Hi.
I have an ammonia problem that is driving me crazy. I have a fluval edge, with 3 guppies and 4 platys (my LFS said that these would all be fine in the tank, despite my concerns that it would be overstocked. I figured that as they love fish, they wouldn't sell me something that would ultimately harm the fish). Anyway, my ammonia levels have recently been off the scale (dark green on the API master kit). The fish don't seem to mind this for some reason, and are very active, and have no loss of appetite. Obviously I know this isn't ideal, so I do large changes to bring the ammonia levels down (I have 0 nitrite and nitrate, only ammonia). I feed the fish every other day, so I'm not overfeeding them. No matter what I do, the levels refuse to budge. I have even added a live plant in an attempt to get the level down. Nothing. If I do big changes every day, do I need to add stess coat / zyme to it every day also? Is bottled water preferable as my tap water is just about fit for human consumption and catastrophic for fish? Also, whenever I do a change, the fish all huddle under the hood at the top.... a few days later and they are all swimming about looking like they don't have a care in the world....
I have an ammonia problem that is driving me crazy. I have a fluval edge, with 3 guppies and 4 platys (my LFS said that these would all be fine in the tank, despite my concerns that it would be overstocked. I figured that as they love fish, they wouldn't sell me something that would ultimately harm the fish). Anyway, my ammonia levels have recently been off the scale (dark green on the API master kit). The fish don't seem to mind this for some reason, and are very active, and have no loss of appetite. Obviously I know this isn't ideal, so I do large changes to bring the ammonia levels down (I have 0 nitrite and nitrate, only ammonia). I feed the fish every other day, so I'm not overfeeding them. No matter what I do, the levels refuse to budge. I have even added a live plant in an attempt to get the level down. Nothing. If I do big changes every day, do I need to add stess coat / zyme to it every day also? Is bottled water preferable as my tap water is just about fit for human consumption and catastrophic for fish? Also, whenever I do a change, the fish all huddle under the hood at the top.... a few days later and they are all swimming about looking like they don't have a care in the world....