I’m new to aquariums and trying to do everything right but theres a lot of info out there so if I’ve done something blatantly wrong please forgive me, it was unintentional.
I got a new tank about 5 weeks or so ago. It’s ammonia levels are crazy high. Like 4 ppm. I let it keep cycling hoping to lower the levels. After they wouldn’t go down I have been doing 65-70% water changes once a week for two weeks. I have also added a lot of bacteria to help eat the ammonia as well as been adding ammonia neutralizer.
The water changes seemed to be helping and I had gotten it down to 0.25-0.5 ppm but I tested it again just now and we’re back to 4ppm. It’s 20 gallons and I only have a single tetra in there (the other few died before I realized how high the ammonia levels were) so obviously there aren’t too many fish nor is the tank dirty.
I’ve been very careful not to overfeed because of the ammonia levels so it’s not that. I tested the tap water and it’s reading at 0.25-0.5 ppm. Which is higher than I’d like but I don’t see how that’d get it to 4ppm.
My bf read that we could try aeration and get an aeration pump. I’m at wits end here. I just want my last tetra (now named Rambo due to his amazing resilience) to be happy. I’d like his water to be healthy and to get him friends soon. Everything else is testing fine except for general hardness which is reading at 180. Could that be it? Any advice would be helpful.
I’ve only had a few solitary betta fish before this so this is my first foray into have a larger, multi fish tank and I’m feeling a bit lost here. Thanks!
I got a new tank about 5 weeks or so ago. It’s ammonia levels are crazy high. Like 4 ppm. I let it keep cycling hoping to lower the levels. After they wouldn’t go down I have been doing 65-70% water changes once a week for two weeks. I have also added a lot of bacteria to help eat the ammonia as well as been adding ammonia neutralizer.
The water changes seemed to be helping and I had gotten it down to 0.25-0.5 ppm but I tested it again just now and we’re back to 4ppm. It’s 20 gallons and I only have a single tetra in there (the other few died before I realized how high the ammonia levels were) so obviously there aren’t too many fish nor is the tank dirty.
I’ve been very careful not to overfeed because of the ammonia levels so it’s not that. I tested the tap water and it’s reading at 0.25-0.5 ppm. Which is higher than I’d like but I don’t see how that’d get it to 4ppm.
My bf read that we could try aeration and get an aeration pump. I’m at wits end here. I just want my last tetra (now named Rambo due to his amazing resilience) to be happy. I’d like his water to be healthy and to get him friends soon. Everything else is testing fine except for general hardness which is reading at 180. Could that be it? Any advice would be helpful.
I’ve only had a few solitary betta fish before this so this is my first foray into have a larger, multi fish tank and I’m feeling a bit lost here. Thanks!
