Can't Get The Ammonia Levels Down !

[mrv1976]

Hi,

I am a neewbie to the fish hobby and I went to Petsmart and bought one of those 29 gallons Top Fin fish aquarium kits about 5 weeks ago. Not knowing anything about fish, I setup the tank, I filled the water from hose in my front yard and put in the aquasafe water conditioner and waited about 3 days until the water temperature was around 78 degrees then bought fish. When I bought the fish, I had know idea how many I could get to start out the tank, so I asked the staff there and he said I could get 11. So I bought 11 semi aggressive tropical fish, ranging from Tetris, Angel, and sharks. Well it didn't take long about 3 days and fish started to die, in all I lost 6 fish within a week. I went back to Petsmart and talked to the manager of the department and she told me for every 10 gallons of tank, you should start out with 1 fish, so I guess I should of only bought 3 fish. Anyways, the remaining 5 fish have lived fine for a couple of weeks, but I just lost 2 more a couple of days ago.

During the 5 weeks this has been happening, my ammonia levels are dangerlously high and I have tried 3 different ammonio products, with the latest being ammino lock, gone back to Petsmart every couple of days and still nothing. I also tried putting in the tropcal salt. I tried taking out the filter for a couple of hours while I put the stuff in but still no change. I tried a 25% water change from the water in my kitchen sink, but still nothing. So 3 days ago, I took the fish out of the tank and emptied out 80% of the water, cleaned inside the gravel because I noticed there was a lot of fish food in there. Filled the tank back up with water from the sink and put the aquasafe conditoner back in. That's when I lost 2 more of the fish. I check the ammonia levels and still dangerlously high.

At this point, I don't know what to do next, I thought I was doing everything right, I really need some help. I feel really bad for these fish keep on dying. As far as feeding the fish go, I was feeding them 2 pinches per day when I had 11, but I'm down to only a small pinch per day. I thought maybe over feeding them was causing the ammonia levels because they weren't eating all the food, but I don't think that's the problem still.

 

[-germ-]

Don't use the ammo products, just perform regular water changes (at least 25% a day IMHO) to keep them down.
What do you use to clean your filter pad? If its undechlorinated tapwater this will kill off the nitrifying bacteria that should cycle your ammonia.
Don't remove the filter pad, leaving it to dry out will also kill the bacteria you need.
Think RDD will post soon, he has got superior cycling knowledge so i'll keep it short....
GB

 

[TubbyLaLa]

Ammonia locking chemicals can render test kits useless for ammonia as the one i have have used called prime caused the ammonia test to read brown even though it was a slight yellow before i added the prime. Hope this helps

 

[rdd1952]

It's quite normal to get bad advice from the pet stores. To control ammonia, you need to do water changes. Using a product like Ammo-Lock will change the ammonia to a non-toxic state but it will still show on your test kit. Having done the 80% water change, your level should have gone down but if it isn't down to around .25ppm, then do more. It is fine to do 2, 3 or 4 water changes in the 20 to 30 percent price range. Even doing another large change is fine. No need to take the fish out to do it though.

Also, cut back to feeding only once every other day. They can easily go a week without food. Feeding less means less uneaten food and also less waste.

 

[Gremily]

There will always be ammonia in the tank until enough bacteria has built up to turn it into nitrite, the bacteria grows mainly in the filter sponge. Basically you don't have enough bacteria in your tank to deal with the bioload of your fish, there's two options:
1 - Continue cycling with fish, you'll have to do frequent water changes to make sure the ammonia stays low to avoid the fish dieing.
2 - Return the remaining fish and do a fishless cycle, see here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861.
I haven't really explained the cycling process here but if you read the thread linked above it should make sense.

 

[Fish2u]

Your tank is a perfect candidate for "Bio-Spira" (Bio-Spira is a cycle aid) effectiveness test ... let me know (PM me) if you want to spend $20 for this product and share your results ....

If you are from UK, please ignore my post.

 

[Lynda B]

I really feel for you..... it's very hard getting involved in a wonderful hobby like this without the proper information.

Stop putting anything but dechlorinator in your water. No salt, no ammo-lock. No nothing.

Every time you do a water change, be sure to gather as much food and fish waste as possible. Both food and fish waste contribute to your ammonia count.

Leave your filter where it is. Your good bacteria will have the opportunity to grow and multiply.

Please ask all the questions you have. No matter how silly you think they are. There's a huge learning curve with fishkeeping, especially at the beginning. We've all tripped up and you can benefit from our experiences.

 

[mrv1976]

So should I be putting in that aquasafe stuff each time I change out 25% of the water?

 

[-germ-]

Certainly, aquasafe is dechlor, isn't it....
Like i mentioned, chlorine can kill off your nitrifying bacteria which could have prevented your tank from cycling...
Does aquasafe remove chloramine?
How have you been going about the water changes thus far?

 

[mrv1976]

I would take 25% of the water out of the tank and then put in the aquasafe formula. It says for every 10 gallons of tank put in one tablet, so I would put in 3 each time.

 

[Spooky76]

Yes, but add the tablets to the water you are about to put in, not in retrospect
Never used tablets though, not sure how quick they dissolve.

How often are you changing the water ?

 

[mrv1976]

Well I lost another fish so I'm down to only 3 fish in my tank. The ammonia levels are still very high. I did another 25% water change and noticed when I'm cleaning out the gravel there are a lot of fish food getting sucked up. I started feeding them every other day. I'm still confused on what I need to do. Could someone please answer these questions for me.

1. Some people are saying when I'm doing the water changes not to put any aquasafe in there because I am preventing the tank of initializing cycling. So do I put the stuff in there or not? I am using the water from my kitchen sink. I went out in my garage and noticed I have a water treatment filter system going into the house, so not sure if that makes a difference. Would I be better off just buying bottle water at the store and filling it up with that?

2. How long does it typically tank for a tank to go through the cycle?

3. The tank has been running for about 5-6 weeks now and I just replaced the filter on it, it was really nasty. Some say I should be cleaning the filter, if so what should I clean it with and how often?

I am getting so frustrated because I've been working so hard at this tank and it just doesn't seem to be getting better, the fish just keep on dying and the ammonia levels will not drop.

I appreciate everybody taking the time to help me ou.

 

[HelpOscar]

This can be VERY frustrating at times but you need to hold in there and have faith, but never give up. I personally had this, as to the point where I was going to snap, but eventually for me the ammonia slowly went down, and everything was fine, I just kept changing the the water every day... but mines a 10 gallon and alot smaller than your 29 gallon so it was faster for me. A cycle I think takes like 5-7 weeks depending on how you work with it, I saw it on a webpage but cant relocate it.

 

[Fish2u]

I'll ask you one more time and then shut up (forever)... Are not open to Bio-Spira idea ?

 

[rdd1952]

With the high ammonia level, you need to do a very large water change in the 75% range to lower he level quickly. Changing 25% with ammonia in the at 4ppm only lowers it to 3ppm which is still way too high. And 3 25% water changes isn't the same as 1 75% water changes. It's actually about a little over 50% but since they aren't done one right aftr the other, the levels are rising again between them so you're probably closer to 40%.