constantly high ammonia

[extremebunny]

I have a 10g tank that is stocked pretty much at 100% on aqadvisor and I can't get a good ammonia reading. I change the water about 30% once a week, and I always vacuum the gravel in the whole tank. My ammonia last time was .25 now it is a little higher even though it is right after a water change. how can I fix this without constantly changing the water and stressing the fish?

 

[Fresh2o]

1. Increase the WC % from 30-50.
2. Feed less. Less nutrients going into the tank, less waste from the fish.
3. Reduce your stocking

 

[extremebunny]

I can only keep 4 gallons of water in my room at a time so as high as I can go is 40%. I'm not getting rid of my fish, I don't have anywhere to put them and I don't want to bring them back to a store when they are (mostly) healthy.

 

[Fresh2o]

Then feed less. Or do WCs 2x a week.

 

[extremebunny]

I will. I just did another one right now. I think my fish are dying from it and I feel absolutely horrible. They are either twitching or super lethargic. My black tetras have lost all their color and now are completely white. Please help me! It wasn't like this earlier today!

 

[flchamp89]

Put prime in. Do wc put more prime in.

 

[extremebunny]

water conditioner? (I have a different brand). I already did 2 water changes today and their water is pretty cold because of it. They are a little better after the 2nd one, less twitching. I may have to wait a bit I don't want to shock them with the cold.

 

[flchamp89]

Why can't you get temp up when doing water changes

 

[extremebunny]

I usually use cold water because the hot water pipes in my house can sometimes have rust in them. I did do a little bit of warm water last time and I may do it again.

 

[extremebunny]

Someone suggested that I check my tap water, and it seems like the reading is between .25 and .5, but I've tested my tank water before and it's been 0. So either the test is off, there's suddenly more ammonia in the water, or the good bacteria was killing it all off to get it to 0.

 

[flchamp89]

If your on city water its possible to get ammonia at different times. Test error certainly happens. If I get a test result I dont like ill test again to make sure its right. Chloramines can also give false positives.

 

[dman0617]

How long your tank been running

 

[extremebunny]

tank has been running and cycled since December 10, I retested the ammonia levels in the tap and it's still high.

 

[OsciTheOscar]

I believe its not the best idea in most cases not to do WCs more than once in 1 day. You'd be robbing the tank of its cycle and it would have trouble keeping up. You definitely dont want to use straight cold water as that would unsafely drop the water temp too fast!

 

[dman0617]

I agree with Osci

 

[dman0617]

What brand tester are you using??

 

[OsciTheOscar]

In trying to save your fish, you are accidently making their life crazy...
Relax a bit, do water changes 2x a WEEK... DONT use COLD water. Always try to match the water temp going in with the water temp in the tank. Always put your water conditioner in after you refill the tank and perhaps some aquarium salt to help with healing and gill function.

After a while, you're cycle will catch up and your fish will be much happier.

 

[nirbhao]

Always put your water conditioner in after you refill the tank ...

What? No. Why would you do that? Either add conditioner to the water you will be using or add the amount of conditioner for the whole tank to the tank before refilling.

I can only keep 4 gallons of water in my room at a time ...

How long do you keep your water? If you have a five gallon bucket you could fill it, treat it, and then bring it to your room all nice and warm.

 

[extremebunny]

I have 4 1 gallon jugs from the supermarket, I don't have anything larger. If I did get something larger, I would have to go even farther to get the water. The fish are in the attic, and a 1 gallon jug is the largest thing I can fill in the 2nd floor bathroom sink. I would have to go down to the kitchen or the basement to fill anything larger. I can't have warm water because I often fill the containers before I actually do a water change, and my room is between 63 and 68 degrees. I can't get hot water from the tap because the pipes are rusted and I don't want to get that in the water. I could heat water in the microwave, but I can only do small amounts and again, that is 2 floors down from where the fish are. Usually what I do is use cold water from the sink but I only change about 2 or 3 gallons per week and when I pour new water in I make sure I don't just pour it in one spot.

 

[extremebunny]

I use the AP liquid kit for testing and I only do multiple water changes in one day if something is very off and I wait between water changes for the temp to go back up (usually a few hours). The fish are looking better today, but I haven't tested yet or done a water change.