Help me lower my ammonia levels

[Colin_T]

Hi Cass and welcome to the forum

If you pH is 7.0, you don't need to worry too much about ammonia. It is toxic in alkaline water (pH above 7.0) but harmless in acidic water (pH below 7.0). Your water is neutral (pH 7.0) and any ammonia in it will not do a lot of damage.
Nitrites on the other hand, are toxic in acid water but harmless in alkaline water. Again, having a pH of 7.0 will be fine for both.

You mention the tank is 20 gallons. How long, wide and high is it?

How often do you feed the fish? In a new aquarium with a new filter it is best to minimise feeding. The more food going into the tank, the more ammonia that will be produced. Fish do not need to eat every day. Any food they eat is used to grow and move about. They do not need to eat to stay warm, unlike mammals, birds, etc. This allows fish to go for weeks or even months without food and still be active.

In your aquarium I would feed the fish once every couple of days and only a small amount. remove any uneaten food after 10-15minutes.

If you want to dilute chemicals (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, or poison of any sort) in the aquarium, do a 75-90% water change. It is much more effective than 10-25%.

If you are using well water, it should not have chlorine in and you do not need a dechlorinating agent. However, it is a good idea to check the well water regularly to ensure it is safe for fish. You can use your own test kits or take a glass of well water to a petshop for testing. Write the results down in a book and include the date. Check well water weekly or whenever, but usually before you use it.

Any idea what type of Plecostomus catfish you have and how big are they?
And what are fruit tetras, I have never heard of that name?

Liquid test kits for the aquarium are generally better than tablet form but they all vary a bit. About the only test kit you need for an established aquarium is pH. Once an aquarium is established you should not have any ammonia or nitrite readings, and nitrates can get very high before they affect the fish. Nitrates are the end result of the filtration cycle and can be diluted with water changes.

 

[Cassiopeia]

Hi Colin, thank you for that info. I'm not sure the exact dimentions of the tank, it looks about a foot tall and 2 feet wide. But that is a guess. I have recently learned that fruit tetra are not natural they are a dyed fish. Poor little guys. Probably why you haven't heard of them.

I have been feeding a little pinch of either flake food or blood worms everyday. Most days flakes, blood worms 2-3 times a week. I have been watching to make sure it gets all eaten, which it does within an hour or 2. And an algae/zucchini disk every 2 days.
I can back off on feeding if that is too much. I have been curious as to what a proper feeding schedule would be for them.

I'm not sure exactly what kind of plecostomus they are I will attach some pics. Others have said they are commons and will get big so I just invested in a 180 gallon tank for them. One is about 3 inches long and they other 4-5 inches. They both look quite different. Goku is more petite and spotted, especially his belly. Vegeta is wider in the face and longer with kinda bulgy eyes and more marbled in pattern.

 

[Cassiopeia]

This is goku. He is about 3 inches and very active, always all over the tank.

 

[Cassiopeia]

This is vegeta. Hard to get pics of him because he is always hiding in his caves or under the filter in his favorite spot.

 

[Colin_T]

Goku looks a bit like a Panaque or Peckoltia. He does not look like a common Plecostomus. Panaques grow to about a foot, Peckoltias about 4inches.

Vegeta looks more like a common Plecostomus but it is skinny and needs more plant matter and driftwood to chew up. Both fish are slow growing and won't need a big tank for 6 months or more, so no major rush on the 10 foot tank you wanna buy

If you don't have any driftwood in the tank, you should invest in some. Suckermouth catfish (what you have) need driftwood and plants to eat. It doesn't have to be a huge piece, just a couple of small bits they can chew up over time. They need driftwood and plants at all times.
Any new driftwood you buy should be washed well with tap water, no soaps or detergents should be used. The new driftwood will probably float for a bit before it becomes waterlogged and sinks but the catfish will find it even when its floating in the tank.
Driftwood will sometimes make the water yellow or brown. this is caused by tannins coming out of it and is completely harmless to the fish. You can dilute the tannins by doing water changes.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank,
measure length x width x height in cm
divide by 1000
= volume in litres.

when you measure the height, measure from the top of the gravel/ substrate to the top of the water level.

There is about 3.785 litres in a US gallon and 4.5 litres in a UK gallon. Litres is so much easier to deal with

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You want to feed the fish enough food so they eat it within a few minutes and remove any uneaten food after 10-15 minutes. Hungry fish will quickly eat any food you put in the tank. If it is being left for an hour or more before being eaten, the fish are not hungry.

With flake food, put a few small bits in and let the fish eat it. For small fish like tetras, crumble the flake up a bit so it is easier for them to eat. When they have finished what was put in the tank, then offer a little bit more. They should eat it all very quickly, within 20-30 seconds. Once they no longer eat the food quickly, and little bits start to be ignored, then stop feeding and remove uneaten food as soon as you can. Leaving food in the tank for several hours will cause it to break down and cause ammonia levels to rise.

Algae wafers and zucchini do the same thing as flake when it comes to breaking down and causing ammonia levels to rise. If you break an algae wafer in half and put it in the tank just after dark, leave it for an hour then remove it. When the tank has cycled and developed sufficient beneficial bacteria to keep ammonia and nitrite levels at 0, you can leave the zucchini or wafer in over night. Catfish generally feed at night after the lights go out, hence feeding the wafer or zucchini after lights out.

When you feed frozen red bloodworms (Chirominid midge larvae) you use the same method as flake food. Break a small piece of frozen bloodworms and defrost. Add a few defrosted bloodworms at a time and let the fish eat them. Once the fish are not instantly attacking the food, then stop feeding it. If a couple of bits of bloodworm sink to the bottom the catfish should pick them up. However, if the bloodworm has not been eaten within 15minutes, remove it from the tank.
*NB* wash your hands well with warm soapy water after handling Bloodworms because they can cause irritation to the skin, eyes, mouth and other sensitive areas on some people. Try to use a non perfumed soap because it is safer if you have to stick your hands back in the tank. And make sure you don't have moisturising cream or any perfume on your hands when you feed the fish.

If you are using live blackworms (sometimes sold as bloodworms), these are simply added to the tank and left to live in the substrate until eaten. However, I'm assuming you use frozen red midge larvae type bloodworms.

 

[Cassiopeia]

Thank you so much for all the information. I will adjust their feeding schedule accordingly. I have had them for about a week and a half and never had fish before so I have a lot to learn.

I will have to get some driftwood right away, thank you. What kind of plant should I get for them to eat? I am feeding freeze dried blood worms. Would a pet store have frozen? Is that better for them?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to do this right and keep them happy and healthy.

 

[Cassiopeia]

I never knew a gallon size is different in the UK. That is interesting.

 

[NickAu]

To work out the volume of water in the tank,

I prefer to use the calculator
http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm

 

[Colin_T]

If the petshop you bought the fish from knew you had not kept fish before and were starting from scratch, and they let you buy catfish, they need kick up the butt. Catfish should never go into an aquarium that is not established (cycled). However, it's too late now because you have the fish

Freeze dried bloodworms is fine and actually better for where you are now. It does not create as much ammonia as frozen bloodworm so will not push your ammonia levels up as quickly or as high as the frozen stuff does.

Feed the freeze dried bloodworms every couple of days in the same way I described feeding flake food. But give them the bloodworm instead of the flake. Crumble up a bit, let them eat it in 20-30seconds, then offer a bit more.

When the aquarium filter has established and there is no ammonia or nitrite, you can get some frozen bloodworms and feed them a couple of times a week. But you don't need to worry about that for a month or so. Just forget about frozen until the tank settles.

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If you have a light on the aquarium, you can try various aquarium plants including Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroids), narrow Vallis, Hygrophilla polysperma, Ambullia and common Amazon swordplants. These plants will grow under most light and do not need anything special to keep them going. However, they will benefit from some liquid iron fertiliser added several times a week, but it is not essential and you can add that any time down the track. If you want to try a liquid plant fertiliser look for Sera Florena. It is safe and works well and should be available from most pet shops.

If you have plants in the tank then have a light on the tank for between 6-16 hours per day. If you get lots of algae on the glass reduce the time the light is on, and make sure fish and plants get at least 8 hours of darkness. Any algae that grows on the glass or ornaments will probably be eaten by the catfish, so having the lights on even without plants in the tank, should encourage algae growth that will benefit the suckermouth catfish.

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I never knew a gallon size is different in the UK. That is interesting.

same with pounds (weights), you lot didn't like the British pound so made your own However, that goes back to when America was first colonised and was at war with England. You kept the idea of pound and gallons but made your own unique sizes because you didn't want to take orders from the King of England

 

[Cassiopeia]

Yeah the people at the store didnt know much more than I did.
Thank you for the advice!

You kept the idea of pound and gallons but made your own unique sizes because you didn't want to take orders from the King of England

That sounds like America alright..

 

[Cassiopeia]

This morning I had a fruit tetra die and a couple others are swimming funny. I am using the new test kit now to test my water. I'm thinking petco may have been wrong about my ammonia. I am testing for ammon is first. Test kit had me add 8 drops of each ammonia test solution, shake 5 seconds and then wait 5 minutes to check it against the chart. So i will know soon and post results.

 

[Cassiopeia]

In so glad I got the master test kit. Petco apparently can read a test strip. I was right all along and my poor fish are suffering for it. Here is my test numbers I know to be 100% accurate because I know how to follow directions.

Ammonia- 1.0
Nitrate- 5.0
Nitrite- 0
Ph- 7.4

If ammonia is 1.0, does that mean I need a 100% water change? How would I do that safely?

Testing my well water next. Hopefully it isn't the problem. I would post results when I'm done.

 

[Cassiopeia]

Petco can't read results. Not can. Sorry. I will never have them test my water again.

 

[Cassiopeia]

My well water levels are as follows

Ammonia- 0
Nitrate- slightly darker than the 5.0 but not even close to the 10.0, I'm gonna say 6.0
Nitrite- 0.5
Ph- 6.6

 

[Colin_T]

The first thing to do if a fish ever dies is photograph the fish and then remove it from the tank. Then take a water sample and test it. Then do a big water change (75%) and complete gravel clean. This dilutes any harmful pathogens or chemicals in the water and buys you time to try and figure out what happened.

After the water change take fish to petshop or post pics on here and hope someone can see if there are any issues that might show up. If you take the fish to the shop don't buy anti-biotics because it is unlikely to be a bacterial infection. My guess would be a water quality issue but without seeing the fish it's impossible to say.

Did the fish have any unusual marks or discolouration?
Where its gills flared out?
Are any of the other fish doing weird things, swimming unusual or gasping at the surface?

Regarding the water change, make sure any new water going in the tank is free of chlorine/ chloramine. You're using well water so it should be ok. Just aerate the well water for a few minutes before using it if you can. And make sure you use a clean bucket that has not been used for cleaning. If possible get a couple of new buckets and wash them out with non perfumed soap and rinse well. Get a felt pen (permanent marker) and write "FISH ONLY" on the fish buckets. Keep them with the fish gear and make sure nobody uses them for anything except the fish tank.

Because this is a new tank I would suggest having a couple of buckets of water sitting near the tank or somewhere they won't get contaminated by anything. Then you can use these buckets of water to do 50% water changes every day or every couple of days until things settle down.

Is the fish tank in a bedroom? If yes try not to use hairspray, perfume, deodorant or any other spray around the tank. Make sure you don't have moisturising cream, perfume, etc on your hands/ arms when feeding the fish or working on/ in the tank. No bug sprays allowed near the tank either.