RBA

i have a 10 gallon tank with 2 danio zebras and for some reason the amonia levels keep rising. i have to change 25% of the water every other day if not everyday. it goes up to .25 to .50 and then i change the water. Is this normal or what? can you please help, because if am trying to get some ghost/glass fish but i just want to figure out what is wrong with this before i can add more fish. Thank you guys for your time and help.

Gargoyle

Sounds like you have not completed your cycle. Please read this ---> http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

COBettaCouple

what are you treating the tap water with?

sgould

How long has that tank been set up with fish in it?

RBA

I ve had this tank running for about month and a half now. I started the tank with 3 danios and after week and a half when i thought cycle was almost over, i added 3 guppies. First time i vacuumed the tank was after one month. One of the danios died after a three weeks and then later the guppies died one by one, because of amonia poisoning. Since then i ve been vacuuming the tank almost every other day. I have testing strips, according to which nitrit and nitrates are 0. This morning i checked amonia and it was about .50. I also noticed the 2 danios had red gills, and they did not eat their food. I ve used amonia detoxifying pills couple of times, should i do that now? I was treating my tank with water conditioner before and i was also using water softner to bring pH to 7.0, everytime i change water, but for last one week i have not treated water with any of these, because i wanted to check if that effects amonia or not. Can you guys please help me out. Thank You.

RBA

I ve had this tank running for about month and a half now. I started the tank with 3 danios and after week and a half when i thought cycle was almost over, i added 3 guppies. First time i vacuumed the tank was after one month. One of the danios died after a three weeks and then later the guppies died one by one, because of amonia poisoning. Since then i ve been vacuuming the tank almost every other day. I have testing strips, according to which nitrit and nitrates are 0. This morning i checked amonia and it was about .50. I also noticed the 2 danios had red gills, and they did not eat their food. I ve used amonia detoxifying pills couple of times, should i do that now? I was treating my tank with water conditioner before and i was also using water softner to bring pH to 7.0, everytime i change water, but for last one week i have not treated water with any of these, because i wanted to check if that effects amonia or not. Can you guys please help me out. Thank You.

vin

Based on what you've indicated, your tank is not cycled. If you are seeing ammonia with no nitrates then you have not gone all the way through. The best thing to do is get a water treatment called "Prime". Use this each time you do your water changes. Treat only the clean water you are putting back into the tank. This will neutralize the toxic effect of the ammonia and nitrites in the tank and allow the fish to deal with the stress of the cycle. I also wouldn't add any more fish yet. I recommend you discontinue the pH buffer unless your pH is way out of whack. Most fish will be able to adjust to the pH level of your tank naturally. What happens when using buffers is you tend to get spikes and dips in the pH which is far worse for the fish than say a slightly elevated or lower constant pH level. The fish will be lessed stressed without the pH spikes and dips. Have you tested your pH out of the tap? If not, get a glass of water from the tap and let it set out for 24hrs. Then test and record your pH level. That should give you a good base.

Next, if you can afford to do so, buy yourself an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master test kit. It is a liquid based kit that is far more accurate than test strips. Test strips though convenient are notoriously inaccurate and expensive. You can get the API kit on line at PetSmart.com and from what I understand, if you print the ad with the price, they will honor that price in the stores. I think you can get them for around $20....But they are worth it and will last you fairly long.

As the cycle goes you will see an ammonia spike, followed by a spike in Nitrites....As the nitrites rise, the ammonia will fall back to zero....Then you should begin to see Nitrates...By then the nitrites should begin to fall and eventually drop back to zero....When all you a re seeing are Nitrates, the tank is cycled....Do a fairly large water change and you can add a few more fish. Nitrates, while not as toxic as the other two, can still harm fish. This is one reason why we do regular water changes. To keep the nitrates below 20 and to maintain water quality as close to natural as possible. I do a 30% change once a week. You don't necessarily have to vacuum the tank until after the cycle. You are only prolonging the process. If you do wish to vacuum, vacuum no more than 1/3 of the gravel per week and do not change your filter media during the cycle period....Good luck and let us know how you're making out!!

bert2001

Another thing you are going to have to watch is how much you feed your fish. It sound to me like you are over feeding them. I would go without feeding them for a day or 2. Fish can go more than a week without eating. All the extra food that drops to the bottom of the tank will rot ant that will totally raise your ammonia levels in a hurry. I am talking from experience. This is probably the biggest new aquarist mistake.

sirdarksol

Ok, I'm going to ask a really simple question. Please don't be offended, I just want to be sure of the answer.
What are you using for a filter?

I most definitely agree with Bert. Let the fish fast for a couple of days. They won't die (in fact, it's good for them) and if they're not eating, it is just turning to ammonia. Once you start feeding them again, drop one flake per fish in the tank. If all of the fish get a bite, they've all been fed for the day. It seems cruel, especially if your fish dance for their food like mine do, but it's actually really healthy for them.

Lastly, is there any possibility that anything is being added that would kill off the bacteria colony? Antibiotic medication would be the number 1 possibility, but someone else in the house thinking they're being helpful by disinfecting the filter periodically could also be a possibility.

COBettaCouple

A lot of meds will kill the good bacteria. Usually a med will specifically say that it doesn't harm beneficial bacteria (like the trisulfa that we use) if it doesn't harm them, otherwise i figure the med does wipe it out.

RBA

You guys have been very helpful, i really appreciate your time and concern. Filter i use is the regular one that came with my tank. I dont know what kind. I guess i ll have to be little Cruel and feed them less food than what i do now, cause right now i feed them twice i day, and about 5 flakes per fish. Which is better than feeding them 3 times a day which i did before. But i am learning as i go. There are lot of teachers on this forum whom i can count on. I ll just wait for the cycle to end and then i ll add more fish. Amonia is still going up as of today. I havent checked nitrites today. I am not using any medications, but there is this one pill i use to detoxify amonia, which i wont be doing anymore. Thank You guys again for help.

COBettaCouple

would you have a small tank you could put the danios in and treat with the ammonia detoxifer (or Prime or Amquel+)? then you could let the ammonia go up fast using fishless cycling on the main tank and add the danios back in when the cycle is done.