So much ammonia after trip, help please.

[Jollyhollysfish]

HELP ME!! I was on vacation and the owner fed sooo much food to my fish. Now, the tank is flooded with ammonia!! 3 ppm!!!!!!!! Help me!! Please, in my 6 years of fish keeping, this has never happened!

 

[Dunk2]

HELP ME!! I was on vacation and the owner fed sooo much food to my fish. Now, the tank is flooded with ammonia!! 3 ppm!!!!!!!! Help me!! Please, in my 6 years of fish keeping, this has never happened!

Large water change. Do you have Seachem Prime?

 

[Jollyhollysfish]

Large water change. Do you have Seachem Prime?

Nope! I can get it quickly though if I must. Is it good?

 

[Dunk2]

Nope! I can get it quickly though if I must. Is it good?

It won’t replace your need for a large water change, but it will detoxify ammonia up to 1 ppm for 48 hours. I’d suggest getting the ammonia level down to 0.50 ppm with water changes.

Have you tested nitrites? How do the fish seem? You’re sure your test is accurate?

 

[Jollyhollysfish]

It won’t replace your need for a large water change, but it will detoxify ammonia up to 1 ppm for 48 hours. I’d suggest getting the ammonia level down to 0.50 ppm with water changes.

Have you tested nitrites? How do the fish seem? You’re sure your test is accurate?

Nitrites are 0, fish seems fine! I’m pretty sure it’s accurate.

 

[Dunk2]

Nitrites are 0, fish seems fine! I’m pretty sure it’s accurate.

I’d assume it’s accurate and do a large water change. You’re ok doing water changes?

Your tank was cycled?

 

[Jollyhollysfish]

I’d assume it’s accurate and do a large water change. You’re ok doing water changes?

Your tank was cycled?

Okay, for sure! 70-90%? Doing a water change is okay. My tank was cycled (not with just added bacteria)

 

[Dunk2]

Okay, for sure! 70-90%? Doing a water change is okay. My tank was cycled (not with just added bacteria)

If it was my tank, I’d do a 50% change now and another 50% in another hour or 2.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

 

[Fisch]

Okay, for sure! 70-90%? Doing a water change is okay. My tank was cycled (not with just added bacteria)

Not sure if I qould make a huge water change. 50% should get it to 1.5ppm, an hour or so later another one, down to .75.
Most likely a third one an hour later and you are back in business. How long have you been gone?
Goid that the fish made it!!

 

[SparkyJones]

Large water change BUUUUUUT. Not more than 50% that will cut it in half.
Depends on size of tank if you could do a 70-75% change.
3 ammonia is really high, and just weird for an established cycled tank even if abused a bit on food, the bb should size up and deal with it and you should have nitrites also that are high to show them working on it.

Sechem prime says it will bind ammonia and nitrites and make them non-toxic for 48 hours a dose, it works for me, but I don't know if it's myth or fact. I use prime myself and like it and I think it works.

Anyways the prime is supposed to make ammonia and nitrites and nitrats non-toxic for 48 hours.... up to 1ppm on the recommended dosages. About nitrites and nitrates, it's antedotal, not scientific fact.
Double dosing prime is also antenatal to bind and detoxify more ammonia than 1ppm, it's not scientific fact.

A strategy that should work. 50% water change will reduce the ammonia to 1.5ppm.
A dose of prime will bind and detoxify 1ppm ammonia for 48 hours. You'll be left with .5 toxic ammonia. 50% water change tomorrow should remove .75 of the 1.5 ammonia that's left. And by the 48 hour mark you are redosing prime and ammonia is low again what's left is bound and detoxifies and back to regular water changes from there.

If nitrites are up also, 1 teaspoon (5 grams) of aquarium salt per 20 gallons of tank water has been scientifically been shown to detoxify nitrites (Noga, 2010) just make sure you don't have any salt sensitive fish that can't take a bit of it.

The 50% change first though to cut the numbers in half, then treatment to buy some time to do another 50% then a 20% as normal.

Maybe he overfed some, but honestly it sounds like he did something else to crash your cycle, maybe changed out the water thinking it was dirty or something, due to the overfeeding... trying to fix the feeding mistake... maybe cleand out the filter in the sink and water change... just weird.

Also I don't like rapid successive large water changes without knowing more about the tanks parameters. If your cycle was crashed, you are stuck doing a fish in cycle for a month and all those big water changes won't help with that to get it recovered, you'll still build ammonia and have nothing to convert it.

 

[Dunk2]

Maybe he overfed some, but honestly it sounds like he did something else to crash your cycle, maybe changed out the water thinking it was dirty or something, due to the overfeeding... trying to fix the feeding mistake... hard to say.

Water changes won’t crash a cycle.

 

[Fisch]

Not sure if I qould make a huge water change. 50% should get it to 1.5ppm, an hour or so later another one, down to .75.
Most likely a third one an hour later and you are back in business. How long have you been gone?
Goid that the fish made it!!

Sorry, didn't see the other responses already

 

[Cherryshrimp420]

Tanks pH probably crashed which makes ammonia safe. The lazy solution is just do nothing for a few days (no feeding, no ferts etc). The ammonia will get processed naturally.

The immediate solution is big water changes, but if your tap water has high pH then you may end up killing your fish. So if you do decide to do water changes make sure to change out most of the water ie 90%

 

[Jollyhollysfish]

Not sure if I qould make a huge water change. 50% should get it to 1.5ppm, an hour or so later another one, down to .75.
Most likely a third one an hour later and you are back in business. How long have you been gone?
Goid that the fish made it!!

I was gone for about a week

 

[Fisch]

Should be okay. If someone takes care of your fish in the future you may want to put food portions into a pill box, so they just need to open the prepared container and won't overfeed accidentally.

 

[Jollyhollysfish]

Not sure if I qould make a huge water change. 50% should get it to 1.5ppm, an hour or so later another one, down to .75.
Most likely a third one an hour later and you are back in business. How long have you been gone?
Goid that the fish made it!!

But thank you, you have been a huge help. Going to do this ASAP, )

Should be okay. If someone takes care of your fish in the future you may want to put food portions into a pill box, so they just need to open the prepared container and won't overfeed accidentally.

Oh okay great thanks. That will be a lifesaver for next time.