Ammonia lvl 8.0! AHHHH!

[Meiko]

Is my test just broken or something?? ^^;;;; Cause my fish is swimming around like nothing is wrong. He's not flashing against anything or breathing rapidly or swimming awkwardly. A few days ago a white cloud appeared in my tank, I read that your tank can get cloudy when you first start off and it's apart of cycle, after three days (today) I wake up and the cloud is 100% gone.

Water test:

Nitrate: 20 (test says that's in the safe area o.o; )
Nitrite: 0-ish (Never seen it above 0 )
Total Hardness: 120-250
Total Alkalinity: 100-ish
pH: 7.4

Ammonia: 8.0 (But I think it would be higher if it could, considering the test just stops at 8.0 ><;; )

 

[fishfreek]

Have you added any kind of water conidtoners that remove clorene? Have you added anything thats supposed to detoxify ammonia?

What is the brand of your test kit? Have you had your LFS confirm your readings?

 

[Meiko]

Let's see...

3-4 Days ago I added Stress Zyme (supposedly boosts bacteria to help cycle) and amo-lock to help lower the ammonia lvls. And actually that day my ammonia tested at .5 - 1.0 ppm (according to tester strip from petco) and I bought a liquid tester kit. I /think/ it's from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. There really isn't a specific label of brand on the box. ^^;; (Last time I try to save on money I guess T.T;; )

And I just tested my water again and it still comes up 8.0ppm sooo.. I guess it's a trip to the LFS. ^^;

 

[TankGirl]

AP is a good test. Is it a single bottle kit or a 2-bottle kit? There are some threads going currently about ammonia test kits, but the salicylate test kits (2 bottles of reagent) will not give you false positives when used on conjunction with certain dechlorinators. Definitely double-check with the LFS - I think we all know that if it was 8.0 your fish would be showing some signs... 8O

 

[Meiko]

it's a 2 bottle kit and came with a free bottle of stress zyme o.o;; *wigggles finger at fishie* well he's sleeping right now i turned off his light and he got confused @.@; *turns it back on so he'll wake up*

I guess i better drag myself out of my chair and go to store *sighs* I was hoping for ONE day where I didn't have to get up and do stuff T.T; oh welll~ Anything for fish! ;

 

[Overstocker]

Amo-lok will give false readings. At minimum, it will not make the ammonia "go away" but will make it non-toxic. If you have some nitrate and zero nitrite I would suspect the readings. To get Nitrate you have good bacteria converting the bad stuff, so unless you dumped a bunch of fish in the tank or something else to greatly increase your bio-load, then suspect the amo-lok stuff. A water change never hurts either....

Test tap water then put in amo-lok in the water and test it again, see if you get greater ammonia levels than the first one. Also have the lfs test your water.

 

[Endgame319]

I'm guessing that you put the water that came with the fish in the tank and thats why you have nitrates. If you want to keep your fish alive, do 50% water changes every day or two untill the ammonia goes down.

 

[Meiko]

I usually do a 20% water change every other day or so. And I buy spring water from the store by the gallon and open it leaving it out for 24-72 hours to let it adjust to room temperature. then add five drops of stress coat to each gallon to help the fish when I do the water change.

I guess Overstocker is right and it's the amo-lock that's doing the false readings.. I'll try to just stay away from chemicals for a few more weeks and see how things go... I added my fish to my tank like two weeks ago, added some cycle in the beginning but my tank never really cycled so.. donno guess I just have to wait it out. :| *taps fingers on desk* This is as bad as watching for water to boil in the pot. @.o;;