How Do I Lower High Ammonia Levels?

[mahdira]

My friend's goldfish tank is experiencing super-high ammonia levels! He has two oranda goldfish, one medium-small and one small. His tank is only a 10 Gallon (I know it's not big enough for two goldfish, but it was a gift from his girlfriend who didn't know). Both fish are healthy and happy right now, but his ammonia levels could change that soon

The water is very cloudy and a little smelly, and his ammonia level is 4.0 ppm (mg/L). I added a good amount of aquarium salt and a capful of "Stability," a new tank stabilizer made by Seachem. He changed his filter cartridge a week ago.

Help! Any assistance would be appreciated...

-Mahdira (and her friend's goldfish Humphrey and Iggy)

 

[GouramiGirl87]

My friend's goldfish tank is experiencing super-high ammonia levels! He has two oranda goldfish, one medium-small and one small. His tank is only a 10 Gallon (I know it's not big enough for two goldfish, but it was a gift from his girlfriend who didn't know). Both fish are healthy and happy right now, but his ammonia levels could change that soon

The water is very cloudy and a little smelly, and his ammonia level is 4.0 ppm (mg/L). I added a good amount of aquarium salt and a capful of "Stability," a new tank stabilizer made by Seachem. He changed his filter cartridge a week ago.

Help! Any assistance would be appreciated...

-Mahdira (and her friend's goldfish Humphrey and Iggy)

How long has the tank been up? It took mine a little over a month to stabelize. It also killed 4 goldfish in that time and caused ALOT of stress as well. 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons is a good deal.

 

[wendywc]

A friend of mine put fish (danios) in right away after setting up her tank. When I found out, I put in some ammo-chips in with her filter. It didn't zero it, but did lower the ammonia. Anyway she didn't lose any fish, thankfully.

 

[black angel]

If you change the filter pad then the filter has to cycle again which is why there is ammonia showing. Ideally you only need to squeeze out the dirty filter pad once a week or so or when it looks dirty or the filter performance goes down.
Your friend needs to do lots of water changes to get the ammonia down under 1 so the filter can keep cycling. Maybe do 70% today and then test again an hour later to see where the levels are.
The nitrite level will need to be monitored as well to make sure that doesnt get above 1 as well and adding salt at 2 level teaspoons per gallon will help the fish through the nitrite phase.