All my fish died, took down tank, started over and ammonia is 8.0!

lilmizzipichik

lilmizzipichik

AC Members
Jun 14, 2007
18
0
0
Mississippi
All my fish died after I tried so hard to get the ammonia down but it only increased. I tore it down so that I could start over and the ammonia is crazy high. I did what a few other people had told me before to check to see if its in the water that I put into the tank. Suprisingly, it doesn't have any ammonia in it, its 0. I took everything out of the tank when I took it down and washed it with water as best as I could. I even washed the gravel several times to be sure. Could there be ammonia still on the gravel or some of the decorations I have in the tank? Should I get new gravel/decor? I had received the gravel from a friend which she had used in her established tank. I use ammo-lock as the conditioner that I put in my water before adding it to the tank. Also, I put a new cartridge in the filter before puting water in the tank. What should I do? I want to be able to have a successful tank but it seems like this ammonia problem is never going to cease. Please help!
 
Most ammonia detoxifiers work in way thet it renders the most common form of ammonia test (based on Nessler reagents) useless as they give false readings. To be able to read through the detoxifier you need to have a kit based on Salicylate reagents. Carefully read the label and any insert with the Ammo-Lock and you may see this issue covered.

Actually you should not have broken down the tank, even if the ammonia levels were accurately read as you were well on the way to doing a fishless cycle. Cleaning everything has set you back to square one.
 
If your tank is at 8ppm it will stall your nitrification process (cycle). If you have 0.0 ammonia in your water source, then a simple process of water removed vs. water replaced will offer you the expected results.

For example: 50G tank with 8.0 ammonia -- 50% water change (25G) will yield a concentration 50% less = 4.0 ammonia.

The above will ALWYS be the case; However, if you have a lot of decaying material giving off ammonia the water in the tank can spike up very fast (less than 6 hours for example).

Now, if you ahve a new tnak with nothing in it, you washed everything and you added water and your tank is currently reading 8.0 - I'm confused? Are you re-using the media and filter?
 
What kind of test are you using? Is it expired?
 
Does ammo-lock treat for chloramines as well as chlorine (i should know but i forget)? I've heard of cases where ppl treat with a condition that only treats chlorine, and it turns the chloramine into ammonia.
 
umm well i used the same filter but not the media. Should I clean the filter really really well? It says that ammo-lock treats both chlorine and chloramine. I am using the API brand of the liquid test. I'll take out 75% of the water and try again. I'll tell you asap.
 
dont clean the filter media...the bacteria the eat up all the bad stuff (ammonia and nitirites) live there, if you clean out the filter media then you wash away all that good stuff

filter media (and only 1/2 of it at a time) should only be rinsed out when the flow reduces, inidcating it might be clogged...it should always be rinsed out with water that you have taken from your tank...if you ask you'll find most of us are doing this once every 3-6 months with the exception of internal filters in heavily planted tanks
 
lilmizzipichik said:
umm well i used the same filter but not the media. Should I clean the filter really really well? It says that ammo-lock treats both chlorine and chloramine. I am using the API brand of the liquid test. I'll take out 75% of the water and try again. I'll tell you asap.
Click to expand...


...waiting.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom