Ammonia levels high for many days

[cliffy1203]

Hello all,
My tank is six weeks old and my ammonia levels are high. They seem to be staying high no matter what.

Ammnonia 4.0
Nitrite 0.5
Ph less than 6.0

I've added Prime, Special Blend, Stability, Nutrafin Cycle, and Nite-out, none of which seem to make any difference. All of these products say they will detoxify the ammonia without affecting cycling, or that they will add the needed bacteria.

I have not been changing the water because the LFS keeps telling me that the water changes are for after your tank has cycled, not before. This seems contrary to what I read online, but the store has been in business for a long time and the fish all look very healthy there. He insists that he is right and that the water should stay unchanged for now.

Is this crazy, or does it make sense?

And why does my ph keep going down?

Thanks,


Bill

 

[cliffy1203]

I should add that the tank is a 46 gallon community tank with 4 swordtails, 1 platy, 2 dwarf gouramis, and four mollies. So I don't think it is overstocked.

 

[jlk]

Change your water ASAP. The only product you need to add is Prime- you are wasting your money on the other products & obviously they are doing nothing for your tank. Your ammonia levels are highly toxic & your nitrites are toxic as well. Water changes with temperature-matched, properly conditioned water will help to reduce the toxin levels. Please read the link below & ask any questions you may have.

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

 

[LyndaB]

I have not been changing the water because the LFS keeps telling me that the water changes are for after your tank has cycled, not before.

This is one of the worst pieces of advice and sadly it's given by the lfs often. Of course, their fish look great. They get new shipments in weekly.

Do a 50% water change, at least. Do another one tomorrow. Your tank is doomed right now.

 

[Fallout801]

To me it sounds like your tank is cycled having all types of bb to break down ammonia. Like everyone else said wAter change at the least 30 percent day to day until your levels drop considerably. I suggest once your ammonia drops to go to an every other day water change while still introducing ammo via rotting food or fish waste to the tank. In my opinion this this way you don't have too much ammonia to hinder your bb growth but will know when you have an adequate amount of bacteria to keep your ammonia to zero

 

[jlk]

To me it sounds like your tank is cycled having all types of bb to break down ammonia.

This tank is NOT cycled with a reading of 4ppm ammonia & .50ppm nitrite!!

 

[akitagirl]

Wow, I can't believe you haven't changed the water considering it is cycling WITH fish. I have a very reputable LFS that I adore but the man told me not to change water as well (when I was cycling my 55 back in dec) as it could slow the process, but seeing as you have fish, you need to do daily water changes, at least every other day, along with daily doses of PRIME (every 24 hrs) to help detoxify ammonia. As far as the PH, I have a similar issue with my PH dropping in my tank although I have no drift wood or PH altering substances in my tank. Turns out I have very very soft tap water and I needed to buffer it. My LFS guy said some sea shells or crushed coral would do the trick. I added some cleaned sea shells that come in tiny bags from petsmart ($1), rinsed them and put them in my 55gal. The PH stablized at 7.4 (my tap is 7.5). I have read that sometimes beneficial bacteria struggles to stabilize with a very low PH. In your situation, test your tap's PH, if it varies greatly to the tank I'd start doing 10% water changes once a day, then gradually up the percentage so you dont shock your fish with PH changes. I cycled in exactly 12 days because my LFS guy (awesome shop) just gave me a 2 year old well established sponge filter along with some "dirty sh*t water" he called it from his undergravel filters LOL. It helped tremendously. If you can get some established media, parasite free from a reputable LFS or friend, it will probably save the lives of your fish. Hope that helped.

P.S. I am in no way an expert but just recently went through cycling my 55 gal and read up on fish stuff like every single day lol

 

[Fallout801]

You dont know that until you start doing water changes. Do your pwc and keep checking your levels. 6 weeks is enough time to establish bacteria

 

[HeatherW]

Fallout- pretty sure he has fish in there so I wouldn't recommend the dead shrimp...

You need to change your water as often as needed. That means test your water and do 50% pwcs untill your ammonia and nitrites are in the safe zone (.25 or lower) you will need to do several to get that 4ppm down. Try doing several sets of back to back 50% pwcs

 

[jlk]

You dont know that until you start doing water changes. Do your pwc and keep checking your levels. 6 weeks is enough time to establish bacteria

If this tank was cycled, there would zero ammonia & nitrite. Its not cycled. Fish-in cycling can take 6-8 wks and sometimes much longer. Water changes will address the toxic levels of ammonia & nitrite in the meantime until the tank is fully cycled.

 

[Fallout801]

Like I said. You have a cycle. It doesn't mean it's mature. I also said keep up the feeding so you have fish waste and food waste keeping a trace amount of ammo in the water so that when it zeros you know you have adequate bacteria to detox your tank. Changing too much water will halt the progress of your colony of bb. When you add 5 more fish and your levels spike does it mean you're not cycled? No. It means you don't have enough bacteria to keep your levels in check

 

[jlk]

Changing the water does not affect a cycle & will keep fish healthy during the process. The majority of the bacteria live on the surfaces of an aquarium- the filters, the substrate, decor & even the walls. They excrete a sticky glue-like substance that allows them to colonize & grow on the surfaces of everything- the amount of bb that exist in one's water column is minimal. Water changes will not 'halt' the progress of bacterial growth unless one is intentionally scrubbing the bb off or the water is not properly conditioned thus allowing chlorine/chloramine to disinfect the tank & kill off the bacteria.

 

[Fallout801]

Bacteria needs to feed. Riding your water column of all ammonia and nitrites ( food for bacteria ) every day will prolong a healthy establishment

 

[jlk]

Fish continously produce ammonia. Unless you are doing 100% wcs every hour all day long, there will be sufficient ammonia to cycle a tank without putting fish under the duress of highly toxic water conditions. The bacteria can actually last a week (and probably longer) without any ammonia. Ive let my qt (which i keep cycled with doses of ammonia) go for days without adding any ammonia & have never had an issue keeping it fully cycled. There is no common sense in harming fish in order to cycle a tank when it can be prevented with water changes to keep toxins under control.

 

[librarygirl]

I agree with the majority, a few 50% water changes are needed ASAP. Use a dechlorinator (Prime is best but whatever you have on-hand will work) and try to match the temp of the water with the tank water (feel both with your hand). Have you not done a water change in 6 weeks? Fish and bacteria also use up minerals in the water that need to be replenished so that's why it seems like things are stalling. Read the link above, it'll guide you.