High Ammonia; No Sick Fish So Far

[Miss Wiggle]

Thanks everyone,
I have to say; my fishs are still healthy; No sign of illness; Just tested the water; Same result; Ammonia properly gone up more than 8 now; PH is 7.6. all other are zero. Can someone in the Bio or chemistry field provide more detail to this? According all outside sources and websites, such condition will definitely kill my fishs. It has been two weeks. Fishs are still alive for which I am very happy. And please stay on the topic here

Thanks for all your comments

yes an ammonia level of 8 would kill most fish outright, possibly the hardy barbs would survive it but def not the cardinals.

leads me to suspect a faulty test kit, can you take a sample of the water to the fish shop for testing to confirm/deny the result. can you also please take a test of your tap water as this should have 0 or v low ammonia, if you're getting a high reading for that then we can probably assume it's wrong.

However it's best to play on the safe side when you are dealinbg with the lives of animals, so you should do a large water change immediatley, up to 75% of the water, the (as Shelagh said) wait at least an hr, maybe 2/3 and do another large water change. re-test the water, if the level has dropped then the test kit is probably not faulty, if this is the case then keep going with water changes until it's below 0.25ppm.

 

[whuangs01]

A little update since last week; Still I lost none of my fish; I asked my mom to change 50% water because of the cloudyness; some of my neons got stress over the water change; they are hiding for three days now. Tested the Ammonia; it is still 8 more. It seems my fishs are very hardy; specially the Tiger Barbs

 

[boeingtech]

hi, you have done well to keep them alive so far but it is cruel to keep so many fish cramped up in your tank, even if they do survive as they get bigger they will end up fighting and nipping fins which will not be nice for yourself and especially not your fish, people on this forum just want to help you and your fish. Best of luck with your fish

 

[fishyness0809]

I dont think you understand what everyone is saying....The ammonia will never go down as long as you keep that amount of fish in that small of a tank, no matter how many changes you do to the water....Why dont you ask your mother to get you a much large aquarium such as a 30 or 40 gallon...also angel fish require a tall tank instead of long and tiger barbs will happily destroy the fins of your beautiful angels once they develop them...So unless you take action now, your fish will start dropping off one by one and it may not happen now but no fish deserves to be poisoned to death.

 

[locust267]

We all make mistakes along the way - It's part of the big learning curve called life.

The best advice I can give you is listen to all the wonderfully experienced people on here who are trying to help you and learn from your mistakes. Both you and your final choice of compatible fish will be much happier in the long run.

 

[whuangs01]

Thanks, Everyone. Not that I do not listen, but both of my friend and I went out buy the same tank and fishs. My friend just did everything he can to get rid of the Ammonia from tank last week. He told me he has been changing water since last Monday, and got Ammonia down to .25. Although he has less fish than I do, two of his fishs were dead yesterday. He told me that all his fishs got so scare when he changed water. I do not know how he changed water though. He properly scared his fishs to death when he changed water too many times

 

[Corleone]

Scaring fish is better than burning their gills - much of the damage ammonia does is permanent.

 

[fishyness0809]

You dont listen....if you did then you would remove all your fish and let the tank cycle for 4-6 weeks before adding fish....and ur friend would do the same. your just killing defenseless animals

 

[vinylman]

Thanks, Everyone. Not that I do not listen

OK, let's cut to the chase. You have far too many fish for such a small tank. Fish exhale and excrete ammonia. Ammonia burns the fishes gills. You bought a tank and fish at the same time - the filter has had no chance to build up the bacteria that will deal with ammonia. Do you want to HAVE fish or do you want to KEEP fish?. You need to take the fish back to the shop and cycle the tank properly. You may think the fish look fine, but one thing I can guarantee: the fishes gills are being burned by ammonia. The damage is irreversible. If any of them survive, they'll be permanently damaged. Neons are not suitable for a tank until it's been cycled AND matured for at least 4-5 months. The Angels (should they survive) once they're large enough will eat the Neons. Angels need a tank 18'' high. This stocking is just so WRONG. Research needs to be done before buying any fish. You need to change at least 50% of the water every day, just to ease their suffering. I sincerely hope for the sake of those poor fish that you ARE listening, but it seems to me that you're just in a competition with your friend as to how long you can keep the fish alive. Someone at your LFS deserves a good slap.

 

[jumblepod]

The tiger barbs are likely to nip the fins of other fish in that small space. I wouldnt keep tiger barbs with gouramis unless i had a good sized tank and alot of them.

 

[gaz gun man]

so what are you going to do with your new found info, whuangs01?

I have a 33gal tank and I would not even consider 1 angel in it, due to their size.


I would like to see a pic of this tank - morbid curiosity I suppose

 

[fishyness0809]

I dunno seems like one of those people who ask for advice, pretend or make up an excuse about listening and never respond and therefore the fish are the ones that suffer....poor things.

 

[vinylman]

so what are you going to do with your new found info, whuangs01?

I have a 33gal tank and I would not even consider 1 angel in it, due to their size.


I would like to see a pic of this tank - morbid curiosity I suppose

I'd like to think it doesn't exist, but.................