Ammonia, What Do I Do?

My tank is not cycled yet and it is reading 0.50 ppm ammonia but there are already fish in my tank.
I did not find out about tank cycling until after I added fish so I added fish without cycling it and now I am having problems getting the ammonia down. I have already added safe start and have been doing daily water changes but I just did a 40% water change and after it it still read 0.50 ppm. Anybody have any suggestions?

 

My tank is not cycled yet and it is reading 0.50 ppm ammonia but there are already fish in my tank.

What size is your tank and stock. I'm no expert on community tanks as I keep betta fish. However I know this is important info others will need to try and help!

 

I have 6 guppies and 1 gold inca snail in 10 gallon tank.

 

0.50 ppm ammonia is on the low end of the toxicity for fish. More water changes will be helpful, but you can just ride it out.

Generally, it's recommended that once ammonia/nitrite hit 1 ppm or more, it's time for a 50% water change to dilute it.

In the mean time, I would recommend using Prime, as it can help detoxify parts of ammonia until the bacteria gets rid of it.

 

I agree, your stocking is fine and Prime will help. I sometimes use Tetra Safe Start+ when cycling tanks to jump start or add to bacteria. I’ve had good luck with it but it seems hit or miss for some.

 

I agree, your stocking is fine and Prime will help. I sometimes use Tetra Safe Start+ when cycling tanks to jump start or add to bacteria. I’ve had good luck with it but it seems hit or miss for some.

I have already added tetra safe start but not the plus, I bought it off of Amazon and its pretty hot where I am so I'm not sure if the bacteria survived shipping or not.

 

You are not supposed to do water changes or test parameters for 14 days if using TSS for a cycle with fish. See this post HowTo: Cycling Your Tank With Tetra Safe Start

 

I have already added tetra safe start but not the plus, I bought it off of Amazon and its pretty hot where I am so I'm not sure if the bacteria survived shipping or not.

If the temperatures were high 90's or over 100, the bacteria could have died. Extreme cold and extreme heat can kill it.

However with 0.5 ammonia, sounds to me like it's alive. For about the 1st week, tss will give a reading of 0.5 to 1 ppm ammonia because the bacteria is starting its colony and growing to meet the demand. Also, the tss comes in an a suspension to keep it alive which contains some ammonia which affects your readings. As long as your ammonia doesn't go over 1.5 just leave it alone and give it time to get itself set up.

 

I put the tss in earlier today.

I had a fish get sick a few days ago (it ended up dying) and people said that it was probably ammonia cause my tank is not cycled so I started doing daily water changes and ordered safe start and master test kit and and I just got them today and added the safe start and got the readings.

I don't know if the safe start survived because it's been in the 90's lately and I'll bet that it was at least 100 in that Amazon box when I opened it.

 

If you have a petsmart nearby, they carry safestart and you can probably return your tss to Amazon as defective just as a way to save money. The daily water changes will definitely help and if even some of the tss survived, it will start growing, just will take a little longer

 

You don't have anything to worry about with those fish and parameters. Just be sure to be checking it daily and doing water changes as necessary. In 2-3 weeks things will start to level out. Good luck!

 

LittleBlueGuppy
I highly recommend that you read this article on cycling tanks with fish. It is not difficult but you have to consequently work one process from the beginning to the end to get the desired effect which is a cycled tank

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

Good luck!

 

I don't know if the safe start survived because it's been in the 90's lately and I'll bet that it was at least 100 in that Amazon box when I opened it.

No need to worry! The vast majority of species of nitrifying bacteria generally survive up to temperatures of around 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit).

It'll be fine to use.

 

Also if you happen to have another tank running, any decor or substrate or even a small amount of the filter media will already have good bacteria on it. Just transfer some over, keep dosing safe start and do your water changes.