High ammonia... can't get rid of it .. someone please help

[Colin_T]

Post some pictures of the fish and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until things settle down. If there is ammonia in the water and the test kit is not reading it, the water changes will dilute any harmful substances in the water and make it safer.

Make sure you use clean buckets that have never had anything except water in them.

Make sure you dechlorinate all water before it is added to the tank.

 

[seangee]

Sorry to hear that. As many pointed out this tank was critically overstocked. I realise you were not in a position to reduce this and did the best you could.
Sadly the result is not surprising as extended exposure to ammonia will weaken fish in the long term and cause internal organ damage. Unfortunatley this is a hard lesson that many of us have learnt along the way. Make sure you remove all the dead fish and do a large water change. You should now find that your ammonia is much easier to manage.

Do not add any more fish until your ammonia and nitrites have remained at 0 for at least two weeks and keep up with the water changes. Don't worry about your current stock list right now as adding fish is not the right thing to do. Once you are sure the tank is stable post a list of what you still have and someone can advise on stocking for your tank.

 

[Ryan231211]

Sorry been out all day... so haven't been on here.. thanks for the advice.. well ive just got home and pulled out another 15 dead fish.. this breaks my heart.. poor things... I now only have 1 pleck... 2 corys.. two tetra... I platty and 1 neon... that is out of about 40 fish... this has all happened in the space of 48 hours

 

[Ryan231211]

Update.. done 80% water change.. hope my fish survive this...
Ammonia at 0.25ppm... not sure why that is as done so big water change..
Nitrites 0ppm..
PH 7.0
Nitrates at 30ppm .

 

[Byron]

Ammonia is present (maybe 0.25) in the tap water, so that is why you see it after the water change. What conditioner are you now using...Prime? Do you add the conditioner to the tap water before adding it?

Nitrates are still high considering all the water changes and the tap water is zero nitrate. Have you been vacuuming into the substrate at the water changes as suggested? And rinsing the filter in a bucket of tank water?

What is the tank water temperature? And is the filter circulating the water with some surface disturbance?

These dead fish, were they respirating more rapidly? Near the surface?

 

[Ryan231211]

Haven't been to a shop that sells prime yet.. think I'll just get it online now... my temperature is 23c... little low but not long done a water change that's why... ...
Yes I sit the new water in my bucket with conditioner in it for a few minutes.. and I've vacuumed the gravel all over every time I done a water change which was mostly every day yes my filter is moving the water and I have a large air stone on 24 hours a day for oxygen... the fish was all swimming on the top.. looked like they were breathing so fast as well compared to normal

 

[Byron]

Haven't been to a shop that sells prime yet.. think I'll just get it online now... my temperature is 23c... little low but not long done a water change that's why... ...
Yes I sit the new water in my bucket with conditioner in it for a few minutes.. and I've vacuumed the gravel all over every time I done a water change which was mostly every day yes my filter is moving the water and I have a large air stone on 24 hours a day for oxygen... the fish was all swimming on the top.. looked like they were breathing so fast as well compared to normal

Temp is OK, no issue there (asked because high temperatures are hard on many fish).

OK on preparing water for changes. What conditioner...still AquaSafe? As a dechlorinator, OK, but it adds something to protect slime coat and I can't find out what this is. Some use things like aloe vera which do damage gills, and respiration issues would be worsened. Be careful not to over use this (or any conditioner).

The fish are clearly having considerable difficulty respirating. This could be long exposure to ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, chlorine (this would be immediate), or any toxic substance in the water. Nothing else is being added, and the bacterial product has been discontinued--correct?

 

[Ryan231211]

Yes that is correct..... I just don't know what could of happened

 

[Byron]

I don't know what else to suggest.

 

[Ryan231211]

Well you have already given me so much advice and I really appreciate that now... hopefully now I've done such a big water change and only got 6 fish left I won't have anymore deaths or problems .. and I will make sure I don't over stock my tank this time... as I did not know before as my pet shop told me it was fine.. but now I know the truth... and it was over crowded.. maybe that has been my problem from the start

 

[Byron]

Well you have already given me so much advice and I really appreciate that now... hopefully now I've done such a big water change and only got 6 fish left I won't have anymore deaths or problems .. and I will make sure I don't over stock my tank this time... as I did not know before as my pet shop told me it was fine.. but now I know the truth... and it was over crowded.. maybe that has been my problem from the start

This was initially a 20 gallon tank, then it was said to actually be 30 gallons. The problem was not so many fish as just the number of fish, though that was an issue for the fish as they grow larger, but more the non-compatibility due to water parameter differences, behaviours, numbers, etc. No one wants to see the fish die, but the fact that most have means you can at least research and go forward. But as others mentioned, do not consider getting any fish until this issue is definitely resolved.

 

[Ryan231211]

Yes I deffinetly won't be getting anymore untill my water has been good for a while.. can I ask you a question please if you don't mind Byron... you seem to know your stuff... and have good answers.... I calculated my tank on Google.. it came back as 30gallons... is this big enough for a rainbow shark... I would love to get one in the future when my tank is stable... I saw that it's says on Google that for a rainbow shark it should be a minimum of 30 gallons... would you say this is right? Just I don't want to get one and cause myself anymore problems

 

[Byron]

Yes I deffinetly won't be getting anymore untill my water has been good for a while.. can I ask you a question please if you don't mind Byron... you seem to know your stuff... and have good answers.... I calculated my tank on Google.. it came back as 30gallons... is this big enough for a rainbow shark... I would love to get one in the future when my tank is stable... I saw that it's says on Google that for a rainbow shark it should be a minimum of 30 gallons... would you say this is right? Just I don't want to get one and cause myself anymore problems

This species, Epalzeorhynchos frenatum, attains 130 to 150 mm (13-15 cm, or 5-6 inches). It should be housed in an aquarium with a length of no less than 120 cm (48 inches). More data here:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/epalzeorhynchos-frenatum/

With some species, and this is one of these, length and width of the tank is more important that volume. As a simple example, this fish could live well in a tank of 30 gallons if the dimensions are 48 by 12 by 12 inches. But not in a 30 gallon with dimensions of 30 by 12 by 18 inches which is the standard 30-gallon tank (I have two of these, it is a useful size but not for fish needing more space).

For fish species that are territorial, and that applies to the Rainbow Shark, the surface area of the substrate (length by width) is crucial in establishing territories. The volume of water above this makes very little difference, within reason obviously.

 

[Ryan231211]

Thanks for that... my tank is 100 long.... 30 depth and 47 high... so are you saying mine is to small? As it's 20cm to short in length

 

[Byron]

Thanks for that... my tank is 100 long.... 30 depth and 47 high... so are you saying mine is to small? As it's 20cm to short in length

Presumably these dimensions are cm. The best answer I can give is that the fish "should" be in a 120 cm by 30 cm (length X width) tank to be at its best.

There is another side to this, and that is temperament. These so-called "shark" species can be quite territorial and belligerent or aggressive, depending; they sometimes take a dislike to various upper level fish. The smaller the tank, the more this can affect such behaviours/traits of a fish. So your options for other fish in a smaller tank may technically seem OK, but in actuality may be just asking for trouble. In other words, a species like this one can significantly restrict options for tankmates.