Please help me! Urgent!

[extremebunny]

I tested my water a little a while ago and ammonia was super high, about .5, after I had just changed the water. One of my cories has been super lethargic over the past few days and I suppose that's why. A few hours ago I saw my platy with clamped fins and spazzing out, so I put him in quarantine. He was fine as soon as I moved him. Now the rest of the fish in my tank are either lethargic or twitching. I think they are dying from the ammonia. I changed the water again and saw that my black tetras were completely white. Help me!

 

[extremebunny]

Please, anyone, help me! I don't want them all to die. When I saw my platy looked better, I put him in the main tank but he is clamping his fins again.

 

[extremebunny]

The fish have improved slightly. Numbers are still bad after water change #3, but hopefully getting better.

 

[Vic Vega]

There is literally no such thing as too many water changes, keep doing 50% pwc's until you're in good levels.

You can also double up on Prime without ill effects. That will help detoxify the ammonia / nitrites.

 

[Vic Vega]

How long has the aquarium been set up? Perhaps you have another thread I haven't seen, but assuming it's a new tank cycling with fish?

 

[extremebunny]

tank is done cycling, has been established since December 10th

 

[extremebunny]

problem with so many water changes is that it stresses the fish, also very tiring for me because I have to carry the water up steep stairs one gallon at a time.

 

[Vic Vega]

New fish added recently?

Have you tested the water straight out of the tap? If .5 wasn't a typo, it's not unheard of to see that in city water.

 

[Vic Vega]

And honestly stressing the fish from water changes is of zero concern to me. They get used to it and will always appreciate clean water over toxins.

Do you have a Python or other water changer?

 

[extremebunny]

newest fish were added on jan. 7

 

[extremebunny]

I just tested the tap water, and unless the test is wrong, the tap water has pretty high ammonia (about .3 or .4). I'm not in a city like you said, but I guess it's high in the tap water too. So it is the water to some extent, but it's still not good for the fish. How do I fix it if it's the tap water?

 

[Vic Vega]

As long as you have a healthy biofilter (cycled tank, not overstocked, etc.), the water conditioner you use with detoxify the ammonia long enough to be consumed by the beneficial bacteria....won't be an issue. I live in FL and it's .5 out of the tap all day long, but test a few hours after a water change and it's 0.0 cause the biofilter is removing the ammonia (which is technically chloramines).

 

[extremebunny]

I've had my tank be at 0 ammonia before, but now it's always at .25 or .5. is this because I have more fish than I did before?

 

[Vic Vega]

If you recently added more fish you're probably going through a mini cycle where the beneficial bacteria is growing to keep up with the increased levels of toxins from the new fish. Should only last a week or so.

Not to mention, if you're using the liquid API test kit it's virtually impossible to tell the difference between 0 and .25 for ammonia.

 

[Vic Vega]

Just keep an eye on it, do a ~40-50% pwc each day if you can (doubling up on the Prime), and should be back to normal soon