Ammonia Levels High

[fatheadminnow]

You have to do more water changes then, eventually you will find how much water to change to bring it down close to zero.

Also, you should test your tap water for ammonia, just to see if you have any ammonia in your tap water, as it is not uncommon to have.

-FHM

 

[rewlyn]

my tap water is at ppm

 

[fatheadminnow]

my tap water is at ppm

You mean 0 ppm? lol

EDIT: Do like a 30% water change and then fill it back up, wait like 30 min and check for ammonia again, and if it still high do another 30% or so water change until the Ammonia reading as as close to zero as possible. Do more water changes after that if the Ammonia is still high.

Do not worry about slowing the cycling process down by doing water changes, as the bacteria live in the filter not in the water.

So do as many water changes necessary.

Remember, your fishes health is your main priority.

-FHM

 

[rewlyn]

thanx and ill let you know how i go

 

[fatheadminnow]

Sounds good!

Its always neat hearing how peoples cycles go!

-FHM

 

[rewlyn]

everytime i fill my tank after water changes my fish start to flicker but when i drop the level below 50% they are fine


WHAT TO DO

 

[hollanda88]

everytime i fill my tank after water changes my fish start to flicker but when i drop the level below 50% they are fine


WHAT TO DO

Are you adding water at the correct temperature (just use your hand to check the temperature thats close enough).

 

[rewlyn]

yes the water temps are always the same

 

[waterdrop]

I don't know rewlyn... tap water doesn't have ammonia and you are conditioning and temperature matching... can't see that you are doing anything wrong so I can't see the answer, sorry.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[hollanda88]

I don't understand how your doing water changes. Why are you taking 70% out then adding up to 50% then taking more out?

andrew

 

[fatheadminnow]

This is how you should do water changes.

Since you have fish in the tank, it might not be in your best interest to take A LOT of water out all the time like you are doing.

Instead, take a smaller amount out when doing water changes.

Don't take out 70%, than add 20% wait 20 min and repeat that process, don't do that anymore. You are going to stress the fish out a lot.

You do not want to do this because Cichlids occupy the water space up to a foot above the substrate, but when you remove 70% of water at a time, you are reducing the height of avaliable water for the Cichlids to use, and by doing this, you are going to really stress the fish out.

yes did extreme ph and water change 2 days ago (dropped water level
down to 30% and added 20% waited 20 mins and dropped back down
to 30% and repeated cycle 4 times last cycle i added nutrelizer, ammolock
and plant food ph went to 7.6 and ammonia dopped down from 4 to .50
i am using an API freshwater master test kit

That is what you were doing, don't do this anymore.

Instead, when either your ammonia and/or nitrite is high, do a smaller water change, like 30%, and then immediately add back water that is around the same temp that has water conditioner in it, filling the tank back up to the top.

Wait like 30 min, and check the water parameters again, and based on your readings, if you need to do another water change, just take out a little water at a time, and then add back fresh, same temperature de-chlorinated tap water

Hope this will help with your water changing issues.

Let us know how it works out!

-FHM

 

[rewlyn]

don't understand how your doing water changes. Why are you taking 70% out then adding up to 50% then taking more out?

its called a extreme water change

and i will try what you said FHM and ill keep you posted

 

[fatheadminnow]

don't understand how your doing water changes. Why are you taking 70% out then adding up to 50% then taking more out?

its called a extreme water change

and i will try what you said FHM and ill keep you posted

Okay, yeah do what I explained and let us know how it goes.

Right now you main priority is your fishes safety, and by doing a large water change like you were doing is really going to stress them out.

Unless you have like a crazy high ammonia and/or nitrite spike, just keep to the smaller water changes.

Good luck and keep us posted!

-FHM

 

[rewlyn]

my ammonia has gone from 4 to 2 ppm

 

[fatheadminnow]

Okay, keep on doing water changes until the ammonia reading is at or below .25 ppm.

The Cichlids you have are fairly hardy fish, and are not going to show signs of the effect the high ammonia has on them until it is too late.

Any reading in ammonia and/or nitrite that is over .25 ppm is toxic to fish.

High Ammonia will give the fish permanent gill damage.

High NitrIte will give the fish permanent nerve damage.

So keep on doing water changes until the ammonia reading is at or below .25 ppm, for the safety of your fish!

Regards
-FHM