HELP! my fish tank ammonia is 8ppm!

[JazzyV]

Sorry Bruce..I did it wrong and sent you convo instead

 

[AbbeysDad]

You might also find value in Filtration and Water Quality.

 

[Rhys19]

Why do I feel like this topic went from ammonia at 8ppm in tropical emergencies to idk weird topic?

 

[JazzyV]

Correlation lol

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

one kettle of boiling water to 13 litre of cold if an almost perfect mix for me - sad how quickly you learn/remember things like this

It takes a full kettle of water for me to get one bucket of water to the right temp during the winter, but more like half a kettle during the summer time, both with the tap water and the rainwater I collect for the softer water fish. I struggle to get the right amount sometimes when the seasons change!

So I fill the bucket with tap/rain water and add half/a full kettle of water, depending, then chuck a thermometer in there when I add the water conditioner. If the temp is more than 2-3 degrees different from the tank temp then I can add more hot or cold water until it's close enough. Someone once told me to just use my hand to feel if it's close to the tank temp; but I've found that by the time I'm on my 5th bucket, I've been washing my hands a lot and putting my hand in and out of different temp water for a while, that the nerves in our hands tend to be a bit off and not so good at gauging it accurately. Plus, none of my tanks are in the kitchen! No point lugging buckets and kettles around the house more than I have to, when I can just chuck a thermometer in there instead

Is anyone else thinking this is a clown pleco? Looks pretty similar to mine. If that’s the case definitely don’t push for algae growth. And definitely add some sort of driftwood.

clown pleco? huh at the petstore it was labeled common pleco

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

If it's a Common, and you're able to return it, I definitely would...

If you do decide to get another pleco, please do careful research on their requirements, such as diet and what fish they can live with etc, before buying it. Remember that research doesn't just mean googling and accepting the first answer you see, or even the most common answer! Always check your sources. That means seeing who is saying what, and why. Are they trying to sell you something? What do they get out of convincing you? Are they trained in the field? How did they come to that conclusion, and what evidence supports that conclusion? Questions like that help narrow down how reliable the information is. There's a staggering amount of misinformation out there about this hobby, so we need to be extra cautious.

Getting an accurate ID for a pleco can be really difficult; some species are so similar, it takes specialised knowledge and a good eye to see the identifying differences. If you want an accurate ID, then please take some decent, clear shots of the fish from different angles and perspectives, including a full body shot, and images of the head and tail. I know that taking photos of fish is tricky, and even more so with plecs! But it's the only way to be sure of the species, and they're often mislabelled in shops too, sadly.

I remember that @Bub is brilliant with IDing plecos, hopefully they still visit the forum and see this tag

 

[Rhys19]

I'll try and get some decent high quality pics but it'll be hard with the pleco he likes to hide everywhere, thats the only real pick I got and he ran away in a couple of secs after I took it

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'll try and get some decent high quality pics but it'll be hard with the pleco he likes to hide everywhere, thats the only real pick I got and he ran away in a couple of secs after I took it

Oh I know! Have been trying to get pics of my plecs recently too, and they're not a terribly cooperative fish!
I'm far from a good photographer, but some tips I've picked up since trying to get pics of my fish;

Have a camera handy near the tank! It always happens that you'll find them stuck to the front glass in the middle of the day or something when you don't have your phone or camera handy. By the time you get it, you've either spooked them in the process or they've already vanished... lol.

Keep your glass clean! Both sides. See so many photos where the glass is filthy... the camera finds it harder to focus if there are waterspots on the outside, or patches of algae that it tries to focus on. One of my tanks has some superficial scratches on the front which mess with the focus on my camera and make it really hard to get photos of those fish.
Leave the algae on the back and sides for the inhabitants to eat, by all means, but keep the front pane clean if you're trying to get photos.

Turn out all other lights in the room when you want to photograph the tank, leave only the tank light on. That prevents reflections in the glass and blinding light spots on the photos.

Good luck!

 

[itiwhetu]

Why do I feel like this topic went from ammonia at 8ppm in tropical emergencies to idk weird topic?

Welcome to TFF thread construction.

 

[Rhys19]

Welcome to TFF thread construction.

Ok so I assume this is normal then

 

[JazzyV]

Hot water added in doesn’t kill anything? Like infusiori? Free food lol

I'll try and get some decent high quality pics but it'll be hard with the pleco he likes to hide everywhere, thats the only real pick I got and he ran away in a couple of secs after I took it

does he like wood? You can stage it

 

[itiwhetu]

Ok so I assume this is normal then

Sure is. It makes it more fun trying to keep up with what's going on

 

[Rhys19]

just out of curiosity would it be deemed safe if I took like clay from my creek thoroughly rinsed it and made it like decor for my tank out of it?

 

[JazzyV]

sorry I do t know how that post there

 

[Rhys19]

speaking of wood, driftwood, etc what is driftwood is it a special type of wood? I've seen wood by my creek but idk what driftwood is I've looked some up but some are sticks and I've seen people have a full-on like log looking thing in their tank that's driftwood

 

[itiwhetu]

speaking of wood, driftwood, etc what is driftwood is it a special type of wood? I've seen wood by my creek but idk what driftwood is I've looked some up but some are sticks and I've seen people have a full-on like log looking thing in their tank that's driftwood

I have just copied and pasted this from another thread that I responded to

We have this problem often here. When I'm selecting wood it is most important that it is aged. I only use drift wood that has obviously been in the ocean for sometime and therefore has no sap content. I often see on this site pieces of wood being put into tanks that look fresh, be careful of those, it is the sap content of the wood that causes issues. Try and find wood that is completely void of life