Clowdy Water, High Amonia that is not affected by Amolock. Please HELP!

M

mashenka

AC Members
Jul 7, 2007
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I recently restarted my acquarium (5 weeks ago) and everything seemed fine till I went to Petco and they tested my water and told me that I have very high levels of Ammonia. I have a 29 gallon. They equipped me with Amolock which I followed instructions and added every 2 days. Levels of ammonia did not decrease and I did partial water changes every week (sometimes even 2 times a week). Fish so far is fine, but I am very concerned about them. I barely feed them to make sure ammonia lowers.

Yesterday (after I changed 20% of water the day before) the water went completely clowdy. I went to the store again, they tested the water and amonia is still between 4.0-8.0 (I assume at least it is not toxic because of all the amolock). They also told me that my PH is now low (was fine before)- 6.4-6.6. They gave me a 7.0 PH balancer product to add to the water, which I did and tested that evening and the water seemed at the same low level.

They also told me that my filter with bio-wheel is probably crappy and told me to get a Whisper 40 with the bio sponge. I replaced the filter yesterday and did another 10% water change. They told me that the filter would be able to take care of this stuff on its own. (BTW, they told me to add amonia reducing crystals directly to the carbon filter bag, which I did). The water is even more clowdy.

Acquarium is superclean (valume the gravel each time), fish is barely fed (no waste), what am I doing wrong? I never had this problem before. I feel so sorry for my fish as this tank is now like a nuclear experiment with tones of chemicals in it. What should I do? I am scared that the fish will start dieing (if not already as I cannot see them all because of the clowdiness).

I have :
2 silver guramies (small)
2 gold guramies (small)
2 dwarf guramies
1 upside down cat fish
1 plactopus (sp?) - sucker (small)


Please help....
 
first thing you want to do is stop adding chemicals. they're not going to correct the problem, only make it harder to figure out. amolock, from what I've read, will not lower amonia levels. more water changes will, unless your tap water contains amonia.

what color is the cloudiness?
 
Amolock is effectively locking amonia into the non toxic to fish forum. The liquid test kits that you buy will still test positive for ammonia. You need an ammo alert when using amolock to test to see if you have the harmful form of ammonia in your tank.

This product works the same way amolock does. http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/AmGuard.html

They gave me a 7.0 PH balancer product to add to the water, which I did and tested that evening and the water seemed at the same low level.
Click to expand...

You do not need this, unless you have a special fish that REQUIRES a certain ph, most community will adjust to there ph. Remember, a stable ph that is natural is better than a fluctuating one. If you would like to raise the ph of your water naturally, check out crushed coral or dolomite. THose are two materials that readily come to mind.

They also told me that my filter with bio-wheel is probably crappy and told me to get a Whisper 40 with the bio sponge. I replaced the filter yesterday and did another 10% water change.
Click to expand...

The filter you had was just fine. Since you have removed your filter, you have removed all bacteria that had started to colonize in it and now will be starting your cycle all over again. A cycle takes 6-8 weeks on avg, and can take longer... The lfs got your money..exactly what it wanted.

If you havent already , purchase a liquid ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kit so you can test your own water. I reccomend aquairum pharmaceuticals brand. Stop adding all products to your tank except your water conditioner, what removes the chlrine and chloramine from you water. Do a 30 percent water change today, and a fifty percent tommorow. Test your water at this point, if you are still testing positive for ammonia or nitrites over .5 , do another fifty percent change. You are doing a fishy cycle, therefore you will have to change water daily to keep the levels low. Chnage enough to keep the ammonia and nitrite at or below .5. Change the water as often as needed. Feed lightly as you are already doing, and dont mess with your filter, unless it is just swishing the pad in tank water, while you are cycling.

Above all, you will have to have patience...:)

HTH
Blue
 
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Answers

Thank you for attention to my posting.

The clowdiness is very whitish haze.

Would such frequent water changes worsen the problem? I changed 10 percent yesterday and it became more hazy. By removing water, do I remove the bacteria (benefitial) out of the water as well? What do you mean I am doing a fishy cycle?


Thank you guys!
 
It kinda sounds like you are back to the very start of your cycle. By changing the filter out you removed all the bacteria that had started to grow in it.
And No by doing water changes it will not hurt the bacteria since most of the
bacteria lives in the filter. Fishy cycles are very hard on the fish and are a lot of work. I was totally green about fish keeping last fall when I set up my 29 gallon. I ended up doing two 50% water changes every day just to keep the ammonia and nitrItes down. Water changes are the best advice I can give you. I would not add any more chemicals to the water other than the to
remove the chlorines when doing water changes. It took me about 8 weeks to finally get thru the cycle. GOOD LUCK.
 
Blueiz - so do I need to get the ammo alert and add amolock or amoguard according to what the readings are?

All are recommending water changes on a daily basis, do I need to add the benefitial bacteria like API to speed up the development of the filter?

What is that white hazy stuff? Is that a bacteria bloom?
 
What type of water conditioner is the best? Also, when I do my water changes, do I just add enough for the water being added? Also, do I add directly to the water (I use 0.5 gal jug when refilling the acquarium) or to the acquarium? If I add to the water, how long do I have to wait before putting that water back into aquarium?

THis might sound stupid, but should I use the tap water or the water from britta filter?

Thanks all for your help and advice.
 
Another question :) I am full of them today, what are the normal water readings on nitrites and nitrates and which are good nitrits or nitrates?

Thanks!
 
I use AmQuel when doing water changes and I have also heard a lot about Prime being a good water conditioner.
You only add the amount of water conditioner to the water that you are replaceing. Add it to the water before you put it in the tank.
I use a 3 gallon bucket , make sure the temp is the same as my tank water, I add about 4 drops of AmQuel, I stir it around a little and then pour it into my tank.
DO NOT put the water in the tank first and then add the conditioner, The chlorine's will kill what bacteria you do have.
Use just plain tap water.
 
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