High Ammonia

[Beccag1224]

Ammonia levels are high... It’s a newer tank.. I have added healthy Bacteria, tap water conditioner, I have done 25% water changes, used Ammonia Remover, and purchased 2 moss balls.. I have cleaned my filter and it didn’t help. I used Zeo carbon in my filter.. not sure what else to do..

I am not over feeding (feed every other day)

My tank consist of 4 platys, 3 cory catfish, and 6 otto’s..

My ammonia reading goes from 0.5ppm to 8.0ppm and I don’t know what the cause could be. I’ve attatched a picture of my ammonia levels today.. I did a 25% water change and added Ammonia Remover, Bacteria, and tap water conditioner

 

[Heron]

Did you cycle the tank first? What are your other test results, particularly nitrites, nitrate and pH?
Ammonia removers often don't remove amnonia they turn it into a less harmful form but it will still register on a test.
Are all the fish behaving in a healthy manner?
How long has the tank been set up?
When you say you cleaned your filter how did you do it? Your filter houses most the beneficial bacteria in you set up, if you over clean it you may remove these and kill your cycle.

 

[Beccag1224]

0 Nitrites
0 Nitrates
7.8 pH

the fish seem okay
I’ve had the tank set up since August but just recently did an overhaul in the tank for water etc. (I was suggested to do this by 3 different people)

I rinsed everything in the filter water, changed my Carbon and 2 of the 4 Foams. I only cleaned it 1 time to change the insides

 

[trinity28]

If you have zero nitrates, your tank isn’t cycled. I’m guessing it was never cycled or the “overhaul” you’re talking about killed your cycle. The high ammonia is coming from the fish. They’re probably acting fine because of the ammonia remover you’re adding (is it Seachem prime?). As heron stated remember this does not remove ammonia, it binds to it for about 24 hours to make it less harmful but does not actually get rid of it. So, it looks like you’re doing a fish-in cycle now. There are some good threads on this forum about how you can do that properly.

 

[Heron]

I agree with trinity28. A cycled tank will always have some nitrates present.
I would always be very careful cleaning filters. Most filter media does not need cleaning much at all, If a sponge is clogged then a quick dip in a bucket of used tank water is as much as you should do.
In a filter with multiple sponges only the first one the water flows through should ever need cleaning.
Going forward from here I would follow the advice for a fish in cycle. If you are unsure how to do this just ask.

 

[vyrille]

Ammonia levels are high... It’s a newer tank.. I have added healthy Bacteria, tap water conditioner, I have done 25% water changes, used Ammonia Remover, and purchased 2 moss balls.. I have cleaned my filter and it didn’t help. I used Zeo carbon in my filter.. not sure what else to do..

I am not over feeding (feed every other day)

My tank consist of 4 platys, 3 cory catfish, and 6 otto’s..

My ammonia reading goes from 0.5ppm to 8.0ppm and I don’t know what the cause could be. I’ve attatched a picture of my ammonia levels today.. I did a 25% water change and added Ammonia Remover, Bacteria, and tap water conditioner

I have a guess you're using Ammolock. For some reason this product makes the readings shoot up like that. Are you using Ammolock as ammonia remover?

 

[Beccag1224]

I used AmmoniaLock but then was told to switch to Prime Concentrated Conditioner and then was told to try Top Fin Ammonia Remover. That is the one I am on now..

What are your recommendations from here? Should I be doing 25% water changes every other day?
Should I be using Ammonia Remover?

 

[LuisAmaral]

Well, it really depends of your aquarium. For example, mine doesn't has significant numbers of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, because I have a thick layer of sands that possible the anaerobic conversion of nitrate to nitrogen. However, in a new tank that doesn't happen.

Heterotrophic bacteria normally transform organic matter (like food and dead plants) into ammonia. If you have a lot of ammonia, that means you don't have the nitrifying bacteria that would convert ammonia into nitrites. I have already tested and there are some efficient products that add the nitrifying bacteria to the tank in a couple of days (the problem with these microorganisms is that they take a long time to growth).

By now, I would suggest you to do regular water change, being careful no to change the water values (like the pH, Gh...) in order to minimize the stress to the fish.

About the cleaning the filter, I cut my filter in some parts so I can clean them in different moments. That way, there's still bacteria in one part (you mustn't forget that the bacteria are the brown stuff that you see in the filter. If you remove it completely, you will remove all the bacteria).

After all, keep an eye in your otto's. If they seem happy and healthy, then your water quality isn't that bad. They are quite sensible. And adding plants could be part of the solution (they use ammonia).

 

[vyrille]

I used AmmoniaLock but then was told to switch to Prime Concentrated Conditioner and then was told to try Top Fin Ammonia Remover. That is the one I am on now..

What are your recommendations from here? Should I be doing 25% water changes every other day?
Should I be using Ammonia Remover?

Do you still have Prime? Can you switch back to it for now? I don't understand why you'd be recommended a dedicated ammonia remover in the first place, as it's only supposed to be used for emergencies. You should have zero ammonia in the tank to begin with. Anyway, do a 90% change now, just in case your ammonia reading is 'true'. then check your water again. You should find your ammonia reading decreased. Next step will depend on whether or not you have prime..

 

[Momgoose56]

I used AmmoniaLock but then was told to switch to Prime Concentrated Conditioner and then was told to try Top Fin Ammonia Remover. That is the one I am on now..

What are your recommendations from here? Should I be doing 25% water changes every other day?
Should I be using Ammonia Remover?

If you want the tank to cycle, stop using the ammonia remover. Prime is the one I'd suggest. It converts ammonia to ammonium temporarily but doesn't remove it. Bacteria use ammonium as a source of energy (food) the same as they use ammonia. Ammonium is not toxic to fish but Prime has to be redosed every other day because it's 'neutralizing' effect on ammonia and nitrites only lasts 48 hours.