Loving It But Also Want My Fish "loving It" As Well! Help Pls.ammonia Spike

Soooo some newbie mistakes were made and for good measure some ESL problems between myself and my local pet store and I have a 10 gallon with 12 fish and an aquatic frog.

The problem is my ammonia lvl is still present after daily WC (3 days in a row)and I have been using Top fin ammonia remover until last night where I switched to Prime and the spike went down but still is at about 0.3ish ppm.

I've had this tank about 20 days and also have a 3 gallon and recently acquired a 55 gallon to rehouse my Angel fish.
I've added in an airstone with my dual sponge filter. I had my water tested at petsmart 5 days ago and was told besides the ammonia my water parameter are good.
Do I keep doing water changes as well as adding Prime remover? I was planning g on doing one more this evening. Last night I did a 60% WC and prior 2 days I did 30%.

Was wondering if I should QT Sadie? (my Angel fish) who has been up at the top of the tank 90% of the time

Loving these little guys, and they get along great except Ed( the frog)who is a total loner but I've been wanting a tank for years and not disappointed at all just want them to be comfortable!
Also when my 55 gallon is up and running Wondering if I should move more fish to it besides Sadie?
Thx for any help

 

What are all the fish in the tank? Is the frog a African Dwarf or Clawed? Do daily 10% or every other day 20% water changes and overfilter the tank, that would be the best thing to do until the new tank is set up.

 

5 whitecloud minnows were first. Few days later added 3 Cory doras(bronze I think) then I got 1 african dwarf then 1angel fish then 3 High fin Tetras. Then a Platty.
I lost 1 High fin Tetra and the Platty.
Then I got a powder blue Gourami.

They all seem to get along together very well.
Of course I'm wondering now if the amount of fish in the tank is sustainanable? Or because of the fish I've chosen will I ever be able to get ammonia to a safe LVL in this 10g? Keeping in mind I will be moving my Angel fish when my 65g is ready. I may not have the tank ready for at least a month tho

 

Do water changes and overfilter which will help keep the ammonia lower. Once the 65 ready add all of the fish but the White Clouds and Dwarf Gourami, once that is done give the White Clouds,Cories, and Tetras a bigger school.

 

Since neither tank is cycled I would move everyone and every thing over to the 55 and complete the cycle on it. You have started the cycle on the 10 so moving everything from it to the 55 you will have a head start on the cycling process. Things can go bad much quicker in the smaller tank.

 

I agree with moving some over to the 55! If anyone around you (put out a post on Facebook market or something) has some seeded media they could give you, that would also be really helpful.

 

Do water changes and overfilter which will help keep the ammonia lower. Once the 65 ready add all of the fish but the White Clouds and Dwarf Gourami, once that is done give the White Clouds,Cories, and Tetras a bigger school.

What do you mean when you say "overfilter"?

I agree with moving some over to the 55! If anyone around you (put out a post on Facebook market or something) has some seeded media they could give you, that would also be really helpful.

What is " seeded media" ?

Since neither tank is cycled I would move everyone and every thing over to the 55 and complete the cycle on it. You have started the cycle on the 10 so moving everything from it to the 55 you will have a head start on the cycling process. Things can go bad much quicker in the smaller tank.

Ok, that would be great but I only have one filter ATM so I'm guessing I would need a bigger filter for the 55 or just a bigger pump? So with that knowledge do u still recommend moving everything over? Or wait till I can get another pump/filter ( hoping this weekend I will get another)

 

What do you mean when you say "overfilter"?

Every filter filters a certain GPH(Gallon per hour) and it is recommended to filter 100 GPH per 10 gallons of water, for your tank I would do around 250-300 GPH to keep the water clean.

What is " seeded media" ?

Seeded media is filter pads, sand, gravel, etc. that has matured in a tank and has beneficial bacteria growing on it.

 

My advice is to invest in an API freshwater master test kit.

Online they are $15'ish.

If you buy it at petsmart, look at their website's price first and the store will price match the lower online price.

That way you are not relying on petsmart to test water for you.

They are good for 800 tests.

 

My advice is to invest in an API freshwater master test kit.

Online they are $15'ish.

If you buy it at petsmart, look at their website's price first and the store will price match the lower online price.

That way you are not relying on petsmart to test water for you.

They are good for 800 tests.

Cheers will look into that one, for now I have a fluval ammonia test kit and a separate test kit with strips that test everything else.

 

Gotcha.

I may have missed that if that was mentioned.

I remember you mentioning Petsmart testing the water.

 

Do water changes and overfilter which will help keep the ammonia lower. Once the 65 ready add all of the fish but the White Clouds and Dwarf Gourami, once that is done give the White Clouds,Cories, and Tetras a bigger school.

I should of asked how do I over filter because I don't see any way to increase my airflow on my Top fin 2000. Is there a lever on actual filter to control gph? Or do I need another filter? And thx for taking the time, I really appreciate it

 

Lance0414 was referring to adding an extra filter, or using a filter rated for a larger tank.

On my 10 gallon for example, I use a cheap Top Fin Silentstream 20 and an air driven sponge filter.

The Top Fin 20 has an adjustable flow, so I turn it down.

The Top Fin is "recommended for up to 20 gallon tanks" and the sponge filter is rated for "10-20g tanks". So my 10 gallon might be considered "over filtered".


Unfortunately there is no industry standard for companies to rate their filter's capacity.

For example, automakers use the "SAE J2807" standard when rating their trucks' GCWR and tow ratings.

Nothing like this exists in our hobby though.

You can add extra filtration by adding a hang on back filter, or another sponge filter and larger air pump, or one with dual outlets.

I

 

Seeded media would be like if I handed you a sponge from my established tank and you put it in yours. It would kick start a proper cycle.

 

Cheers will look into that one, for now I have a fluval ammonia test kit and a separate test kit with strips that test everything else.

Got the API master test kit now. Havent lost anymore fish, I moved most of the fish over to the 65 gallon and my Angel fish is doing so much better! No more gasping for air, and redness is completely gone now.
Still not getting any Nitrite readings and doing daily WC to combat the ammonia.
Wondering if I should moe everyone over to 65 and let my 10 gallon build up ammonia and hopefully that will get the cycle started?