Amonia High

[Kiara]

My ammonia is somewhere between Harmful and Danger (3.0-6.0) how do I lower it before my fish get hurt...just a water change, or do I add something? Thanks

 

[GirlinWayside]

Im by far an expert but if it were me, Id be doing a water change in the meantime while waiting for a good reply..

 

[The-Wolf]

there is no way of getting rid of ammonia
you can "lock" it to make it safe
products like ammo lock ammo lock 2 will do this.
adding zeolite to the tank will absorb it.
however the issue is why do you have ammonia in the first place, the answer is your bacteria have either died or they have become overwhelmed with you stock levels (ie you are overstocked)

how do you perform housekeeping on your tank, speccifically how are the filters cleaned?
how big is the tank and what is stocked in it?
how long has the tank been set up?
is it cycled?

 

[rdd1952]

The-Wolf, Kiara was the recipient of bad advice from her LFS (how many times have you heard that) and ended up with a tank full of fish in a brand new, uncycled tank. She got the tank this past Sunday (11th) and her fish on Monday (12th). Here is a thread that has most of her info in it.

Kiara, you need to start doing water changes, probably twice daily, to try to get the ammonia under .5 ppm (at least under 1 ppm) especially since, as best I can remember, your pH is in the 7.5 or so range (ammonia becomes more toxic at higher pH). Although I hate to suggest chemicals, you may have to use something like Ammo-Loc or Amquel that detoxifies ammonia.