Rid of Ammonia

[Trynitey]

Yesterday I checked my water and it had sky rocketed from perfectly safe to almost toxic in a few days. I did a water change on Sunday all the water levels and everything were fine. I didnt add any fish in and was wondering why the ammonia/nitrite could have skyrocketed like it did and how do I go about getting rid of it before it kills my fish? I have put AmQuel+ in it temporarily and it is supposed to detoxify it but how do I get my levels back to safe?

 

[Blatchy]

Firstly you really need to tell us how big the tank is, how long it has been up and running with filter and the actual readings of the water tests. Based on the information given It sounds like your tank has not been cycled or since it was originally cycled you have added a significant load of fish to make the tank recycle and create the good bacteria which breaks down ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate.

What you have done so far is good in that you have done a water change. From now on I would recommend doing a water change once a day until the readings have dropped to 0. Probably 25% but I'm sure others will help you out here.

In adding the AmQuel+ you have detoxified the ammonia in that it wont harm your fish but you still should be aware that it is still in your tank. Another problem is in adding such chemicals you can also get false readings from now on.

Anyway continue with water changes once a day at 25% maybe a bit more and possibly look into adding some zeolite clay. I have never used clay and not sure how but apparently it will remove the ammonia.

 

[Trynitey]

The tank is a 20 gallon tank. I have had it for over a month and it has cycled. I have had the same 3 fish in it since I got the aquarium and havent added anything since.

I cant give you the exact readings right now b/c I dont have everything in front of me right now (im at work). So do a 20-25% water change everyday and that will make it go back down?

I know that the AmQuel only detoxifies it and wont get rid of it. After I put the stuff in, when will the readings be accurate again? Does anyone know where I can get this zeolite clay??

 

[tkos]

The readings will be all wrong with that Amquel stuff in. It turns toxic ammnia to less toxic ammonium. Cheaper test kits generally can't tell the difference. There are test kits that do but I can't remeber which. It is fine to use it for a few days but then stop using it and go with just water changes. This will give you an indication of what is really happening with your ammonia.

Perhaps someone over fed your fish. This could cause a huge spike if a lot of food was dumped into the tank. Also did you just change your filter media? A lot of people change it at the 1 month mark. But really you should never change it unless it falls apart. Most of the good bacteria lives int he media and you have to start a cycle all over with just a little bit of bacteria livingin the gravel and decorations. Just rinse out the old media and keep using it.

 

[astroguy]

You should use an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals ammonia test: attention, use the 130 tests kit, not the 75 tests kit, since the former is a salicylate-based reagent and the latter is a Nessler-based reagent. The Nessler tests are useless with Amquel, while salicylate-based tests are ok.

Did you test your tap water (I assume that is the origin of your water change)?
Could you give us the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH values? That helps understand the problem.