Need help, Ammonia level

[laurenb]

Hello,
I've recently saved a goldfish we named Cleo, and am trying to take care of her and we're new fish keepers. We got her a 10 gallon tank, filter, air pump. She's been in there for about a week. I am very concerned about the ammonia level in Cleo's aquarium. I understand that it will get high while the tank is building up the good bacteria. We've been changing about 1/10th of the tank water everyday. What bothers me is that even after treating tap water with Aquasafe and letting it sit for 24 hours, it has a reading of at least 0.50 ppm of ammonia. That isn't much better than Cleo's tank water, so it hasn't changed her tank's ammonia reading. What good would it do to change the water if the water I am replacing with is full of ammonia?

How can I get more ammonia out of the tap water? Is there anything I can do other than letting it sit longer?

Also her pH is about 7.4 & water temperate is 75 degrees. Since last night, she seems to be swiming slower than usual so we're mostly worried that the ammonia level is too high.

Thanks,
Lauren

[nickmcmechan]

Add more aquasafe, try doubling the amount you are using

[nickmcmechan]

Yes, the Ammonia level is too high, what is your tank water Ammonia reading after 21hrs versus tap water reading.

What your doing is a fishy cycle.

[Boyd43]

Add more aquasafe, try doubling the amount you are using

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't beleive Aquasafe lowers ammonia, it removes chlorine and breaks the chloramine bond(which I believe actually creates ammonia).

[Ketso]

Just a thought ...

What does your test show for ammonia on the tap water WITHOUT adding any Aquasafe? I have seen posts where people have said that some of the chlorine removers will make tests show a false positive. Not 100% sure it was chlorine that showed false, but worth the shot.

Rule out the Aquasafe first. If there is indeed a difference, use a different chlorine remover such as Prime. Or you may have to get a different test kit. (You never mentioned what type of test kit you are using).

And, as Boyd43 said above, Aquasafe does not make any claim to "remove ammonia" on their website.

[Rbishop]

What is the ammonia reading on your tap, before treating?

What brand of test kit are you using?

I recommend Prime as your water conditioner. It will bind the ammonia into a non-toxic form, but still available to your bacteria colony.

[Derringer]

Try changing about 3-4 gallons at a time instead of just 1; when the numbers look really bad do 5-6g. If need be grab some ammonia clear tank buddies; by Jungle - I think with a 10g tank youd add 1 tablet; but if the numbers are that high you might wish to add 2 tablets.

[J double R]

What is the ammonia reading on your tap, before treating?

What brand of test kit are you using?

I recommend Prime as your water conditioner. It will bind the ammonia into a non-toxic form, but still available to your bacteria colony.

bingo. and with the conditioners that bind the ammonia instead of get rid of it, the water is still safe for your fish, despite what the tests say.

[hitman12131976]

I've also used AmQuel+ to help with the Ammonia problem, but from I've read on these forums, PRIME seems to be the 'weapon' of choice. It's definitely on my wish list when my AmQuel+ is done.

If I'm correct, isn't PRIME = (AmQuel+) + AquaSafe ???

[laurenb]

Thanks so much everyone!

My boyfriend bought some "ammonia clear tank buddies" by Jungle. At first it didn't seem to be working but after a couple of days, the ammonia level is down to almost 0.

From this website someone gave me from another group, I was able to determine that, at the tank's pH level and temperature, the level of harmful ammonia was safe for Cleo.

Here is the link: http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html

Lauren

[AnDr3w]

Get ammo lock. Then add PH down, get it low like 6. Over time tho. Lower PH detoxifies ammonia.

[didy]

I don't know about all that. Typically, using chemicals to raise or lower Ph causes swings and/or crashes that aren't good for the fish.

Ammo lock works, but they remove the feed source from your bio filter, so they do more harm than good in the long run.

Water changes as often as needed with Prime or Amquel + is better. You can also add a few teaspoons per gallon of salt to help goldies cope with stress from small nitrite spikes.

[enrique4jc]

You're much better off just doing water changes to get rid of your ammonia. Some chemicals may help you to control it if its out of hand, but water changes should really do the trick. Fresh water will be the best thing for Cleo. Just don't do anything to damage your biofiltration as you cycle.

[nickmcmechan]

Also see this...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109218