dead fish

[Pam H]

Okay, boys and girls,

I checked my ammonia level. It is between 4.0 and 5.0. Not the highest on the test card, but high, I'll wager. Could this be the ammonia spike? Or on the way down?

Pam

 

[pinballqueen]

Yeah, that's probably a spike, it won't get any higher if you change the water like you should. Do a good-sized water change, about 30% or so, and your readings should come back down to something your fish can tolerate.

You're getting there!

BTW, I can't see my shoes. That's why I only wear slip ons at this point....

 

[mt_marcy]

Hi Pam,
Welcome to the hobby of fish keeping and to aquaria central! Looks like you're a pretty busy mom... So from what I understand from reading your post you have a 10 gallon, got a few fish and know you are left with one gourmis.... Until your water perametres(amonia, nitrate, ect. levels) settle down consistantly to healthy levels and you've learned a bit more I'd keep it down to that one existing fish. From reading the other replies, you've gotten to know about gravel cleaners and stuff like test kits... It is a good idea to for now do between 20-30% water change(eith gravel vacume) every few days, after when your tank gets settled down a 30% water change once per week is good. As well as every time you do a water change test your water for ammonia, ect.

Later on when you are ready for more fish, rember that generally the rule of thumb is: 1 inch of slim bodied fish per one gallon, and compatable species with in your comuntiy. Check out the species/compatibility section on this site. I kbnow you dont want to be reading a whole lot of stuff but some of it unfortunately cant be avoided so one good site with not too much moumbo jumbo is:

www.thekrib.com

here you'll want to look up the begianers faq.

Also one good book wich you can read bits at a time and that I personally dont find too overwhelming is: "Aquariums for Dummies".

I know all this most be overwhelming for you as it was for me, but it does get easier as you go along. Also I agree on what you said about there should be warnings on aquarium kists...well maybe not literally, but the staff at the lfs's should educate peaple on proper care/maintence with fish keeping as well as fish species, ect. Some just dont seem to bother and only care about getting a sale, which frustrates me big time!!!

Anyways, good luck,
mt_marcy!

 

[carpguy]

Here is the Krib's Beginner's faq. I post it up for every newbie I can find because I think it covers all the basics without being too long or getting too complicated. If you want to go from there, great -- but these are the essentials. Shouldn't take long.

The advice so far has been good and hopefully it'll see you through.

Ammonia at above 4 ppm is really really high. You might want to change more than 30%. I understand its a pain, but its diluting the ammonia. As much and as often as it takes to keep the ammonia down. The ammonia is burning the fish's gills. Your fish is basically swimming around in very heavy smoke: water changes are like opening the windows, the more (dechlorinated) fresh water you can get in there the better. Water changes will not slow down the cycle. The ammonia part won't last long, maybe a week or 10 days, but its the most toxic. The nitrite part goes maybe 2-3 weeks, not as rough. After that its relatively low maintenance. 2 gallons once a week will be fine. It gets easier, promise.

If you were overfeeding any left over food and decomposing fish poo that might be in the gravel or in the filter are also a potential source of ammonia, so give it a good vac during the water changes. Using (chlorinated) tap water to clean out the filter pads can kill off your good bacteria, so most folks just rinse them out well in the change water. You might want to underfeed for a little bit; maybe go every other day until the ammonia spike is over, just a pinch. The amount of waste is directly related to the amount of food.

Good luck with it.

 

[Faramir]

A level of 4-5ppm will cause fish deaths if it continues for more than a few hours.

A water change is definitely required quite urgently! That level needs to be kept down.

 

[Pam H]

Is there any way to change the water before I purchase a gravel vacuum?

Can I just syphon (sp?) some water out and put back some fresh declorinated water?

Pam

 

[Faramir]

Certainly! That's what I do. Make sure that you siphon from near the bottom of the tank - this will suck up the crud/crap/$#!+e (choose the word that you prefer ) in the same way as a gravel 'vacuum'. Move the bottom of the tube around as you siphon to cover as much area as possible.

 

[Pam H]

Well, I didn't even have a tube to siphon, so I just used a bucket and dished some out, about 40%. The ammonia level is now between .5 and 1.0. Is that lethal?

Pam

 

[Faramir]

It's better. It wouldn't be fatal quickly at that level at an average pH. According to http://www.thekrib.com/Chemistry/ammonia-toxicity.html, toxicity increases with temperature, so you might want to bear that in mind.

You will need to keep up the water changes until the level subsides naturally.