Ammonia!! help

[Ruth]

Thanks for the advice you gave me yesterday!
last night I did around 30% water change (made sure the water temp was same) and the fish has been swimming round bit better this am, just done another ammonia test and is 8ppm (after been left for few mins)
so I guess I still do water changes every day is this right?

 

[smallfry53]

Are you doing a fish-in cycle? If you do have fish you really need to get that ammonia level down. What are you testing the ammonia with?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

If your ammonia is 8 ppm your going to have to do multiple water changes to bring it down to .25ppm or less. Changes will be needed everyday, sometimes twice.

 

[Ruth]

I always test with api test kit... how long do you normally have to leave it for the best reading?

 

[smallfry53]

I'm thinking you probably need to do more than 30% water changes also. If you are at 8ppm and you do one 30% water change you are probably still around 5.5ppm. Maybe multiple 40-50%+ water changes to get it down to a reasonable level, but maybe Mumma can comment on that.

 

[smallfry53]

5 min.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Back to back 50% water changes are fine as long as the water is roughly the same temp and it's from the same source each time.

 

[Ruth]

at the moment I'm doing daily water changes..... I'm bit dubious about doing twice daily changes due to fish picking up more diseases ( someone said to me that frequent water changes can damage the bacteria) ..... so fed up now ammonia still high at least the fish is not laying at the bottom so much.

this is how I do my water change!
I use medium syphon for gravel clean (when you say water change does this mean just the water?)
rinse out filter pads in old tank water
fill bucket with warm and cold water to get same water temperature, measure out 5ml of stress zyme and stress coat.
pour into tank slowly
switch filter back on
Am I doing everything right? please help!!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Clean water does not cause fish disease. In fact it does the exact opposite. Lots of clean fresh water keeps fish healthy helping them fight off any disease that may be present.

Doing a water change involves vacuuming the gravel as needed. Doesn't need to be done every single time IMO. Your routine sounds fine.

 

[Ruth]

I am getting v frustrated with this tank!

been doing clean out now every day, still no improvement with ammonia! different people are giving me different advice.
I phoned Hagen today with problems with filter they told me that I should not be doing water changes this often(makes ammonia worse), their advice was to not feed fish till Monday do no more changes!

I don't know what to do anymore! fish is very lethargic on bottom! PLEASE SOMEONE!!!!! I've done all I can ... how can I get it right if I'm getting so much different advice

 

[Sake]

I am getting v frustrated with this tank!

been doing clean out now every day, still no improvement with ammonia! different people are giving me different advice.
I phoned Hagen today with problems with filter they told me that I should not be doing water changes this often(makes ammonia worse), their advice was to not feed fish till Monday do no more changes!

I don't know what to do anymore! fish is very lethargic on bottom! PLEASE SOMEONE!!!!! I've done all I can ... how can I get it right if I'm getting so much different advice

How would a water change make your ammonia worse? The person you talked to is dead wrong unless your tap water has that high of ammonia, which I doubt considering it would be harmful to people. You are getting ammonia from your fish wastes and such, doing water changes will lower it, if you don't believe this test the water before you do a water change, then do a 50% water change and test it again and you'll see it has gone down. You need to get it to .25 or less as soon as possible to prevent harming your fish. I know you're confused, but the people here know what they are talking about.

If you're doing back to back water changes, and your ammonia isn't dropping, take a water sample to your local fish store and have them test it, your test kit may be off for some reason.

 

[My Fish Babies.]

Hi Ruth,
Take a deep breath ok take another one..........I understand how frustrated you are. I speak from personal experience that multiple water changes even 2 times a day will only improve your fishes health. Not more than a month ago I battled a case of fin rot on one of my goldies. I changed 75% of the water every day for almost two weeks. Your beneficial bacteria will not be affected. It lives in your filter, substrate, and walls of your tank. Fresh clean water will only aid in improving your fishes health. Make sure you are matching wather temps by hand is fine and properly condition your water ie using prime. I am one who worries as well so I understand how confused you are getting. Listed to what Mumma tells you to do she is a very experienced fish keeper and will not steer you wrong. Have you tested your tap water to see how much ammonia it has? I know mine is at 0.25ppm. All my best to you and continued good luck.

 

[Ruth]

thanks for the positive comments!

The ammonia has been like this for a while now, the LPS suggested that we do a tap test. The tap water showed ammonia of .25 so we contacted the water board who came out and did a few tests but they could not find anything worrying.

It just seems not to be going down, this am the ammonia was around 5ppm.

Should I be rinsing the ornaments in the old tank water, as I have not done this for a while? I got myself some prime(how much would I need to put in a 35l tank) why are the instructions always for US measurements?

I feel so guilty that I'm letting the fish suffer! I actually cried earlier as I don't know what to do anymore, wish there was someone I could call to come and sort it out.

 

[Sake]

thanks for the positive comments!

The ammonia has been like this for a while now, the LPS suggested that we do a tap test. The tap water showed ammonia of .25 so we contacted the water board who came out and did a few tests but they could not find anything worrying.

It just seems not to be going down, this am the ammonia was around 5ppm.

Should I be rinsing the ornaments in the old tank water, as I have not done this for a while? I got myself some prime(how much would I need to put in a 35l tank) why are the instructions always for US measurements?

I feel so guilty that I'm letting the fish suffer! I actually cried earlier as I don't know what to do anymore, wish there was someone I could call to come and sort it out.

I would do another few water changes to get it down to .25 ppm or less. Lets see here if your ammonia is at 5 ppm and you do 1 50% water change, that will bring you down to 2.5 ppm, so you'd need a few more water changes to get it down to .25 ppm.

As far as how much prime to use, 35l = 10 us gallons roughly? that would be 1 ml of prime. No reason to feel guilty you are doing your best with conflicting advice, can't say I blame ya for being confused. It all can be a little overwhelming when you begin but in no time you'll be an old pro at keeping fish!

Rinsing tank ornaments you should rinse them in old tank water, they will have a small amount of bacteria on there that you want so the chemicals in tap will kill them. How long has this tank been set up? I rarely wash anything out in my tank. I may wash the skull cave i have once every 3 or 4 months when it gets a lot of snail poo on it but that's it. The rocks and everything else I just let the snails/shirmp pick everything off of it.

It's 10:15 am here and I haven't slept all night so if I don't make sense cut me some slack lol. Hope everything goes well for ya!

 

[jlk]

Hi Ruth! As everyone has suggested, water changes are your answer for the time being. Your going to have to do multiple water changes daily to get your ammonia down to your tap level & keep it there. Keep in mind, this is only a band-aid solution for right now to your ammonia issue. The primary problem is that your tank is quite overstocked- a shubunkin realistically does not belong in a 10g tank. They are pond fish that can grow well over 12inches & carry a huge bioload (produce tons of waste). If you want to keep him, you will need to start looking into a bigger tank for him as soon as possible- a 50g tank (with no other fish) is the minimum to consider. Or rehome him to a happy pond & consider stocking your tank with fish appropriate for this sized tank. The best thing for now is multiple water changes to keep your ammonia at .25 until you can figure out your tank situation. Dont be afraid of water changes- they will keep your fish healthy in the interim! Please ask if you have any questions!

 

[Sake]

How'd you know she had shubunkin in the tank, I didn't see a stock list >.<

 

[jlk]

How'd you know she had shubunkin in the tank, I didn't see a stock list >.<

Ruth asked for help on another Op's cycling thread. I offered the same advice of lots of water changes to lower her ammonia levels and suggested she post a new thread for further help.

 

[Ruth]

thx v much will definitely take on board and do daily water changes, I am v grateful for all your comments x x will let you know in few days x x

 

[Ruth]

fish not looking good today laying at bottom... not eating I feel so guilty that I can't help it
did water change today,added prime
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
ph 7.6
ammonia 5

Wonder if it may be the filter... I have Marina slim s15 it's flowing on max and I rinsed the filters in old tank water this am but still ammonia is there!

 

[Ruth]

if the fish does not recover I'm going to start over... what fish would you suggest or 35l tank?