Ammonia levels

[psilo]

I have an 8 gallon tank that has been running for over 3 weeks and is occupied with approx 40-50 2 week old and some younger guppy fry. Nitrates and nitrites are 0, ph is 7.5 and temp is kept at around 26 degrees.
My ammonia levels are at around 2.6. Regular water changes of around 25% dont make any difference.
Is this tank over stocked or are ammonia levels spiking because it is a new set up? Any suggestions on how to get it down to 0 are much appreciated.

 

[Ms.Bubbles]

You have to do more water changes. Do enough to get the ammonia levels to un-readable levels on the test kit and keep it that way for the duration of your tank's cycle. 25% is obviously not enough. Do larger volume, and more frequently. It WILL make a difference.

You need a bigger tank, too. You can't keep 40 fish in an 8 gallon tank.

 

[joylynn]

HAve you tested your tap water? Let it sit out overnight and test it to see what the ammonia reading is. Also, what are you suing to de-chlroinate your water? I was having high ammonia readings in my tap water and my tanks and switched to Prime for the dechlorinator which made a world of difference. I believe (please correct me if I am wrong anyone) that some de-chlorinators treat for chloramine, but don't neutralize the ammonia from chloramine correctly, so it causes high readings. From what I have read on this forum, Prime is the most recommended treatment that definitely treats tap water for chlorine, chloramine and ammonia.

 

[Rowangel]

I have an 8 gallon tank that has been running for over 3 weeks and is occupied with approx 40-50 2 week old and some younger guppy fry. Nitrates and nitrites are 0, ph is 7.5 and temp is kept at around 26 degrees.
My ammonia levels are at around 2.6. Regular water changes of around 25% dont make any difference.
Is this tank over stocked or are ammonia levels spiking because it is a new set up? Any suggestions on how to get it down to 0 are much appreciated.

Do you have plans for the guppy fry? They get big relatively quickly and in crowded tanks the more aggressive fry will start to kill off the weaker more passive fry. I had 20+ fry in a 10g and by the end of the week I had around 15. More space, the more will survive.

 

[psilo]

No my dechlorinators are not to blame. I have 3 other large tanks my biggest being a 50gallon and they all have ammonia levels of 0. I think it is probably due to the size and the number of fish in it that are to blame. Some of the fry now must be nearly three quarters of an inch long and over 2 weeks old. Im just now sure what to do with them as I dont think they are big enough to transfer to any of my other tanks. I do have a four foot tank that i am hoping to get alot more plants for tomorrow. Maybe some of the bigger ones can go in there. I have also just set up a 12 gallon tank but its not ready yet.

When doing large water changes (50%) How do people do it? I mean taking out so much water will affect water temperature so how do you compensate for this?

 

[TheZoo]

Remove the desired amount of water from your tank (using a siphon is easiest and removes tons of poop as well), empty into your garden or down the drain.
You can either have some water sit around in buckets to reach room temp or get as close as you can at the tap and go from there. As long as its not an extreme difference, you should be fine. And dont forget the dechlor.

 

[dorkfish]

Or you could let you water sit in bucket(s) for a day with a heater and thermometer in them...

If you do this chlorine will evaporate out, but if you have chloramines, amonnia or heavy metals in your tap water you will still have to add water conditioner.