Hi all! I'm new here and looking for some good advice on my freshwater community tank. My problem is a high level of ammonia that I can't seem to get down.
My tank layout is: 10 gallon tank equipped with a Tetra filter, Tetra underwater heater, air stone, and thermometer. Substrate is sand with a few pebbles scattered around. I have three medium sized plastic plants, a hollow boat with places to hide, a small cave, a small hollow castle (also with hidey holes), and a small treasure chest.
Tank Population: 3 Buenos Aires Tetra, 2 Pristella Tetra, and 3 Corydoras Catfish.
Feeding: I give the corys 2 sinking wafers per day (the Buenos Tetra seem to like these too), a couple pinches of TetraMinplus Tropical Flakes 2 times a day every other day (e.g. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, etc.), and frozen brine/mysis shrimp 1 time a day every other day (e.g. Monday/Wednesday/Friday evenings. I also give them some chopped up frozen peas on Sundays.
I cycled the tank using a cycling and water conditioning kit when I first started setting up the aquarium so as far as I know it is cycled.
Using a test strip the results read: Nitrate-20, Nitrite-0.5, pH-7.5, Alkalinity-around 80-120, and Hardness-around 60-120.
The ammonia level is a deep green reading at a high 4.0-8.0 ppm ammonia level.
I have tried everything I can think of to fix this problem such as: less food, cleaning the tank of any waste or uneaten food, every other day 25% water changes with 2 teaspoons of AmmoniaSafe and a few drops of AquaSafeplus (I have even tried a 50% water change). According to the instructions I wait a full 24 hours before checking the ammonia levels with my ammonia test solutions. I have even bought a brand new ammonia test kit with the same results (I wondered if my other kit was too old and maybe giving false positives). I have tried these methods for over a month. Despite my concerns my fish appear healthy and show no signs of Ammonia toxicity symptoms, but I know it's only a matter of time. I'm starting to wonder if my tank is overstocked as that is the only other explanation I can think of.
If anyone knows ANYTHING about this kind of problem and how to fix it please post it! I am very concerned for my fish and would love some advice. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/images/smilies/Thanx.gif
My tank layout is: 10 gallon tank equipped with a Tetra filter, Tetra underwater heater, air stone, and thermometer. Substrate is sand with a few pebbles scattered around. I have three medium sized plastic plants, a hollow boat with places to hide, a small cave, a small hollow castle (also with hidey holes), and a small treasure chest.
Tank Population: 3 Buenos Aires Tetra, 2 Pristella Tetra, and 3 Corydoras Catfish.
Feeding: I give the corys 2 sinking wafers per day (the Buenos Tetra seem to like these too), a couple pinches of TetraMinplus Tropical Flakes 2 times a day every other day (e.g. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, etc.), and frozen brine/mysis shrimp 1 time a day every other day (e.g. Monday/Wednesday/Friday evenings. I also give them some chopped up frozen peas on Sundays.
I cycled the tank using a cycling and water conditioning kit when I first started setting up the aquarium so as far as I know it is cycled.
Using a test strip the results read: Nitrate-20, Nitrite-0.5, pH-7.5, Alkalinity-around 80-120, and Hardness-around 60-120.
The ammonia level is a deep green reading at a high 4.0-8.0 ppm ammonia level.
I have tried everything I can think of to fix this problem such as: less food, cleaning the tank of any waste or uneaten food, every other day 25% water changes with 2 teaspoons of AmmoniaSafe and a few drops of AquaSafeplus (I have even tried a 50% water change). According to the instructions I wait a full 24 hours before checking the ammonia levels with my ammonia test solutions. I have even bought a brand new ammonia test kit with the same results (I wondered if my other kit was too old and maybe giving false positives). I have tried these methods for over a month. Despite my concerns my fish appear healthy and show no signs of Ammonia toxicity symptoms, but I know it's only a matter of time. I'm starting to wonder if my tank is overstocked as that is the only other explanation I can think of.
If anyone knows ANYTHING about this kind of problem and how to fix it please post it! I am very concerned for my fish and would love some advice. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/images/smilies/Thanx.gif