Ammonia

[fish12]

noob here i have a 8.0 ammonia level have treated it for about a week nothing happened yet 3 fish died should i do a full tank clean??

thank you

 

[angelfishguy]

how did you treat it?

 

[fish12]

i bought ammo lock, prime, caron and ammonia remover for canister

how did you treat it?

 

[OldMan47]

Treat it with a major water change. Ammonia at 8 is deadly in a fairly short time.

 

[Curiosity101]

Treat it with a major water change. Ammonia at 8 is deadly in a fairly short time.

Seconded. Do a few massive water changes 80%+
You really want to aim to keep the ammonia (and in the future nitrite) below 0.25ppm at all times.

Although the best scenario would be a fishless cycle where the fish are never exposed to ammonia or nitrite at all.

 

[Assaye]

8.0 is lethal. To be honest, I would net the fish into a shallow bucket of water and remove all the water from the tank and in the gravel. Clean your filter out in the old water and let it run in the bucket with the fish (if possible). Re-fill the tank with fresh water that is the same temperature as the water the fish were in and add a dose of water conditioner. Re-acclimatize the fish by adding some fresh, treated water to the bucket (a cup every 5 mins) until you've doubled the water in there then net the fish back into the tank.

I would normally suggest leaving the fish in and doing a large partial water change but 8.0 is crazy high and you need to get rid of all of it NOW. Once you've done that, test the water every 6-12 hours and perform 80%-90% water changes if the ammonia creeps up at ALL.

What size tank do you have, how old is it and what stock do you have?

 

[fish12]

hay guys did a full tank water change then went got water tested it was little green yellow not too bad so what do i do now clean more or leave it and let the baterica build up

thanks guys

 

[Curiosity101]

Another large water change. It is a myth that a tank reading of 0 ammonia will stop bacteria growing... often there will always be a reading of ammonia in a tanl, it's just so minute our test kits don't pick up on it.

The reason ammonia builds up is because the bacteria can't convert the ammonia as fast as the fish produce it. So even if you refreshed 100% of the water, the fish would still be producing more than the bacteria can convert (until the bacteria catch up), so there will never be no ammonia available to the bacteria.

 

[fish12]

what should i do should i buy something or what

 

[Curiosity101]

There is no magic potion to help you. But... you should buy your own liquid test kit and make sure you have plenty of water conditioner to hand

Keep ammonia and nitrites below 0.25 at all times and you'll hopefully be able to keep any remaining fish alive.

 

[Assaye]

Exactly as Curiosity says - get yourself a liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (and pH as well if you can) and test your water every day (ideally twice a day). Any time you see any ammonia at all, even a tiny bit, do a larg water change. No need to do another full water change unless it gets really bad again but daily 50%-75% water changes should do nicely. Keep that up until you've had no problems for at least a week.

 

[fish12]

what is the best water conditioner to get rid of ammonia

 

[YZF]

The water conditioner just removes the chlorine and a few other nasties from your tap water. The ammonia problem is due to the concentration of ammonia in your water. As you have done a complete water change, it should be down to 0ppm until you add the fish back in and they start producing more. BUT by doing a complete water change, you will have lost most of the bacteria that break down the ammonia, so if you left it now, the levels would skyrocket again, so you need to do daily partial waterchanges to keep the concentration down. In time, the bacteria will multiply enough to be able to break down all what the fish produce, but until then, lots of partial waterchanges I'm afraid!!

 

[RBurkett]

Although my Ammonia has never been quite so high, it did reach quite a high level once, so I did daily 50% water changes and within a short period of time it was down to 0. I think you will find water changes and not chemicals are better. Not only are they better for the fish but cheaper too.

 

[fshinggrl]

I think you will find water changes and not chemicals are better. Not only are they better for the fish but cheaper too.

I totally agree!