can back off to sampling every few days just to make sure the bacteria are still working well for you. When ammonia and nitrite are stable at zero, start measuring the nitrates. When Nitrates get to 20 ppm more than your tap water, do a 30% water change.

That is really all there is to it. Everything else is about understanding what is happening in your tank and filter but is not needed information to do the process right. The mechanics of the process are bog simple.

 

[fishnovice]

Getting away from LFS bashing for a moment, try a huge, 75% or more, water change then another one right away. After those two changes, you should have ammonia at a level that won't kill the fish outright. That will give you a few hour to read up on fish-in cycling and decide whether you want to do all the work involved or give the fish back to the store that thinks its OK to overpopulate a new tank and do a fishless cycle. There is a link to a thread on fish-in cycling in my signature area.
Either way, I would avoid trading with a store that was willing to give out trash advice like that. Greed is understandable but I don't deal with people that intentionally give me bad advice. If they didn't know it was bad advice that is one thing but to sit there and tell you that you will lose most of the fish means that they knew full well what they were telling you would kill your fish.

I agree with OldMan -do a major water change NOw and at least 30% EVERY DAY until your ammonia levels are down. With lots of water changes once a day without fail tank should be down to acceptable levels in a few days. Forget the chemicals, jusgt a waste of money in my (admittedly newbie) opinion.
If fish are gasping a tthe surface or seem very distressed, transfer immediately to a container filled wiht clean fresh tapwater reated with anti-chlorine . If you don't have a spare tank, a plastic crate or even a clean new bucket will do as emergency hospital tank.

 

[meguro]

Check the timestamps.

 

[OldMan47]

Agreed Meguro. Whatever was happening in June is now meaningless. Thanks for the intervention.