zizziz

Ok, so i have a 26 g tank with fish, and now I have ammonia. what would be a great procedure to fix this?

thanks

sirdarksol

Daily water changes (25% or more) until the tank cycles, at which point you will have no more ammonia.

Alessa

Ammonia will become nitrites and nitrites to nitrates. Both ammonia and nitrite are lethal to fish. As sir already posted above the one thing you can do is 50% daily water changes until your water shows no more ammonia/nitrite. You can also ust as a conditioner a product called Prime which alleviates nitrite and ammonia toxicity for 24 hours.

zizziz

i use prime to dechl the water before a wc. im not sure what you mean by prime can alleviate tox for 24 hours, it sounds like you mean dump some in the fish tank?

50% wc everyday then!

Alessa

not necessarely.. if you are using it to dechlorinate the water then, overdose it a little (a couple drops more that you would usually use) and then add the new, dechlorinated water to the tank. Also, what test kit are you using? because until ammonia and nitrite both rise and fall to 0, and you see some nitrates, you will have to keep testing and doing the daily 50% water changes.

although, there is another choice. if you can get your hands around a product called "Tetra Safe Start" you will not have to do daily water changes anymore and your tank will cycle in a 1-week period. You add it, dont test or do water changes for a week and if everything goes well your tank will be cycled.

Whichever metod you decide to try, keep me posted

zizziz

im using the ATI test kit that everyone seems to like. I can check for that tetra safe start, i will be going to the LFS today.

ill keep it you to date!

thanks

Alessa

I have heard that walmart carries it. Also some LFS

however, if you decide to use Tetra Safe Start you cannot use the Prime Water Conditioner though (a lot of stories about it not being compatible). If you happen to find the Tetra SS, get some Aqua+ by hagen or something that does not mess with ammonia.

Good Luck!

UNTAMED

I Know It May Sound Like A Stupid Thing To Say But When Doing Your Water Changes Make Sure The New Water Is The Same Temp And That You Add The Water Conditioner To The Water Being Added Stir And Give It Some Time To Do Its Job Before Adding To Tank, Also Add Slowly As Not 2 Disturb To Much.

Lucy

That's not stupid at all, although usually dechlorinators work almost instantaneously.

zizziz

ALESSA,

ok now i am a bit confused. if i use the tetra ss, you said i dont have to test or do any wc for 1 week. if im not doing any wc for a week then the prime issue wont be because i am not doing any wc, or are you referring to after 1 week when i start doing wc again.

thanks

ShaynaB

I believe she was trying to say don't start the tank with Prime.

I used the older version of Tetra Safe Start (Bio Spira) and also use prime. I started the tank with another dechlorinator and then after the cycle had completed (after a week or so) I switched to Prime.

The thing with Prime is that it locks ammonia which will futz up the bacteria if it hasn't established itself yet (the first week).

Alessa

Yes Sayna, it is pretty much like this.

ZIZZIZ

Method 1) Daily 50% water changes with Prime. Prime will lock ammonia and nitrite if you add it every 24 hours with the water change. Do this until the tank cycles which can take several weeks.

Method 2) Add Tetra Safe Start while using a water conditioner that IS NOT Prime I say this because you may have it still in your water if you have already used it, or if by mistake you tried to mix the two methods. As I said before, Prime is not compatible with tetra safe start, so you have to use another conditioner besides it, that was my point. Wait a week with no testing or water changing, and the tank should be cycled and if everything goes well you wont have to do daily water changes anymore.

basically method 2 says not to test because you will have crazy readings and will freak out.

zizziz

lol! all sounds good with the exception that I can't find tetra safe smart ANYWHERE... where the heck do you buy that stuff? I see tetra water safe, looks like thats just a dechlor.... you got a link for an online place?

Alessa

Im going to look for it though... I heard some walmart carry it.

Alessa

In the tetra website you can check if there is a store near you that carries it:

http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetr...=1276&cid=3582

hop2jr

I was told by Seachem that prime is only in the water system for 24 to 48 hours even if you severly over dose it like i did Opps! But if you are going to use Safe Start I would switch while using it. Prime will make your cycle stall.You can check out the Seachem forum at Plantgeek.net.

zizziz

ok, so its been sometime since I started these wc everyday, I got the ammonia down to virtually none to zero, depending on how yellow the API chart matches the actually water color. so now when do I get the nitrites? I have been testing them and I never get any, totally baby blue color from the api test.

hop2jr

Did you check for nirtates? I know when I had nitrites it was only for a short time but I used some filters from another tank to seed mine. Still if you have Nitrates and ammonia and nitrite are zero you should be cycled. Let me know if you have nitrates? Do you have fish in the tank now? and what kind of filter are you using?

zizziz

no nitrates either, actually I have little or no ammonia no nitrites, and no nirtrates. although i do have some alge that started growing on the glass for about 1.5 weeks now. i never had that before. i have fish in the tank, my setup is just a 26g bowfront "package" top fin filter with a marine blue sponge as media no charcol bag.

hop2jr

I would stop water changes unless the ammonia get real high 4.0 I was told it is at this level is when it gets bad for fish and there gills, when the ammonia level gets 4.0 or higher do a 20% wc and wait. you should see nitrites I'v never had them go over .50 cycling my 29gal or my 75gal. Then you will see ammonia go to 0. If it is already close to 0 you haven't give the bact. time to grow before you did a wc and will stall the cycle. When I did my 29gal I received 28 Molley fry from my gf. Was so nerveus about killing them I did wc when ever the ammonia was 2.0 it took me 2.5 months to cycle it but did not loose 1 fish.Let me know what happens and good luck. Ohh ya I would add a charcoal bag to the filter media too.

zizziz

well with all the advise i've gotten, there are too many opinions for me to know which is right at this point. today I found my first fish dead, lost 1 bala, probably ammonia posioning, although it was never "high", but i guess they are super sensitive to it.

clinton1621

Ammonia is highly toxic even at low levels...... if you have ammonia present at any test level AND you have 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates then you are in the very early stages of cycling..... Here is what a cycle looks like when testing

1. Ammonia levels rise for a specific time period (however long it takes for the bacteria that eat ammonia to form high enough levels) and then fall down to 0

2. Nitrite levels rise for a specific time period (however long it takes for the bacteria that eat nitrite to form high enough levels) and then fall down to 0

3. nitrate levels start to rise and should always be present in varying amounts from now on, once you get to this stage you are 100% cycled and can safely add fish (only a couple every 2 to 3 weeks to be safe)

NOW, if you are in stage 1. (which it appears that you most likely are) then your only options with fish already in the tank are as follows....

1. Use Tetra Safe Start as already recommended (this is the best and quickest way)

2. If you cant find this then use Prime (every day) to detoxify the ammonia ALONG WITH daily water changes of 25 to 50% until ammonia and nitrite levels drop to 0 and the nitrates start to show up.

If you dont do either one of these then your tank will still cycle out... but you wont have any fish left alive when it finally does.

hop2jr

Clinton has the best breakdown and yes bala sharks are touchy from a few friends that have them. How many do you have I heard they get pretty big? Hope the rest make it through.

zizziz

clinton,

ok so if i am in stage 1 I need to do daily wc 25-50% untill the nitrates start showing up?

then i assume that while i am doing these everyday, i will 1 day get nitrite readings, but continue to do wc's everyday, keep on going toll they are gone and the nitrates show up, and then at that point i can stop doing them everyday?

I thought i read that doing the wc's everyday can stall the cycle once the ammonia is to zero. I think i am at zero with ammonia but the nitrites just dont want to show up.

i have 3 balas, all small about 2 inches, I just got another tank, 125g for them, which i am doin a FISHLESS CYCLE TILL I AM BLUE IN THE FACE before i put them and any new fish in it.

i cant find that tetra safe smart anywhere in the world....

Alessa

pretty much what clinton meant is that as long as ammonia shows up at any level, you need to do a 50% water change. If there is no ammonia then there is no need for a water change that day.

the only reason for doing the water changes, is so that your fish dont die from ammonia/nitrite poisoning. and even if you have a .25 reading you'll still need to do a 50% water change that would help your fish out, but also leave ammonia for the bacteria to consume.

Actually, I have found that it is the opposite. When there are very high levels of ammonia in the tank the bacteria kind of cant reproduce and the cycle slows down.

and yes, you need to do water changes until you have (after seeing the spikes) ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and some nitrates showing.

clinton1621

Its practically impossible to get a 0 ammonia level with water changes UNLESS you change ALL of the water.... look at it this way, if you have a .5 ammonia reading and you do a 50% water change, then you will end up with a .25 ammonia reading afterwards.

Once you notice ammonia levels dropping off, you will see nitrite levels start to rise.

Once you see nitrite levels dropping off, you will see nitrate levels start to rise.

Once you see 0 ammonia levels AND 0 nitrite levels AND at least 5 to 10 nitrate levels, then you are fully cycled.

zizziz

ok, its just frustrating waiting for the nitrites to show up. what about algae, does that grow in a particular phase of cycling or can it start anytime?

thanks

clinton1621

Algae can start anytime....

And you a most welcome =)