High Ammonia Level--Urgent!

[Jewel]

Urgent! I have a 37 gallon show tank which has been well established for well over a year. One of my vail angel fish got a gill disease a month ago so I treated the tank with Triple Sulfa. It took 3 treatments to get him well. Then my tank became very cloudy and tested ammonia level, which registered at 8ppm!!!! I immediately did a 20% water change several times in one week. The fish store I buy from told me to stop making water changes as it was likely hurting more than helping. I quit making the water changes then added the "good" bacteria back into the tank using "Ultra Aquarium Starter" for fresh water--a capful every day for a week or longer...I have kept adding it ever since every day.

One week ago I did a 50% water change, vacuumed out the tank very well, then and added back in the "good" bacteria the store manager gave me (brand not known). Still no change in the ammonia level...still 8ppm. This past week my marble vail angel fish started staying at the top of the water and quit eating...then lying on its side. The other two vail angel fish along with three skirt tetras also quit eating. Plants in the tank started to die--Nubia (sp?) plants which are usually pretty hardy--snails in the tank started to die as well.

A week ago I desperately decided to use an ammonia removal, AmQuel+, and added it every day plus continued adding in the "good" bacteria. The marble fish got worse and thought for sure it would die. I quit using the ammonia removal stuff as I read it could reduce the oxygen in the tank--the marble angel fish got better but is still not eating. The Khoi angel fish is eating but the silver one also is not eating. All the other fish in the tank seem fine.

The fish store manager also suggested I use "Purigen" to remove the ammonia and in just 2 days the media turned dark brown--added a new one which is still now in the tank. The ammonia is down to 4ppm (still way too high) but cannot figure out after all I've done why the ammonia level as not gone down considerably more--manager of the fish store is also stumped. Last week I accounted for all my fish to make sure none were dead--all of them there (3 vail angels, 3 skirt tetras, 2 sterba catfish, 2 bronze cory's, 1 wiptail catfish, 2 julii catfish, and 1 clown pleco). Only thing new in the tank is a fake (plastic) acquarium plant.

Test stripes show 0 nitrate & nitrite, ideal akalinity, and PH at 7.8 (alkaline).

Any idea what is wrong or what I need to do? I am afraid I will lose all my fish if the ammonia level doesn't decrease more soon--sort of surprised they've lasted this long. Any help would be appreciated.

Pam

 

[black hills tj]

if it were me...i'd completely ditch the chemical's, start doing massive pwc's(thinking 75%), and purchase an API master test kit that uses liquid reagents instead of lame test strips. Someone else please chime in so i'm not leading her in the wrong direction though.

 

[rich311k]

Welcome to AA!!!

The anti biotic you added killed all of your good bacteria. The store manager is wrong, the best thing you can do right now is water changes. The quickest way to reduce the ammonia is to do water changes. I would do a 75% today and another tomorrow. Get your self a liquid test kit for ammonia and nitrites. Do water changes to keep your levels under 1 ppm.

Your tank is recycling and all you can do is do water changes to keep levels in check until it finishes. If you have a friend with an aquarium maybe they will let you have some of their filter media to help move things along. Good luck.

 

[sweetness8t5]

All I read was your title... I really should be studying but here goes..

Same happened to me, I really don't know how my fish survived..

Getting rid of ammonia is a process.
What worked GREAT for me was to do a 80-90% water change EVERYDAY for about a week and a half.. and every other day put a bacteria supplement in.

When I got the water tested in the beginning, it was at the highest it could possibly go (for ammonia), then at the end of the week, it was at the lowest, but still had some.

Oh and those tablets that "get rid" of ammonia don't work. They do more harm than good. The ammonia still stays in your tank, but what it does is that it sort of "isolates" them so that they won't hurt the fish. but that only works for a little bit. And it could alter your tank's cycle dramatically.

So water changes EVERYDAY with a bacteria supplement every other day should work.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The only bacteria supplement that I recommend is Bio Spira. If you can get ahold of it, theoretically you will be able to cycle your tank near-instantly. I don't put stock in any other product. Do massive daily water changes and keep testing for Ammonia and Nitrite with a liquid reagent test kit. Toss the Ammonia removers and other additives that the lfs sold you. And don't use Amquel + while cycling. In fact, get yourself a bottle of Prime. It's cheaper and lasts longer.

 

[verucaproduce]

You say this tank is a 'show' tank. Does that mean that you have another? If so you can take media from that tank (assuming everything is healthy) to help with your new cycle.

 

[dvanv]

The one thing I would not do is listen to the people at the fish store. The people on this forum have been great and shown me lots of knowledge.

 

[Jewel]

if it were me...i'd completely ditch the chemical's, start doing massive pwc's(thinking 75%), and purchase an API master test kit that uses liquid reagents instead of lame test strips. Someone else please chime in so i'm not leading her in the wrong direction though.

Got the API test kit today, did about 65% water change and added in a bacterial supplement. I will use the test kit tomorrow to five the tank time to do some cycling. Thanks to you and everyone else who has responded! I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Zagz]

As mentioned bacterial supplements that do not contain live bacteria do not help. Bio spira contains live bacteria and must be refrigerated. Keep doing water changes. Get seeded media from someone, you can even check with your lfs to see if they will give you some from a filter or some substrate.

 

[7Enigma]

I second the Prime and frequent large PWC's. Prime can be used at an elevated level to detoxify ammonia/nitrIte which can help mitigate some of the damage done by the chemicals.

You really need to get some biomedia from another established tank because the nitrIte spike that is about to happen is much more lethal then the ammonia spike you just went through.

Check your local area and see if there is an aquarium club. Contact the members and beg for some filter media. Most will offer it for free (I would), or for a simple replacement cost of the filter insert.

This is your best option to limit the amount of damage that will be done.

Goodluck.

 

[Jewel]

High Ammonia

The only bacteria supplement that I recommend is Bio Spira. If you can get ahold of it, theoretically you will be able to cycle your tank near-instantly. I don't put stock in any other product. Do massive daily water changes and keep testing for Ammonia and Nitrite with a liquid reagent test kit. Toss the Ammonia removers and other additives that the lfs sold you. And don't use Amquel + while cycling. In fact, get yourself a bottle of Prime. It's cheaper and lasts longer.

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Thank you and all the others for their advice. After doing the water changes and Bio Spira this week the ammonia level is finally at 0 ppm! I am very thankful this forum is available.

Pam