Ammonia 1.0 ppm?

Have had my 36 gallon tank going about a month now. We have 2 angelfish, 5 Serpea tetras, 5 Mickey platys, and 2 panda corys. (Will be getting rid of the tetras as soon as I can get them out d/t Nipping) everything has been going well until this past Thursday. I believe we over fed them and the tank became cloudy. I vaccumed the gravel (15% water change) had my water tested Friday at LFS and they detected the ammonia and he said some nitrites. I Was encouraged to let my tank sit until Monday and have it retested. Well I didn't listen as I started noticing my fish stress so I did another pwc 25%. I used prime and stability to treat water. Come Monday there was no change. LFS told me to get some aquarium salt and not to change water. I added the salt and later on tested the water myself using ApI strips. (Will be purchasing master kit asap) My Ph was darker than the highest marking and nitrites still there. I did a 50% water change last night using ApI QuickStart and stress coat +. I also picked up some presoaked drift wood and placed that in the tank. NOW onto today. Nitrates 20, Nitrites a tad darker than 0, ph 7.8. Ammonia is 1. Temp 76. My question is.... Do I keep up the frequent pwc until I'm completely cycled or wait very impatiently for my tank to do its thing and hope my fish aren't effected?? I'm getting conflicting info from LFS and what I'm reading here. So sorry to ramble. I'm just so new to all this and I don't want to lose any fish.
I have a penguin 150 and a penguin 200 going currently (came with the pre owned tank we bought) haven't changed any filters since start up. 1 inch gravel. Thanks in advance for your input!
P.S I will update my profile as soon as I can. I'm on my mobile at the moment.

 

Hello and welcome, unfortunately you have stocking issues and I'm sure others can help with that, it sounds like your tank has yet to finish cycling or something has caused it to recycle; without accurate readings it will be harder to help but if the ammonia and nitrite is under 1.0ppm you can dose prime daily to stop it being toxic and killing your fish, I would suggest having your tap water tested as this can often be a problem. The water changes you are currently doing seem rather low, would suggest increasing the percentage and frequency (slowly if there is a difference in ph from the tap). Do you have any other info; plants water temp length fish have been in the tank and how you cycled?

 

Thanks for your response!

Hello and welcome, unfortunately you have stocking issues and I'm sure others can help with that, it sounds like your tank has yet to finish cycling or something has caused it to recycle; without accurate readings it will be harder to help but if the ammonia and nitrite is under 1.0ppm you can dose prime daily to stop it being toxic and killing your fish, I would suggest having your tap water tested as this can often be a problem. The water changes you are currently doing seem rather low, would suggest increasing the percentage and frequency (slowly if there is a difference in ph from the tap). Do you have any other info; plants water temp length fish have been in the tank and how you cycled?

Stocking issues as in too many? I followed the inch of fish per gallon rule (adult size) unfortunately we "cycled" fish In. My hubby ran out and got a small tank and immediately started buying fish. Once I started reading into it I realized what would happen and bought the new one. We used QuickStart and readings were within range and slowly added more fish. Temp stays around 76 (we use a preset heater) we have 2 artificial plants. A medium/large aerator. A newly added presoaked piece of driftwood and a decorative hideaway stumpy thing. I used the strips to test my well water and I don't remember exactly but all looked well.

 

Ok first of all inch per gallon not trusted and very outdated, can use aquavisor website but even that's not 100%. Corys like to be in larger groups of at least 6 as they are a schooling fish and the same for tetras however wouldn't add any more until the water is sorted. As for the test kits strip test are inaccurate and most on this forum use apI master kit (works out cheaper per test as well). If you can add an easy fast growing plant it will help keep nitrates down once established. As before try to keep ammonia and nitrite down as ammonia is harmful and nitrite stops the fish absorbing oxygen so both can kill. As before if you have prime I would dose daily or with water changes until the readings all drop to 0ppm (excluding nitrate aI'm for 10-20ppm) good luck and feel free to ask any other questions.

 

Well LFS advised to get 5 for schooling fish :/ but as I mentioned above the tetras are in the process of being evicted lol I plan to get a couple more corys once my tank is ready. What do you recommend for water changes (frequency and amount) I'm just getting mixed up on what to do since LFS is telling me not to change water. I was doing pwc every couple of days. Thanks!

 

I would try around 30-40% every day/every other day depending on test results, you just have to make sure the levels stay low so the fish aren't harmed. As I said before though if the ph from tank to tap is different then do smaller more frequent changes so it doesn't shock the fish.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Welcome to the forum

I agree that you'll want to get the API master test kit for more accurate readings. You'll want to test both your tank water as well as your tap water to get an idea of what your baseline readings are. Until then, I would continue with water changes using Prime and dosing Stability. And I'd stop listening to the store's advice. Frequent water changes are needed to keep ammonia down and to cycle the tank. If you didn't do the water changes, your fish would die from rising ammonia levels because the bacteria that consumes the ammonia has not yet colonized in your filters and hard surfaces.

Along with rehoming the tetras, I would also rehome the panda corys as they prefer much cooler water than your angelfish. After you're cycled, you could add 8-10 of one cory species like aeneus or sterbaI that would be much more temp compatible and keep the temp at 79-80. You may want to invest in an adjustable heater.

 

Got the tetras out yesterday and did another pwc (30%) my tank and fishes look great today! Took my water for another check and results 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates, .1 ammonia if I remember correctly. Once I use up my test strips I will be investing in master kit Thanks for your help!