Ammonia level killing my fish?

[Calvin and Kyle]

Hey everybody!! I'm new to this community! And kinda new to fish! So excuse me if you can!

I set up a new tank, let it sit for about 4 days running. Introduced 3 fish for about 2 days and feed them to introduce waste and ammonia. Pulled the fish. Waited about a week and a half during which there appeared to be a bacteria bloom, tank got cloudy for a couple of days and cleared up. I tested the water it read:
Ph: 7.5
Nitrites and nitrates: 0
The hardness was fine I can't remember what it read at that time.
And ammonia was at .5.

My only fish store in the area is Petco, I talked to them and said it would be okay to add some fish at this point.
I added some Anubis and I'm pretty confident I added way too many fish!!
4 tiger barbs, 4 green tiger barbs, 1 upside catfish. All in the juvenile stage except two tigers.

All in a 29 gal tank. They were fine and happy for a couple days, during which I only fed them once and it was half a blood worm cube. They ate the majority and I pulled the left over food out.

Since then, they have all died except one fish. I've been doing partial water changes every other day, and the ammonia just sits at .5 I worry for the last fish. I don't want him to die but the ammonia won't seem to drop. But supposedly it's not even a lethal amount? Help? I'm pretty new to this!

 

[Zagz]

What kind of tests are you using, liquid or strips? Strips are notoriously inaccurate. You need to do daily water changes of 50% at least and add dechlorinator. Add a couple more plants as well. Also an air bubbler might help.

What temp is the water at?

 

[Florio]

You are extremely close to toxic ammonia levels with a ph if 7.5 and ammonia level of .5

Do an immediate 50% water change do a double dose of nutrafin cycle if you have some.


Edit: sorry I'm wrong I read my ammonia chart wrong. Your fine for now. Keep posting the levels and ill keep checking up. But you should use some cycle to help speed up bacteria growth.

 

[Florio]

What kind of tests are you using, liquid or strips? Strips are notoriously inaccurate. You need to do daily water changes of 50% at least and add dechlorinator. Add a couple more plants as well. Also an air bubbler might help.

What temp is the water at?

I could not disagree more, you should only water change if you are in the critical or danger range or else you are just slowing down the process.

 

[Zagz]

Better to slow the process IMO than to have the last fish die. The fastest cycle is a fishless cycle, but when there are fish involved it is more humane to go slow.

 

[Hholly]

Using Prime to dechlorinate is a good idea as it detoxifies ammonia and nitrite. You should dose for the whole volume of the tank. Have a look at these articles. They will help you.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/fishin-cycling-step-dark-side/

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium/

If your last fish dies, try a fishless cycle. It's much easier. There is a link to detailed instructions for that inthe Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium.
Good luck!

 

[Florio]

Better to slow the process IMO than to have the last fish die. The fastest cycle is a fishless cycle, but when there are fish involved it is more humane to go slow.

Well it depends on the fish, if its not a hardy fish it's going to die either way other wise unless his ph reading is inaccurate the ammonia levels are not toxic and the fish will be fine.

Once it's nearing critical that's when you should do a large 50% water change.

Using this method I got 1 angel 2 algae eaters and 6 neon tetras through cycle no problem. And those aren't even very hardy fish. No deaths.

 

[Zagz]

It does not hurt the fish to do water changes. If it is a barb that is left, they are hardy fish and it stands a good chance. I too use prime in all my tanks. Good luck with the last fish, your cycle is not going to be speedy with a 29g and one fish anyway.

Check out the articles Hholly recommended.

 

[Florio]

It does not hurt the fish to do water changes. If it is a barb that is left, they are hardy fish and it stands a good chance. I too use prime in all my tanks. Good luck with the last fish, your cycle is not going to be speedy with a 29g and one fish anyway.

Check out the articles Hholly recommended.

Well it's pretty controversial if its not toxic it's not going to be any better with a tiny bit less ammonia. If its sitting in ammonia it's sitting in ammonia. It's better to get it through faster at a none toxic level than have it sitting in ammonia for a prolonged amount of time. The longer it sits in there the more poisoned he is going to get and less chance of living.

 

[Zagz]

Florio, I am not going to start a debate with you. That does not help the op at all. I am quite sure that he can decide what he wants to do with his tank. Hholly provided links to articles that will help with his decision. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

The ops concerns were that he added too many fish based on advice from the only fish store near him. As a newbie, that is a common mistake many people make. Putting too much stock in what fish stores recommend. Kudos to the fact that he is trying to make the final fish's life easier and reverse the damage done.

 

[Florio]

Florio, I am not going to start a debate with you. That does not help the op at all. I am quite sure that he can decide what he wants to do with his tank. Hholly provided links to articles that will help with his decision. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

The ops concerns were that he added too many fish based on advice from the only fish store near him. As a newbie, that is a common mistake many people make. Putting too much stock in what fish stores recommend. Kudos to the fact that he is trying to make the final fish's life easier and reverse the damage done.

I don't really want to debate with you either but I did work at a fish store for a long time and we never lost a fish to cycling as long as we kept an eye on the ph-ammonia ratio, that's all I'm going to say. The op can do what he/she wants now.

 

[Wiggles24]

Idk what on earth they are talking about. .5 for ammonia is too high you need to do a minimum of a 50% water change to get if down. You need to be testing daily to make sure it doesn't go above .25. Doing pwc shouldn't do too much damage to your cycle, you need to keep your poor fishy safe!

 

[Florio]

Idk what on earth they are talking about. .5 for ammonia is too high you need to do a minimum of a 50% water change to get if down. You need to be testing daily to make sure it doesn't go above .25. Doing pwc shouldn't do too much damage to your cycle, you need to keep your poor fishy safe!

I'm just assuming he is measuring in mg's

I'm not sure about ppm.

At a ph of 7.5 at long as the ammonia is not passed 4.9 it's not toxic.

 

[Zagz]

Most of the members here measure in ppm.

 

[Florio]

Okay we'll I'm taking this right out of the nutrafin ammonia test manual. It says to only do water changes if your nearing toxic levels. So if you disagree with nutrafin I don't really care.

I won't be posting again.

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Okay so I read the comments! Thanks for replying so quickly! And soo much at that! Didn't expect it! So they are test strips! And it was highly recommended by my Petco "the best ones we've got!" Idk if that was the truth or not, but I trust the guy who told me. (For the most part) and I believe they are ppm. So here's the kicker!

I tested my tap water.. It's at .5 ammonia which even if I dechlorinate(which I did), it'll still have that? So will continuing my water changes help? I did a 10 gallon change about a week ago, an 8 gallon change 4 days ago, and a 6 gallon change 2 days ago. The other thing is the last fish is a tiger barb. Based on everyone else and their lifespan he might be dead by morning. If he does indeed pass away. Which I hope he doesn't. What are the recommended actions??

Also I'll be on vacation in Florida from Thursday night till Sunday. Just extra info in reference to any suggestions.

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Oh!! And it's a heated tank set at 78, gravel substrate, with a 30/55 gal filter.

 

[Florio]

You have to find an alternate water source. I don't think there is any treater that is really going to help out.

Personally I go to safe way and pay like 2.50 for like 30 gallons

 

[Calvin and Kyle]

Okay so you think if I do some partial water change with some bought water. So like distilled water? Or spring would be a better cycling water? Also I was wondering how long the filter may take to be able to handle the ammonia on its own?

 

[Florio]

Uhm usualy it's like a month to spike and go down, but like I was saying before if you do frequent water changes your really prolonging the spike.

If you do water changes before its critical:

Will it help your fish?

Shorterm yes.

Long term no.

What people don't usually get into is ammonia toxicity.

If you have an ammonia test it will usually tell you about it in the little book it comes with.

Don't quote me on this because I probably am going to have some chemical names and property's wrong but you will get the idea

At your ph (7.5) the ammonia in the water is nh3 until it gets to 4.9 mg of ammonia then it begins to turn into nh4 which is ammonium (the very toxic stuff)

This is the stuff that will insta kill your fish the nh3 which is currently present in your tank will be fine depending on how hardy your fish is.

The best thing to do is just let then stay in the less lethal ammonia for shorter than trying to get them out with water changes that don't help too much.

I did this with neons and and angel ( some of the least hardy fish there are ) with no casualties.

So when you are starting to get closer to 4.7 I would do some water changes.

Things that will help:

Nutrafin cycle- this is almost a necessity
Air bubbler- highly recommended to help your fish breath as ammonia primarily attacks the gills.



Other people argue otherwise but this is how we did it in the fish store, and nutrafin tells to do it this way ( I assume they have some pretty hard science to back it up )

I've never lost a fish to cycling.