established tank w/ very high ammonia

[bugabugabuga]

I'm a newbie freshwater tank owner. I inherited an established tank from a friend. They didn't care for the tank properly and therefore didn't teach me proper tank maintenance. I made the mistake of partial water change and filter cartridge change at the same time, also I ran tap water into the filter pump. This was 2 1/2 weeks ago. Now I know all of this was a big no-no but too late. My fish are still alive(?!) Ammonia=8 nitrate=20 ph=6.6 nitrite=2. Ammonia may be higher but 8 is the highest # on the test card. I've done partial water change w/ bottled water everyday for the 1st week,(no change in ammo level), added ammo-block, added stress coat and stress zyme.Tank=20 gallons. There is 1-1 1/2 in. of gravel, a penguin bio-wheel pump/filter thing, I also added a water heater at the time of the initial water change. I also added at the same time some fake water plants (1 large, 3 small), 1 small drift wood, 1 large grotto style decor. I have 3 angel fish(about 3 in. long ea), 5 gourami's and 2 tetras. What do I do to lower the levels? And how do I use the ammo-carb filter stuff? Do I put it straight into the pump or what? Will it help?

[nyghtone]

Heya man, this is a pretty common mistake, so don't sweat it. First off, adding that much chlorine to the tank probably killed a good portion of your bacteria culture, which is a no no. Your nitrates aren't off the scale yet, so what you need to do is quite doing water changed and let it run it's cycle and regrow the bacteria. In an already established tank this shouldn't take long, and if you have another place to shove the angels in the meantime this wouldn't hurt as they tend to be somewhat fragile IME.

You need to continue to check your water params daily until it "re-cycles," then you need to get a good water conditioner and do weekly 25 - 50% water changed until you get the nitrates back down to a good level, ie. 0, haha.

Also your setup might be a little whack, which from the sound of it it just may be. What all do you have in your setup?? what kind of filters, how much gravel, types of decor, plants, ugf, tell us everything so that the smart peeps in here can help you out further, you might need to change something else as well.

Most of all, have patience, that's what it takes, and do some reading on water conditioning in the meantime, you have entered the hobby of water chemistry!!!

Good luck..

[bugabugabuga]

Thank you. I am freaking out here-call me the Fish Abuser! I added all the info you suggested. Thanks again.

[nyghtone]

Cool, the bio-wheel is a great product, my 20 gallon has this same filter, with only 1/4" of gravel, and it stays crystal clear with weekly 20% water changes. I would say the less gravel the better unless you are growing live plants, which is a totally different ball park, but DON"T take any gravel out until it's totally cycled, and if/when you decide to remove some do it little by little.

The only other suggestion that I have is to be sure that your biowheel is working properly, it should spin freely, but not smoothly. Mine acts like it hits bumps in the roads, speeds up, slows down, but NEVER stops. It should have blue end caps on the biowheel that snap it into place, if those are gone they ship an extra set under the cap of the filter, take them off, slide them on the end of the biowheel itself, and then it will snap into place. Make sure they are there, without them you might as well not have a biowheel!!!

If they are missing they only cost 50 cents to btw, so check them right away. I had that problem when I first got a biowheel. Other than that, just be patient, haha. Thanks for the quick response, it's getting late!!!