High ammonia

[Mark Hewitt]

Had my 64 litre tank for about 9 months now. After it was cycled it has been great reading zero ammonia all the time. A couple of weeks back we added a new balloon Molly to the tank. A couple of days after noticed that the fish looked stressed and found it was testing at 1+!

Started 50% water changes but even two weeks later it is still testing at 0.5 after 24 hours and two fish have died.


I have put a new and bigger filter in in case the old one is not working but obviously that will take a few weeks to get going.

Is there anything else I can do apart from keep changing the water?

 

[adeebm]

You can add Prime, it helps detoxify ammonia. And I think I heard something about a lower water temp lowering the ratio of ammonia to ammonium. When you say you put in a new filter, did you take the old one out?

--Adeeb

 

[Mark Hewitt]

No the old filter is still running.

 

[BigJim]

Is there a dead fish stuck somewhere in the tank? You really need to identify the cause of the problem instead of treating the symptoms.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Yep that's what I'm trying to determine. Definitely no dead fish around all present and correct. Also cut back feeding to a tiny pinch every 2 days.