mattyluke

OK, I had major ammonia problems where it was up to over 5.0. After aloto of great advice here and weeks of daily water changes including daily water changes of 50% for the last week and a half, my Ammonia level came down to just under 1.0. BUT IT HAS STAYED THAT WAY FOR ALMOST 5 DAYS! I did find out that my tap water has a small amount of ammonia so I've been treating the tap water for that too.

Will my tank water ever come down to 0 ammonia? Should I stop doing the water changes and see if the natural bacteria will get rid of it? Please advise. Thanks in advance.

BTW- The Nitrities are 0 and the Nitrates at 5.0. The temperature is 78 degrees, pH 7.2 and it's a 20 gallon tank.

Matt

Butterfly

Matt please refresh my memory, are there fish in that tank?
Carol

fishaquarist

what chemicals are you using? are there fish in the tank? how often are you doing water changes? how large are the water changes? how often are you feeding? do you have snails? how many fish in the tank? if you are using a bucket to fill the tank was it used for something else first?

Isabella

If you have no fish in your tank, you do not need to perform 50% daily water changes. The reason you perform 50% daily water changes in a tank with ammonia and/or nitrite is to save your fish from getting sick from the toxic ammonia and/or nitrite. If you have no fish in the tank, let it cycle, don't do anything.