I need some help with ammonia...

J

jberemy

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Feb 13, 2008
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I have been having trouble getting the ammonia levels in my tank to stay down...and I think I may have found some cause for the problem. First, its a 10g tank, with 3 zebra dianos, 2 swordtails, and a leopard cory.

I tested out the tap water that I have been using for WC's. Good news first...nitrate and nitrite are at 0. Bad news, pH is 8.6 and ammonia comes us around .5/1.0. In the tank right now the ammonia tests out around 2.0, but I have not had a pH issue...yet.

I have already reduced feeding to once every two days, and even then I do so sparringly. For about two weeks now I have been doing at least 2 25% (min) WC's a week, but it doesnt seem to be helping.

Should I be doing more WC's to get my ammonia levels down?

What is the best way to treat the tap water before i do a WC? Right now I use API tap water conditioner. I have AmmoLock and Amquel, which I have been using to try to decrease the levels, but only after it has been placed into the tank.

Lastly, I have a question on filter cartridge changes. I was told that changing the biobag once every month is a good idea, which I have been doing. But what about the other peice to the filter, not sure what its called...possibly the filter pad? Its a whisper 10...

Thanks for any help.
 
stop with the amquel and ammo lock...use Prime.

Do water changes as necessary to keep ammonia at tap level conditions.

What kind of test kit?
 
jberemy said:
I have been having trouble getting the ammonia levels in my tank to stay down...and I think I may have found some cause for the problem. First, its a 10g tank, with 3 zebra dianos, 2 swordtails, and a leopard cory.

I tested out the tap water that I have been using for WC's. Good news first...nitrate and nitrite are at 0. Bad news, pH is 8.6 and ammonia comes us around .5/1.0. In the tank right now the ammonia tests out around 2.0, but I have not had a pH issue...yet.

I have already reduced feeding to once every two days, and even then I do so sparringly. For about two weeks now I have been doing at least 2 25% (min) WC's a week, but it doesnt seem to be helping.

Should I be doing more WC's to get my ammonia levels down?

What is the best way to treat the tap water before i do a WC? Right now I use API tap water conditioner. I have AmmoLock and Amquel, which I have been using to try to decrease the levels, but only after it has been placed into the tank.

Lastly, I have a question on filter cartridge changes. I was told that changing the biobag once every month is a good idea, which I have been doing. But what about the other peice to the filter, not sure what its called...possibly the filter pad? Its a whisper 10...

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Use prime

Dont change the filter that often, it could cause you tank to go into a mini-cycle depending on how much bateria ends up being removed.
 
your problem is ur changing your filter cartridges. what you should do is shake it around in the bucket with the tank water during a water change. it removes the solids without killing the bacteria neccassary for a complete nitrogen cycle. the filter in a tank that small is where most of these bacterias live. when you toss them out your forcing your tank to cycle all over again.
 
Use Seachem Prime to detox your tap water, and as a general conditioner.

I don't know what the biobag is but suspect your better off simply swishing it around in tank water in your bucket when you do water changes rather than chucking it out. Same goes for the filter sponge once a month. The reason you use the tank water is because your tap water likely has chlorine and/or chloramine which would kill of your bacteria colonies (the Prime detoxifies these).

Get a good test kit (API master kit is great) and use it; whenever you have ammonia showing you want to water change to reduce to 0. 2 ppm is really high and will sicken/kill your fish.

Now the underlying question, nitrates are 0 ? how did you cycle the tank and/or do you know what that means ? check here http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598
 
Ok it sounds like your tank is not cycled. Stop using chemicals such as Amquel and ammlock. You say you have high ammonia levels and 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate levels? 0 nitrate is not good. Your tank has to have some level of nitrate in order to be cycled. Some members in the forum will say that less than 20 nitrate is a good level. You will need to do small daily wc's and check your levels your ammonia levels should level off and then you will see some nitrite go up keep doing wc's then your nitrite level will level off and you should see nitrate. Test with API drops not strips. When you see 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and some nitrate level you are cycled. Do not change out your filter you will be getting rid of the good bacteria you need to keep your tank cycled. I have a whisper filter for my 5g what I usually do is at a wc I swish the filter in old tank water add fresh carbon inside the filter and then place it back in the cannister. Wait a while to do this until you know your tank is fully cycled this could take up to one month to two. Good luck!
 
There is nothing wrong with using Amquel- it is a dechlor that does chloramines and some heavy metals as well. It also detoxes ammonia. However, if you read the bottle lable you will note there is a warning that Amquel will cause the coomon Messler based ammonia test kits to give false readings. You need to get the kind of test kit that is Salicylate based.

There is also now Amquel+ which also detoxifies nitrites.
 
I would also like to add that don't worry too much about your pH.. Zebras and swordtails will be fine with a pH of 8.6.. I don't know about the leopard cory, but if he is doing fine I wouldn't try to alter the pH. My bronze cories are doing just fine with a pH of 8.4. Consistency with pH is better than trying to force it up or down.
As far as ammonia goes.. I feel your pain. I also have 1.0+ ppm of ammonia in my tap water. I have a solution that I use but is not a short term solution for your current ammonia problem. In the long term you can prepare water for water changes without the need for chemicals.. look at my posts in this thread: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142591&page=2
 
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