HELP! my fish tank ammonia is 8ppm!

[Rhys19]

wait.... I just read the thread through again.

I hope I am confused - but are you adding Dr. Tims ammonia solution to a tank with fish in that you are feeding (perhaps overfeeding) with catfish pellets?


If you have fish in the tank you test for ammonia everyday and do a large water change every time the ammonia is more than 0.25

If you are following instructions on this forum for fishless cycling (you said the catfish is temporarily re-homed?) you will be testing for ntrite and nitrate in addition to ammonia and if I remember you only need to water change if nitrite or nitrite gets too high. When your testing implies the tank is ready for fish you do a large water change before actually adding the fish.

No not dr tims ammonia solution it's a test kit.
I haven't even thought of added ammonia additives to the tank since before when my tank was perfect before ich it was like gorgeous and fine

What are your nitrite and nitrate levels?

Let me test them real quick before the 80% WC it was like 10 ppm nitrates & 0ppm nitrite

 

[Rhys19]

ok so final test after waiting about 5-10 minutes is:
Nitrite: 0PPM
Nitrates: 5.0PPM - They significantly lowered! it was originally 20PPM earlier today after my WC like right after.

 

[Fishmanic]

nitrites at 0 is good...but if they ever go up to 1ppm or higher , you need to do another large water change. 5 ppm nitrates is fine. Up to 20 ppm nitrates is ok. But Ammonia and nitrites need to be close to or at 0.
Be sure not to overfeed. Remove any uneaten food.

 

[Rhys19]

alright

 

[Rhys19]

question I had to move my crawfish out of my main tank (where my pleco was) because I woke up like 20 mins ago and saw my pleco was like traumatized and I figured it could've only been the crawfish so I moved him out can I help him out by dosing some melafix? or will he heal on his own? idk if it's just stress but I took him out to examine him and it kind of looks like a bite mark on him but I can't really tell if you guys need a pic I'd have to take him out again, he's very very stressed because he's very skiddish like more than normal.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I don't recall you saying that you had your crayfish in a tank with any other fish!
He's a predator!

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Firstly please do not pick up any fish to look at it as that not only stresses the poor thing out but potentially invites infection and body injuries from being handled

Pleco's are bottom dwellers, absolutely should not be with any predator bottom dweller like a crayfish which will happily have them for dinner.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I don't recall you saying that you had your crayfish in a tank with any other fish!
He's a predator!

Actually, I do recall you saying that you weren't going to put him in with other fish, because you knew he was a predator!

 

[Rhys19]

I don't recall you saying that you had your crayfish in a tank with any other fish!
He's a predator!

Well in my crayfish thread I thought he would've been fine he had been but I moved him into his own tank... now I know

Firstly please do not pick up any fish to look at it as that not only stresses the poor thing out but potentially invites infection and body injuries from being handled

Pleco's are bottom dwellers, absolutely should not be with any predator bottom dweller like a crayfish which will happily have them for dinner.

Yeah I agree but I looked at em in the net so I didn't use my hands but eitherway It just idk it looked bad and I took the crayfish out and put him in a dedicated tank.

so about the melafix would it help? if he is injured or should I try buying some stress coat or try aquarium salt? I have some aquarium salt lying around

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Water changes.

Fresh, clean water is natures best medicine before you start using any medications since they often make a situation worse especially when no illness is present.

 

[Rhys19]

Water changes.

Fresh, clean water is natures best medicine before you start using any medications since they often make a situation worse especially when no illness is present.

alright will do that and report in a few days I guess it'll take awhile though especially if he's been traumatized by him...

 

[Guest14017]

You can't be serious at this point right? People keep telling you things and you literally are ignoring ALL advice. People clearly told you not to put the crayfish with the pleco... and you said you didn't. Now suddenly you claim the crayfish "traumatized" the pleco, when it really could just be your horrible water quality making him sick. I kinda feel like you are joking at this point.

I am going to once again encourage you to get rid of all your livestock and learn how to cycle your tank and put the correct species in your tanks. You had previously said you had a CAE and a guppy left too but you only mention the pleco. Did they both pass away already?

And for the love of all that is good, please don't remove anymore lovely creatures from the wild and put them in your tanks (the crayfish). You cannot care for them properly and they are better off in the wild.

 

[Rhys19]

You can't be serious at this point right? People keep telling you things and you literally are ignoring ALL advice. People clearly told you not to put the crayfish with the pleco... and you said you didn't. Now suddenly you claim the crayfish "traumatized" the pleco, when it really could just be your horrible water quality making him sick. I kinda feel like you are joking at this point.

I am going to once again encourage you to get rid of all your livestock and learn how to cycle your tank and put the correct species in your tanks. You had previously said you had a CAE and a guppy left too but you only mention the pleco. Did they both pass away already?

And for the love of all that is good, please don't remove anymore lovely creatures from the wild and put them in your tanks (the crayfish). You cannot care for them properly and they are better off in the wild.

no they did not die off, and I based off of other forums I don't just straight up take advice out of the blue I try to google it first because they could be lying and think they know it when they didn't and also my pleco was fine and my other fish were fine and since my params were right It was fine, I just had one thing which was the high ammonia If they haven't died yet then I assume I'm doing something right for once. I'm not always right and I know that but I do atleast try

I'm not really trying to be rude but it's the honest truth as for my fish I'm going to try and keep them they haven't died yet and nothing else has spiked other than ammonia which has gone down majorly in fact today it's at 0 ppm and my ph is back at 7.6 so as of today I'm not gonna take any fish out of the wild not even the minnows they I do like how they swim together... anyways I have the crawfish separated into a different tank and hes fine and so are my other fish so far in fact my CAE is sucking on the glass as we speak and my pleco is well he's still hiding which I would expect

anyways as of now I'm ok but please just keep in mind I'm going to try to keep the fish since their "PERFECTLY" fine now without the crayfish I shouldn't have even put the crayfish in and now I can see I just thought if he couldn't catch him he would've been fine I saw videos on youtube with crayfish that are with plecos and one tried to grab him but the pleco ran away, anyways like I said i'm not trying to be rude I don't like being rude I hate being rude, etc so as of now I'm going to go on with my day and will keep a close eye on my params and follow WC advise, etc I thank you all for your help and have a nice day

 

[Byron]

I'd like to offer a few suggestions of a general nature to help you.

First point to make is...never, absolutely never, assume anything you see on the internet is correct. Unfortunately, there is frankly more inaccurate advice than accurate on sites like YouTube (when it comes to this hobby). Unless you know the individual who posts the "advice"--and by "know" I do not mean personally but that you know the individual has the credentials/knowledge behind what they say--ignore it. Find the individuals who are the true "experts" and forget the rest. I know how daunting this can be, but it is a sad fact of the way things are today. When I entered this hobby more than 40 years ago, there was no internet, and we had books and the cost of publishing meant that the vast majority of them were at least reliable. The reliable individuals on the internet are there, but you need to know who they are. Advice from the members on this forum can help with this, as many of us have gone through the same problems, or have learned who is and who is not knowledgeable. Experience in this hobby means nothing if the person with the experience does not also have the necessary knowledge.

Second important point is...no one, including you, can ever say their fish are fine, or "perfect." We cannot talk to the fish, and regardless of what anyone else says, without being able to any assumption that all is well is just that...an assumption. If any one of us provides all that a fish species requires--and to determine this we research the species and the habitat environment from reliable sources--then we can intelligently assume the fish is "fine." But not otherwise. Read the two important citations in my signature block, please.

Third, just as an aside...as mentioned by others, ammonia and nitrite need to be zero, and nitrates need to be as low as possible and remain there. IF nitrate increases after one water change until the next, something is wrong biologically. You may need to do more frequent or larger volume water changes, or vacuum the substrate (plecos are very messy fish when it comes to waste and its effect on the biological system), or clean the filter more, or reduce the amount you feed the fish, or consider if the tank is overstocked. All of these can increase nitrate. Having live plants, even if just some good floating species, makes a big difference as they take up considerable ammonia/ammonium and this means the nitrates will be less and more likely to stay less.

Don't be ready to add "medicines" to a tank with fish. Clean water is far more helpful.

 

[Rhys19]

I'd like to offer a few suggestions of a general nature to help you.

First point to make is...never, absolutely never, assume anything you see on the internet is correct. Unfortunately, there is frankly more inaccurate advice than accurate on sites like YouTube (when it comes to this hobby). Unless you know the individual who posts the "advice"--and by "know" I do not mean personally but that you know the individual has the credentials/knowledge behind what they say--ignore it. Find the individuals who are the true "experts" and forget the rest. I know how daunting this can be, but it is a sad fact of the way things are today. When I entered this hobby more than 40 years ago, there was no internet, and we had books and the cost of publishing meant that the vast majority of them were at least reliable. The reliable individuals on the internet are there, but you need to know who they are. Advice from the members on this forum can help with this, as many of us have gone through the same problems, or have learned who is and who is not knowledgeable. Experience in this hobby means nothing if the person with the experience does not also have the necessary knowledge.

Second important point is...no one, including you, can ever say their fish are fine, or "perfect." We cannot talk to the fish, and regardless of what anyone else says, without being able to any assumption that all is well is just that...an assumption. If any one of us provides all that a fish species requires--and to determine this we research the species and the habitat environment from reliable sources--then we can intelligently assume the fish is "fine." But not otherwise. Read the two important citations in my signature block, please.

Third, just as an aside...as mentioned by others, ammonia and nitrite need to be zero, and nitrates need to be as low as possible and remain there. IF nitrate increases after one water change until the next, something is wrong biologically. You may need to do more frequent or larger volume water changes, or vacuum the substrate (plecos are very messy fish when it comes to waste and its effect on the biological system), or clean the filter more, or reduce the amount you feed the fish, or consider if the tank is overstocked. All of these can increase nitrate. Having live plants, even if just some good floating species, makes a big difference as they take up considerable ammonia/ammonium and this means the nitrates will be less and more likely to stay less.

Don't be ready to add "mdicines" to a tank with fish. Clean water is far more helpful.

Now that is what I wanted to hear! I do agree with you, and I think before I do anything I should do my research and not just go off of someones yt vid, etc theres alot of internet out there probably 50% fake and 50% real if not less, in this case my pleco seems to be doing quite ok now as I can tell like you said it's an `assumption` aswell as my CAE, and guppy and my water is like crystal clear after that water change yesterday aswell with my ammonia at 0 nitrates pretty low around 5ppm and then ph is back at a steady 7.6 if I remember right, anyways I will try to take advice and do my research aswell before I continue on. also is there anything I can do to help promote algae growth? it's just my cae has been literally eating it non stop and leaves like almost nothing for the pleco. I've heard of phosphates but I've also heard about full spectrum lights? would any of these help? like fertilizer anything? or should I move the tank in front of my window?

anyways hope to hear some good advice!
happy fishkeeping!