Ammonium won't go down in my 10 Gallon Betta Tank!

I have a problem with the ammonium levels in my tank. It has not gone done despite using an api ammo lock treatment along with partial water changes ever other day. The current parameters are the
7.5-ph
0ppm-nitirite
20ppm-nitrate
2.0ppm-4.0ppm-ammonium for som reason fluctuates around here
The fish itself looks like its fine but I am most concerned with the ammonium levels. I have been very quick to remove any excess food or any decaying organic material within it. Hope this helps out.

 

Hi eazye22,
Have you tested your tap water for ammonia?

 

I have a problem with the ammonium levels in my tank. It has not gone done despite using an api ammo lock treatment along with partial water changes ever other day. The current parameters are the
7.5-ph
0ppm-nitirite
20ppm-nitrate
2.0ppm-4.0ppm-ammonium for som reason fluctuates around here
The fish itself looks like its fine but I am most concerned with the ammonium levels. I have been very quick to remove any excess food or any decaying organic material within it. Hope this helps out.

Or you talking about ammonia because you quoted ammonium here. these are two different gases and from what I have read ammonium is not has dangerous for fish as ammonia.

 

It does seem like you mean ammonia. I would also agree that’s it’s a good idea to test your tap water.

 

It does seem like you mean ammonia. I would also agree that’s it’s a good idea to test your tap water.

Yeah I think I meant that I am using an api master test kit and it tests for ammonia. My bad, I did test my local tap water. I live in NYC and so far I keep getting none that can be traced in it.

 

Do you vacuum the substrate when you do water changes? I would also recommend using Seachem prime.

 

Do you vacuum the substrate when you do water changes? I would also recommend using Seachem prime.

I do vaccum the substrate when I do water changes and am defeintly going to try seachem prime

 

I do vaccum the substrate when I do water changes and am defeintly going to try seachem prime

Hmm. If your tap water is coming up at 0 that’s strange it’s so high. Is it still high after a 50% water change. I would do frequent water changes for now

 

How long has the tank been running and was it cycled when you added your Betta? Did you have anything in there with the betta that could have caused a spike? Other fish, snails, shrimp? or even live plants that have died can also cause an ammonia issue. What is your WC schedule and how much do you change and how often? As above said i would do 50-75% WC's everyday or every other day and definitely get some Prime and keep up on testing your water parameters.

 

Last time I checked, API Ammo Lock detoxifies ammonia, but it does not remove it, so the ammonia will still show up when using test kits. Switch to Prime, anyway

EDIT: All that ammonia is weird for one Betta in a full tank. What is he IN? And how much is a "partial water change"?

And I'd be hand feeding one pellet at a time since he has to be carefully monitored to not over-eat, that way there is never any "excess food".

When my juvenile was in a 3 gallon not cycled it took a really long time for ANY ammonia to even show up! Do you have a kid dumping food in without your knowledge or anything like that?

 

How long has the tank been running and was it cycled when you added your Betta? Did you have anything in there with the betta that could have caused a spike? Other fish, snails, shrimp? or even live plants that have died can also cause an ammonia issue. What is your WC schedule and how much do you change and how often? As above said i would do 50-75% WC's everyday or every other day and definitely get some Prime and keep up on testing your water parameters.

The tank it s

Last time I checked, API Ammo Lock detoxifies ammonia, but it does not remove it, so the ammonia will still show up when using test kits. Switch to Prime, anyway

EDIT: All that ammonia is weird for one Betta in a full tank. What is he IN? And how much is a "partial water change"?

And I'd be hand feeding one pellet at a time since he has to be carefully monitored to not over-eat, that way there is never any "excess food".

When my juvenile was in a 3 gallon not cycled it took a really long time for ANY ammonia to even show up! Do you have a kid dumping food in without your knowledge or anything like that?

How long has the tank been running and was it cycled when you added your Betta? Did you have anything in there with the betta that could have caused a spike? Other fish, snails, shrimp? or even live plants that have died can also cause an ammonia issue. What is your WC schedule and how much do you change and how often? As above said i would do 50-75% WC's everyday or every other day and definitely get some Prime and keep up on testing your water parameters.

My tank was cycled fishless for 7 weeks and now currently only has the betta with anubius nana and sword plant. For water changes, I do them every other day with about 50% of the water. Definetly will use prime.

 

Do you vacuum the substrate when you do water changes? I would also recommend using Seachem prime.

Do you mind if you could send me a link of seacham prime or which specfic one your refering too? When I look it up there are options for filter media to water conditioner.

 

The tank it s


My tank was cycled fishless for 7 weeks and now currently only has the betta with anubius nana and sword plant. For water changes, I do them every other day with about 50% of the water. Definetly will use prime.

Yeah but how big is that tank? Some are so small you don't really get "cycled" unless you establish a thick planted environment IMO.

Ok that's even weirder though, LOL cuz with the two plants only one Betta and all that water changing, you should be fine. You may have crashed your cycle being TOO "clean" or maybe you weren't really cycled to begin with. That happens alot that people have "fake nitrates" (not really signifying they're cycled) ...and think they're cycled even though 7 weeks sounds like plenty of time.

So I would just keep going and assume you need to "finish" cycling. Using Prime your Betta will be fine so don't worry.

I never kept my Beta tank intentionally nitrate free to give the plants something to do.

 

Yeah but how big is that tank? Some are so small you don't really get "cycled" unless you establish a thick planted environment IMO.

Ok that's even weirder though, LOL cuz with the two plants only one Betta and all that water changing, you should be fine. You may have crashed your cycle being TOO "clean" or maybe you weren't really cycled to begin with. That happens alot that people have "fake nitrates" (not really signifying they're cycled) ...and think they're cycled even though 7 weeks sounds like plenty of time.

So I would just keep going and assume you need to "finish" cycling. Using Prime your Betta will be fine so don't worry.

I never kept my Beta tank intentionally nitrate free to give the plants something to do.

The tank is 10 gallons and yeah I think your right with the cycle thing. I'm going to get prime and see if it helps. Thanks again.

 

The tank is 10 gallons and yeah I think your right with the cycle thing. I'm going to get prime and see if it helps. Thanks again.

seachem prime - Google Search

 

To clarify, Seachem prime is a water conditioner. It just can also be used to detoxify ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

 

Even when ammonia is detoxified it still reads on the API master test kit OR any test as the same reading.

 

I forgot to mention that Prime lasts 48 hours to bind up those dangerous compounds, so if you have ammonia 48 hours after dosing Prime, add it again. You probably know you're cycled when your tank eats the ammonia in hours however, MY tank never got enough with the tiny bioload of the one Betta and all the plants I had (see my icon and below) so you can add more plants and that will help - if you want. You can just throw them in for now - you don't have to do a big drama planting and stuff haha.

Here's the instructions:




A: Prime® will bind up those compounds for up to 48 hours. If they are still present after that time frame, they are released back into the water, unless Prime® is re-dosed accordingly. Also, if your ammonia or nitrite levels are increasing within a 24-hour period, Prime® can be re-dosed every 24 hours.

Seachem chat board moderator answer:

Prime removes chlorine and chloramines; and it detoxifies ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. It detoxifies these nitrogenous compounds by binding them into a non-toxic form. They stay bound for about 24-48 hours and then are released back into their original form.

In an established tank, your biological filter should remove ammonia and nitrite quickly. Prime will help keep it non-toxic until the bacteria can utilize it. Usually, small amounts of ammonia found in drinking water should be gone within the time that a conditioning dose of Prime remains effective, but if the ammonia persists, you can re-dose with Prime after 48 hours to keep the tank safe while the biological filter catches up.

You are correct that one dose will treat about 1 mg/L of ammonia, so you can increase the dose accordingly up to 5 times the regular dose.

Test kits will still show nitrites and nitrates even when treated with Prime. An ammonia test kit which shows total ammonia will also still measure the ammonia in the water.

However, a kit that only tests for free ammonia (the more toxic form) will reflect a reduction in the free ammonia when Prime is used. Our Ammonia Alert (Seachem - Ammonia Alert ) goes in your tank and allows you to easily monitor free ammonia. With an Ammonia Alert in your tank, you can quickly know when the Prime has quit working and re-dose if there is still ammonia that needs treating. An Ammonia Alert is great when you are cycling a tank.

Chlorine and Chloramines are removed permanently, so you don't have to worry about them after the initial treatment.


I

 

I forgot to mention that Prime lasts 48 hours to bind up those dangerous compounds, so if you have ammonia 48 hours after dosing Prime, add it again. You probably know you're cycled when your tank eats the ammonia in hours however, MY tank never got enough with the tiny bioload of the one Betta and all the plants I had (see my icon and below) so you can add more plants and that will help - if you want. You can just throw them in for now - you don't have to do a big drama planting and stuff haha.

Here's the instructions:


View attachment 714305
A: Prime® will bind up those compounds for up to 48 hours. If they are still present after that time frame, they are released back into the water, unless Prime® is re-dosed accordingly. Also, if your ammonia or nitrite levels are increasing within a 24-hour period, Prime® can be re-dosed every 24 hours.

Seachem chat board moderator answer:

Prime removes chlorine and chloramines; and it detoxifies ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. It detoxifies these nitrogenous compounds by binding them into a non-toxic form. They stay bound for about 24-48 hours and then are released back into their original form.

In an established tank, your biological filter should remove ammonia and nitrite quickly. Prime will help keep it non-toxic until the bacteria can utilize it. Usually, small amounts of ammonia found in drinking water should be gone within the time that a conditioning dose of Prime remains effective, but if the ammonia persists, you can re-dose with Prime after 48 hours to keep the tank safe while the biological filter catches up.

You are correct that one dose will treat about 1 mg/L of ammonia, so you can increase the dose accordingly up to 5 times the regular dose.

Test kits will still show nitrites and nitrates even when treated with Prime. An ammonia test kit which shows total ammonia will also still measure the ammonia in the water.

However, a kit that only tests for free ammonia (the more toxic form) will reflect a reduction in the free ammonia when Prime is used. Our Ammonia Alert (Seachem - Ammonia Alert ) goes in your tank and allows you to easily monitor free ammonia. With an Ammonia Alert in your tank, you can quickly know when the Prime has quit working and re-dose if there is still ammonia that needs treating. An Ammonia Alert is great when you are cycling a tank.

Chlorine and Chloramines are removed permanently, so you don't have to worry about them after the initial treatment.


I

a quick update, I just rechecked the amonia of my tank after waiting 48 hours to see if the prime worked and it seems to be the same. I will give it the same dossage after another partial water change.

 

Prime isn't going to remove the ammonia. Prime just detoxes. It doesn't remove it so it will still show up in your test tube. Only bacteria and water changes can remove ammonia. well some fast growing plants can help. Since you were using ammo-lock it may take doing 50% water changes daily for a few days to get all the ammo-lock back out of there.

Bacteria can eat locked up ammonia so the number just kept climbing.