HELP! my fish tank ammonia is 8ppm!

[FishNturt808]

did you see my post about the nitrates in the well water?

and also I was thinking on setting up a 75-100+ gal aquarium as for plecos what would you recommend if I were to get say a 125? this being after the tank is cycled obviously

I would suggest to get this tank you’re working on all sorted out before diving into a 125.

 

[Rhys19]

I would suggest to get this tank you’re working on all sorted out before diving into a 125.

Yeah I'm working on this tank sorted I was just wondering for when I get a big tank

 

[Rhys19]

I haven’t seen the commons with stripes, but the only commons I’ve seen in person are in the Petco tanks, and who knows what they really are. Petco sure doesn’t. You’ll know in a few months for sure, clowns stay on the smaller side, commons grow real big.

idk about the months I've had him for almost a year now and he hasn't grown much. he sucks on the glass all the time but just recently I found out that I'm supposed to support their diet with algae wafers or fresh veggies

 

[Byron]

idk about the months I've had him for almost a year now and he hasn't grown much. he sucks on the glass all the time but just recently I found out that I'm supposed to support their diet with algae wafers or fresh veggies

As you have the fish there, look up the two species on Planet Catfish and compare the photos. You can enter common names in the search and it will bring up a page of photos of however many species they have with those common names.

PlanetCatfish.com - The Aquarium Catfishes website

Images are copyright and may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder.

www.planetcatfish.com

 

[Byron]

did you see my post about the nitrates in the well water?

and also I was thinking on setting up a 75-100+ gal aquarium as for plecos what would you recommend if I were to get say a 125? this being after the tank is cycled obviously

If you mean what pleco species, I am not much on plecos. I've had a couple, my favourite was the Zebra Hypancistrus zebra but they are very expensive now (wild fish are prohibited, so all are tank raised and command a high price).

On the nitrates, that is unfortunate (20 ppm in the source water) but not unmanageable. Check the articles on @AbbeysDad blog, he has worked through this issue with success.

Blog – General Fishkeeping – MJV Aquatics

mjvaquatics.com

 

[FishNturt808]

I’ve had my clown pleco maybe a few months and have seen it in the open maybe 4-5 times. Super shy little fish. So you could have a common, what size tank is he in? Sorry if that’s been mentioned already. But don’t commons grow to the 18+ inches range? You could be stunting it’s growth. Don’t mean to add another pile on your already full enough plate.
In regard to the nitrates, get yourself some frogbit or similar floating plants. They will also help with any ammonia problems you’re having.

 

[JazzyV]

There is some serious misinformation here, I'll come to that but first comment on this ammonia of 8 ppm.

This is not at all likely, as the fish would be dead if the ammonia really was that high. However, there is an exception, and that is if the pH is below 7. Ammonia is primarily ammonium in acidic water, and ammonium is basically harmless. However, it should not show above zero, especially with live plants. This begs the question, did you do the ammonia test correctly, or is the test not reliable for some reason? Or is there something causing this we do not know about?

To the misinformation...aquatic plants we have in our aquariums take up ammonia/ammonium as their preferred source of nitrogen. They do not take up nitrates, unless the ammonia/ammonium is insufficient in balance with other nutrients and light intensity. This is because plants must change the nitrate back into ammonium in order to use it, and that takes considerable energy so plants avoid it unless absolutely necessary.

Fast growing plants--and here surface plants are the fastest--can take up a considerable amount of ammonia/ammonium; surface plants are frequently termed "ammonia sinks" for this very reason. Unless the tank is way overstocked, the fish will never produce more ammonia than the plants will remove--again depending upon the numbers of plants and the species. Slow-growers like Java Fern will remove much less ammonia that faster-growing plants. Plants take up the ammonia/ammonium day and night, so it is a continual process.

All plants use the Nitrogen from ammonium—not nitrates—to produce their amino acids and proteins. And plants can store the ammonia/ammonium. I was in a discussion with Tom Barr a few years ago, asking about the limits if any, and he said it would be virtually impossible to add so many fish to a planted tank that the plants could not rapidly deal with the level of ammonia. Again, it depends upon the plant species and numbers, but you are not going to see ammonia in tanks with sufficient fast-growing

Makes you wonder how the plants in a fresh tank, free from any animal life, can really grow and thrive for at least three weeks, without ammonia being artificially added?

Extreme cases, plants, it will break down and covert it’s way of feeding and feed off your waters gh. Not the easiest way but it will do it. So loading up with plants unaware is not good. Especially, if you buy your gh it’s best to know this. Correct me if I’m wrong anyone thanks.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Extreme cases, plants, it will break down and covert it’s way of feeding and feed off your waters gh. Not the easiest way but it will do it. So loading up with plants unaware is not good. Especially, if you buy your gh it’s best to know this. Correct me if I’m wrong anyone thanks.

You need to read the whole thread before posting.
We've already covered this.

 

[FishNturt808]

You need to read the whole thread before posting.
We've already covered this.

I did and didn’t do this, so I apologize for my input.

 

[JazzyV]

I would be inclined to do a further water change to effectively do a 100% change (20% of 20% is 4%, so you are dumping out 96% of the ammonia without having to drain tank almost dry.
I might also check my tap water water for ammonia but perhaps that is paranoia. That would partly depend on how big your tank is though; you do not have all day to be refilling tanks and unlimited funds to be buying prime with.

I thought of that..but his ammonia went down with water change so can’t be that can it ..water source.

 

[Rhys19]

I’ve had my clown pleco maybe a few months and have seen it in the open maybe 4-5 times. Super shy little fish. So you could have a common, what size tank is he in? Sorry if that’s been mentioned already. But don’t commons grow to the 18+ inches range? You could be stunting it’s growth. Don’t mean to add another pile on your already full enough plate.
In regard to the nitrates, get yourself some frogbit or similar floating plants. They will also help with any ammonia problems you’re having.

hes in a 30gal rn I might return him and get a smaller sized one like a Bristlenose pleco

 

[Rhys19]

I guess on the bright side my CAE still eats algae off the glass no sign of slime eating, any sign of that and he goes in my secondary empty tank until I can figure what to do with him or how to deal with it

 

[JazzyV]

You need to read the whole thread before posting.
We've already covered this.

You guys type so fast…I was on page 1 then there’s page 6

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

You guys type so fast…I was on page 1 then there’s page 6

You read so slow...Page 1 was July 26th

 

[JazzyV]

Yes I do..how I I get this page to stop jumping and losing where I was reading?? I’m being for real question here lol