Ammonia levels are not going down

Hi I'm new here but I need help ASAP....

I have had my tank for nearly 4 months, its a 94 litre tank and i have 14 fish in it (6 neons, 6 harlequin rasboras and 2 dwarf gouramis. The tank was cycled before I put fish in and I have added my fish a bit at a time over 2 months. For the last 3 weeks my ammonia levels have been off the chart. I realised that my poor fish have been overfed by my children so I have stopped that and now I'm trying to fix the problem. I was advised to do 20% water changes every third day which done nothing. I've now been advised to do 50% every other day. Again nothing is changing.... I am using a gravel cleaner when I water change and I haven't washed the filters in tap water or anything like that. I've tested my tap water and that has no ammonia in it. Today I've got a bacterial bloom after the water change yesterday and I'm starting to get really stressed out about my poor fish, I just know they are all going to die...

Please help I need advice ASAP as I need to fix it..... What am I doing wrong?

 

Would do 50% water change daily (might do two one in morning one afternoon) there's also products that lower ammonia levels

 

Welcome to Fishlore!

Have you checked your tap water for ammonia? What is the exact number of off the charts?

 

I have added the picture of the tester kit... I've been showing 10.0 ammonia.

I have tried ammonia removers and ammo lock as I thought this would keep my fish comfortable while I try to get the levels down but nothing is working.

My tap water shows 0 ammonia, I have a commercial filter on my main water tap line as it tasted fully of bleach.

 

Are you using a dechlorinator/ water conditioner when adding new water? Stop adding any kind of ammonia remover etc. Definitely stop the ammo lock. That is probably why you are showing such a high amount.

I agree with the 50% water change, then test the ammonia again using just dechlor only. If it is still high you can do another in a few hours. We want to change water to how much ammonia there is and not a certain percentage. Ammonia should be as close to zero as possible.

 

Are you using a dechlorinator/ water conditioner when adding new water? Stop adding any kind of ammonia remover etc. Definitely stop the ammo lock. That is probably why you are showing such a high amount.

I agree with the 50% water change, then test the ammonia again using just dechlor only. If it is still high you can do another in a few hours. We want to change water to how much ammonia there is and not a certain percentage. Ammonia should be as close to zero as possible.

I have been using aquasafe (tap safe) when I do the water changes regardless of my filter on my tap as i still worry that the water is dangerous for the fish. I know that the ammo lock etc wouldn't bring the ammonia down I just thought it would make it more comfortable for my poor fish. I will stop using it and see what happens. I'm just starting to panic a bit and I'm convinced I'm doing something wrong.

 

I have been using aquasafe (tap safe) when I do the water changes regardless of my filter on my tap as i still worry that the water is dangerous for the fish. I know that the ammo lock etc wouldn't bring the ammonia down I just thought it would make it more comfortable for my poor fish. I will stop using it and see what happens. I'm just starting to panic a bit and I'm convinced I'm doing something wrong.

Water changes are your best way to get it down. If it is still high when you change 50 do another 50 in a few hours. That ammo lock will throw all of your readings off. We need to see what they are without anything but dechlor.

 

Water changes are your best way to get it down. If it is still high when you change 50 do another 50 in a few hours. That ammo lock will throw all of your readings off. We need to see what they are without anything but dechlor.

Thank you for your advice I really appreciate it. I will do what you have said and see what happens. Fingers crossed.

 

Thank you for your advice I really appreciate it. I will do what you have said and see what happens. Fingers crossed.

If you can get ahold of some Prime dechlor that will help with the ammonia while you are getting it down. It detoxifies the ammonia but in a safer way than the ammo lock. You do want to get it down as fast as you can.

Good luck and happy water changes. Come back with results after every WC so we can see how its going.

 

If you can get ahold of some Prime dechlor that will help with the ammonia while you are getting it down. It detoxifies the ammonia but in a safer way than the ammo lock. You do want to get it down as fast as you can.

Good luck and happy water changes. Come back with results after every WC so we can see how its going.

I've just bought some prime dechlorinator on amazon prime so it should be with me tomorrow. I'll keep you posted

 

I've just bought some prime dechlorinator on amazon prime so it should be with me tomorrow. I'll keep you posted

actually no liquid product on the market binds ammonia. the best thing you can do is frequent daily water changes or get some zeolite crystals.

 

What type of substrate is being used please? 10ppm ammonia is highly unusual even in a 4 gallon, even with the overstocking you have going on,

There's another cause for this high of a reading. The 20% water changes every 3 days should bring it down.

Another thing at 10ppm ammonia your fish should be long dead by now and they aren't. There's another explaination to this reading.

So, what water treatments are you using? What substrate? Do you use an active substrate with slow release fertilizers and do you have plants that can use it if you do?

I feel like this is a false reading and something is throwing off the test, because seriously with 10ppm ammonia in an overstocked 4 gallon tank, everything should have died, ammolock or not. The ammolock can't handle all that, nothing can.

 

What type of substrate is being used please? 10ppm ammonia is highly unusual even in a 4 gallon, even with the overstocking you have going on,

There's another cause for this high of a reading. The 20% water changes every 3 days should bring it down.

Another thing at 10ppm ammonia your fish should be long dead by now and they aren't. There's another explaination to this reading.

So, what water treatments are you using? What substrate? Do you use an active substrate with slow release fertilizers and do you have plants that can use it if you do?

I feel like this is a false reading and something is throwing off the test, because seriously with 10ppm ammonia in an overstocked 4 gallon tank, everything should have died, ammolock or not. The ammolock can't handle all that, nothing can.

I have a 94 litre tank which is between 20 - 24 gallons I think. My tank is definitely not overstocked, I have to really search for my fish

I don't have any live plants as of yet I only have fake plants and i have gravel. I use a gravel cleaner when I do water changes and I barely pull anything off of the gravel now as I have been doing water changes every other day for 2 weeks.

I am wondering why my fish aren't dead to be honest as my ammonia levels don't seem to be dropping. I lost 4 neons in the first week and we are now 3 weeks in and the rest of my fish seem to be ok but who knows....

I use tap safe ( aqua safe) with EVERY water change and I have previously used ammo lock, ammonia remover, pure aquarium water beads and filter starter gel.

I have 2 filters now, one for the 94litre tank and one thar goes up to 200litres.

Any advice from here is welcomed as I'm willing to try anything...

Thank you x

 

I have a 94 litre tank which is between 20 - 24 gallons I think. My tank is definitely not overstocked, I have to really search for my fish

I don't have any live plants as of yet I only have fake plants and i have gravel. I use a gravel cleaner when I do water changes and I barely pull anything off of the gravel now as I have been doing water changes every other day for 2 weeks.

I am wondering why my fish aren't dead to be honest as my ammonia levels don't seem to be dropping. I lost 4 neons in the first week and we are now 3 weeks in and the rest of my fish seem to be ok but who knows....

I use tap safe ( aqua safe) with EVERY water change and I have previously used ammo lock, ammonia remover, pure aquarium water beads and filter starter gel.

I have 2 filters now, one for the 94litre tank and one thar goes up to 200litres.

Any advice from here is welcomed as I'm willing to try anything...

Thank you x

I must have misread the liters, not 4 gallon, more like 24-25 gallon, so not overstocked,

And still no real reason for 10ppm ammonia, and still the fish aren't dead. They would be struggling at 1ppm, dead by 2-4ppm, unless. You pH was like 6.0 or lower.
Thanks for the additional information on gravel use, I was wanting to rule out a soil substrate that would have a uric acid fertilizer to it for slow release of nitrogen that would test as ammonia.

A lot of the ammonia tests use a salycilate test method that raises pH to 12 of the sample, which unlocks all forms of ammonia in the sample to test it.
The Ammolock whatever is in it, I believe, is corrupting your test. It's really just impossible to have 10ppm ammonia and no fish deaths from it. The fish would be dying right before your eyes.

You can take a sample of water to a local pet store and have them test it with another test than yours, it might be a different method than the salycilate test and get a true reading of ammonia or it might corrupt their testing also, but then you should ask how it's possible to be that high and every fish is fine, the conclusion will fall back to the ammo lock since it messes with ammonia and, probably the testing method.

I think it's the ammo lock corrupting the test honestly and there isn't a big problem there with ammonia, you can water change and it will eventually remove the ammo lock you put in and come down but might take a week or two of partial water changes to get it out.

As a side note this type of thing doesn't happen with amquel or prime if its dosed as indicated.

Your ammonia might have been a little high from the overfeeding but the pH and temp, probably by binding ammonia as ammonium, to keep it safe for the fish until the cycle catches up and processes the overage of ammonia from the excessive food.

Then the addition of the ammolock corrupts the test and sends the ammonia test off the chart.

What you've done to the tank in the past couple weeks fixing the issue and having another issue and trying to fix that, is going to cause a bloom, it's probably diatoms which everyone calls bacteria because it makes the water cloudy and blurry. even if it is bacterial bloom, water changes keep it in check while it runs its course, and if diatoms they aren't dangerous to the fish just looks bad for a month or so as it runs its course. Both are natural processes to fix an imbalance.

 

I must have misread the liters, not 4 gallon, more like 24-25 gallon, so not overstocked,

And still no real reason for 10ppm ammonia, and still the fish aren't dead. They would be struggling at 1ppm, dead by 2-4ppm, unless. You pH was like 6.0 or lower.
Thanks for the additional information on gravel use, I was wanting to rule out a soil substrate that would have a uric acid fertilizer to it for slow release of nitrogen that would test as ammonia.

A lot of the ammonia tests use a salycilate test method that raises pH to 12 of the sample, which unlocks all forms of ammonia in the sample to test it.
The Ammolock whatever is in it, I believe, is corrupting your test. It's really just impossible to have 10ppm ammonia and no fish deaths from it. The fish would be dying right before your eyes.

You can take a sample of water to a local pet store and have them test it with another test than yours, it might be a different method than the salycilate test and get a true reading of ammonia or it might corrupt their testing also, but then you should ask how it's possible to be that high and every fish is fine, the conclusion will fall back to the ammo lock since it messes with ammonia and, probably the testing method.

I think it's the ammo lock corrupting the test honestly and there isn't a big problem there with ammonia, you can water change and it will eventually remove the ammo lock you put in and come down but might take a week or two of partial water changes to get it out.

As a side note this type of thing doesn't happen with amquel or prime if its dosed as indicated.

Your ammonia might have been a little high from the overfeeding but the pH and temp, probably by binding ammonia as ammonium, to keep it safe for the fish until the cycle catches up and processes the overage of ammonia from the excessive food.

Then the addition of the ammolock corrupts the test and sends the ammonia test off the chart.

What you've done to the tank in the past couple weeks fixing the issue and having another issue and trying to fix that, is going to cause a bloom, it's probably diatoms which everyone calls bacteria because it makes the water cloudy and blurry. even if it is bacterial bloom, water changes keep it in check while it runs its course, and if diatoms they aren't dangerous to the fish just looks bad for a month or so as it runs its course. Both are natural processes to fix an imbalance.

Thank you for replying. This is something I had considered but I wasn't sure. I last used the ammo lock etc on Tuesday. I will be doing another 50% tank change when I get home so I guess i will have to do that everyday to try to get the rest of it out or would you advise every other day like I have been doing?

I have taken water to be tested they are also showing 10ppm ammonia so hopefully you are correct and the ammo lock etc is corrupting the test.

I'm really grateful for the in depth response, I'm going to be doing more research on all of this so that this never happens to my fish again....

Thank you again, fingers crossed

 

Assuming that you don't have any significant ammonia, and the test is corrupted from the ammo lock, there's no rush for water changes.

The problem is, you can't see what ammonia is doing, so you don't know if there is .25ppm or 1ppm, or 2ppm, I'd assume if the fish are fine, there isn't any significant problematic ammonia though, there was a time in the hobby when people just water changed regularly, and if the fish acted weird or in trouble they water changed again, and they didn't use tests to see what was going on, just observing and when in doubt do a 20% on top of the regular weekly water changes.

the sooner you get the ammo lock out of the tank, the sooner the tests start acting right again in my opinion. the catch here though is the neons, they aren't known as the most hardy and tolerant fish to changes with the water.
Don't push them too hard with water changes as they don't handle stress well, but slow and steady wins the race.
Realistically speaking those neons would be dead ducks if ammonia was really like that. the amazon fish aren't big fans of ammonia, nitrites or heavier nitrates, pretty sensitive to those things since they are lower end pH fish naturally.

I'd say if the fish are acting normal, no reason to rush it and stress them more. and don't stress yourself over the cloudy water if you are doing water changes, and it's not pretty, but it happens, and it passes with time and doesn't hurt the fish. it's when it's cloudy and you aren't water changing it's bad for the fish, then 100% its bacterial bloom and not the good kind.

 

I have added the picture of the tester kit... I've been showing 10.0 ammonia.

I have tried ammonia removers and ammo lock as I thought this would keep my fish comfortable while I try to get the levels down but nothing is working.

My tap water shows 0 ammonia, I have a commercial filter on my main water tap line as it tasted fully of bleach.

something is definitely corrupting your test. the box says it test says it tests for nh3, which is toxic ammonia and not non toxic ammonium (nh4+) your fish would have surely started dying at .5ppm.

keep changing water and stop using ammolock. use a normal water conditioner. I hope everything ends up fine.

 

**** Update ****

Been doing daily 50% water changes today I tested the water a few hours after todays change and my ammonia has dropped massively but... you guessed it my nitrites have now gone severely up..... like to the maximum....

I feel like the right thing to do is another water change ASAP bit I've run out of tap safe.... my water is filtered and has no ammonia etc in it as I've tested it multiple times....

Help... again... any advice would be great as I feel I have jumped from the frying pan into the fire and I'm not going to lie but I'm panicking as all my fish are hanging around my filter....

Should i water change now or wait until tomorrow when i get some tap safe? Will it be too late? Or should I risk the change without tap safe as the nitrites will kill my fish?

Thanks in advance for any advice given...

 

If you know you have chlorine in your water, simply put you can't water change without a dechlorinator, it will kill the fish.

If you have a filter on the tap and you can verify with a test that there isn't chlorine you can do the water change without a dechlorinator, the filter has removed it, but you want to be sure by testing.

 

If you know you have chlorine in your water, simply put you can't water change without a dechlorinator, it will kill the fish.







If you have a filter on the tap and you can verify with a test that there isn't chlorine you can do the water change without a dechlorinator, the filter has removed it, but you want to be sure by testing.

I only have the tetra test strips to test that and it's not that clear if I'm honest.... the colour I have is not on the chart. I am quite annoyed that I have run out as I would have just done another change but now my hands are tied and after everything I'm more than likely going to lose my fish....

 

Thank you to everyone that gave me advice..... The last 2 days were stressful and I done multiple water changes....



Today my test is showing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites....

No idea how or why it suddenly cleared but I'm full on paranoid it will go back to how it was. I will do daily water checks just to keep an eye on it for now.

Thank you all again!

 

Thank you to everyone that gave me advice..... The last 2 days were stressful and I done multiple water changes....



Today my test is showing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites....

No idea how or why it suddenly cleared but I'm full on paranoid it will go back to how it was. I will do daily water checks just to keep an eye on it for now.

Thank you all again!

btw, ammolock can be used as a water conditioner if you can't buy more tap safe or seachem prime