V High Ammonia - please help

[Jaxie]

My tank is fairly new - about 6/7 weeks. It is 21 litres (5.6 gallons) and I have a small plec, albino cory, 2 guppies and 2 platys.

Friday morning I found one of my platys dead so I did 25% water change and got water checked at local aquatics on Saturday and found my ammonia levels went off the chart. I was told to use Bactozym - the dose says add 2 capsules per 100 litres (22 gallons) of water - as they were capsules I had to put in one which is double the recommended dose.

I then did a further water change on Sunday (as advised) and have tonight tested for Ammonia and it is still reading very high. I was advised to do another water change in 4-5 days time. Can I add another Bactozym tablet?

The only fish that was showing signs of distress was the albino cory - he kept laying on the bottom breathing very quickly but he has now perked up and is darting around as usual.

I am totally to blame for the ammonia as I was overfeeding.

Please help as I don't want to lose anymore.

 

[canarsie11]

Do daily water changes!

 

[KnightFire]

Yea, do daily changes until the ammonia comes down. Add another bactozyme tablet 7 days after the first one.

KF

 

[Jaxie]

thanks for your quick response!

I understand that I have to dilute the ammonia but will this not get rid of the bactozym already in? Is 25% ok? And do you think the rest of them will die?

Your help is appreciated

 

[ajhainey]

Getting the amonia down is, right now, more important to keeping the fish alive than seeding the bacterial population...Lots of water changes! 2*7 litres a day would be my recommendation..I'd also recommend you get yourself an ammonia test kit so you can check the ammonia levels everyday - basically you are cycling a small tank, with way too many fish in it (its fully stocked right?) and the price you pay is lots of water changes & needing to do lots of water testing! At least its a small tank so the water changes are easy B)

I've never used the tablets you have but with things like 'cycle' (bacterial seeding liquid) you add more each time you do a water change...does it mention that anywhere on the instructions?

I'm going to leave it to someone else bring up the 'plec in a 5 gallon' discussion (or you could just search in the catfish cradle for more info)

Good Luck & keep us posted!

aj xx

 

[Jaxie]

I have not yet lost any more fish - have been doing daily water changes.

I was told that I could have a plec as it is one that will not outgrow my tank - is
this poor advice and should I take him back?

 

[ajhainey]

It may not be..'common' plecs grow HUGE but several other plec or 'plec-like' species stay fairly small. If they said he would stay small enough - keep him and find out! If he gets too big you can always sell him on...

Glad to hear everything seems to have settled down!

aj xx

 

[Jaxie]

Hiya

I have just tested for ammonia before doing a water change and it is better although still at around 2.0 mg/litre?

I can't believe I haven't lost any more fish. How long does it ususally take to clear?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Danno]

Im haveing the same problem but mines at 4.0!!!!!
Im doing 25% water change every day and im doing gravel vacs every 3 days
The weird thing is.....My fish are doing just peachy....
How can i drop the level of ammonia in my 20 gallon tank?

 

[KnightFire]

The ammonia level will drop as the nitrifying bacteria start eating it and converting it to nitrite, then your nitrite level will shoot up until more bacteria eat that and turn it to nitrate. Plants will absorb some nitrate but not as much as is produced in a well stocked fish tank, so regular water changes (normally 10-15% a week depending on stocked species) are still required when the tank is stable. http/faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

Right, back to where you are now.
Your ammonia levels are coming down, which is good. Only time will bring it right down, you can use bacterial cultures/enzymes such as 'bactozyme' and 'cycle' to speed things up a bit, but it will still take around the same amount of time before its completely stable (40 days roughly from when you first set up your tank). Sometimes the nitrogen cycle will stall and it will take longer.

So, now the levels are coming down, keep an eye on them. Try and reduce the frequency of the water changes (but only if the levels keep coming down) to allow the bacteria to get a better foothold into your tank. I have found the 40 day rule pretty invariable, even using bactozyme, although it does help make the changes more stable.

HTH

KF

 

[ajhainey]

There are only two things that reduce ammonia, diluting it by adding fresh water (water changes) or bacteria turning it into something else. You can't do anything really to help the latter so focus on the former! I would recommend lots of water changes (whenever ammonia is above 1ppm getting it down is more important than anything else) but NOT gravel vaccing (feed less if you think food is hitting the bottom). Bacteria doesn't live in the water itself so careful water changes (taking water from the middle of the tank) can't harm the bacteria, but vaccing the gravel definately might, as the bacteria is on the gravel (and in the filter, and on the plants etc etc etc). The other no-no is touching the filter while cycling - leave it well alone no matter how grubby it might look .

To give you an example. Personally I did 2*40% a day while my ammonia/nitrite were high, used hagen cycle and had 8 neons/4 guppies in a 180 litre. I didn't vac the gravel for the first month and only fed once every day (tiny amount). The cycle took 3 weeks.

aj xx

 

[Jaxie]

hi

Thought I would give you an update.

Tested this evening, results as follows:

Ammonia 0.1
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 50
pH Broad Range 8.5

The question is what do I do going forward - how often should i do water changes and how much do I replace (5.6 gallon tank). I haven't done one today due to the good results.

Your help is appreciated!

 

[clutterydrawer]

do however many water changes are sufficient to keep the ammonia under 1ppm

By which I mean - test your water each day, if it is higher than 1ppm, change some, then test again, if it's still too high, change a bit more, etc.

The same applies to nitrite, needs to be kept under 1ppm.