ADVANCED FISH OWNERS PLEASE HELP! High ammonia level in fish tank.. what to do and can I mix these products?

Background info:



I just started keeping fish 2 weeks ago and set up this aquarium then.. I added 3 fish after I let the aquarium run for a bit, then 3 more the next week.. this is week 3 for my aquarium. I have 2 cory catfish, a balloon molly, and 2 mystery snails. The fish that died was a red wag platy (RIP Tipton).



Anyway:



One of my poor fish died last night.. I went to the pet store and got my water tested, and the ph level was a bit low, which the person I talked to said it couldn't kill my fish.. but the ammonium level was on the highest notch of the testing strip! I talked to another fish owner/associate and she said I should do a 30% water change with spring water, then put API Ammo-lock in my water, rinse out my filter cartridge with warm water, and then test the water later to check for the ammonia. I just finished rinsing out the cartridge really well, changed 30% of the water with the three gallons of spring water (treated it with tap water safety stuff just in case), and put in the Ammo-lock. The fish seem to be more lively now.



I was looking through my aquarium packets and stuff and found this packet of stuff I didn't know had came with the kit I bought. It's API Stress-Zyme. Should I use this stuff too? I really want to make sure that no more of my fish die. And how long should I wait to test the water for ammonium again? Also, if you have gone through this before, please tell me what you did to help your fish asap! I feel so guilty that my fish died and I cried like 3 times today about it. I really don't want to loose anymore fish!ADVANCED FISH OWNERS PLEASE HELP! High ammonia level in fish tank.. what to do and can I mix these products?
It all has to do with allowing the cycle to be set up in the tank. This is very common.

some info:

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biolog

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/in





Your friend gave you fairly good advice. The only bad bit could be the part about rinsing the filter, but it can help as long as you rinse it in tank-temp water, or tank water removed for a water change. This allows you to remove much of the waste that can contribute to ammonia, but keep the bacteria colony mostly in tact. You do not want to rinse in hot water. ';Warm'; wasn't that bad of advice and didn't do much harm, if any.



Water changes are your first and best defense to keeping the fish alive and well.



Also, the pH was low because of the high ammonia. Leave the pH alone as lower pH is safer in this case.



With ammonia problems, test daily. Do water changes if elevated, 30-50% water changes.



It will be a battle for a month or two, but things will get easier.



You'll get varied advice from all sorts of people, many of it contradictory.





Some notes: Many aquarium cycling products can be nice, but actually have some ammonia in them to feed the bacteria, or dead bacteria because they had no food or air. So don't use any in this case as it will most likely just compound the ammonia problem.



Tips to speed up cycling:

1) Leave the lights on longer than usual. Not all the time because you don't want to stress the fish, but longer helps.



2) Add lots of cascading to the water and surface movement. This give the bacteria lots of surface room to enter the tank. If you have a hang on back filter, lower the water level so that there is a stream of water falling into the tank.ADVANCED FISH OWNERS PLEASE HELP! High ammonia level in fish tank.. what to do and can I mix these products?
DON'T rinse out your filter cartridge!



Your tank has started the nitrogen cycle, as part of this process the ammonia WILL spike and yes it kills fish. Hence way many people suggest either cloning filters from existing tanks or fishless cycling!



The reason I say leave your filter cartridge be is that is where the good bacteria is starting to grow - replacing or rinsing this out will just keep your nitrogen cycle in square one, never allowing it to progress. You NEED this bacteria to grow to such numbers it eats up ammonia and converts it to less toxic nitrates via nitrites.



Don't keep adding chemicals, it won't help. Have a good long read of this!

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?show

When you cycle a tank with fish, yes there will be fatalities!
OK, main problem, too many fish added to a new tank. Ammonia from their waste builds up, you have no working nitrogen cycle to process this ammonia, so it will kill your fish. Unless you get rid of it by other means.



Easiest way, water changes, lots of water changes, BIG ones. 30% water changes leave 70% of the ammonia in the tank, OK it's an improvement, but it's still deadly. Do 50%, as often as you need, maybe 2 the first day. Just use tap water with conditioner. Get that ammonia level lowered.



You can use ammo-loc as well, it will not remove ammonia, but it makes it less toxic to the fish, so it will help.



Then just keep doing water changes as needed to keep the ammonia low until the tank cycles. Leave the filter media alone unless it actually becomes blocked up, thats where the bacteria are going to be growing. If it gets blocked up, rinse it out with old tank water, otherwise leave the bacteria to multiply in peace.



You can save your fish, it will be a bit of work changing water, but there is no magic product that will instantly help. They simply need clean water and time for the tank to cycle.



Ian
1. DONT rinse your filter cartridge, you will kill any healthy bacteria you have!



2. DONT use ammo-lock, it will stop the natural nitrate cycle and make the problem sorse in the long run!



3. You will probably lose more fish, sorry. but thats what you get for not properly cylcling the tank in the first place.



4. Get a test kit - they are about 30$, but you will need one if you want your fish to live (or you could just let them die and start over)



5. Test the water, do a 25% water change (tap water is fine). The next day do the same, everytime the ammonia is high, do a 35% water change. When the ammonia is low you will begin to experience high nitrites, which are also deadly to fish. Continue testing daily and do a 25% when either the nitrites or ammonia is high. It will take at least a month for the levels to reach safety.



6. Read up on the aquarium cycle (nitrogen cycle - google it) this will inform you of what you did wrong and help you to understand how to fix it. This is all happening because you do not have a sufficient amount of healthy bacteria in the tank, most people don't cycle with fish, they use other decomposing matter.



7. Get some healthy bacteria, there are products out there, but hte best wya is to get a filter media or some gravel from an established tank.
well done you just killed all the ammonia detoxifying bacteria by rinsing out the cartridge. Always research online and in books before asking at the petshop. How big is your tank and what exact fish do you have in it? I am skeptical about the effectiveness of ammo-lock and stress zyme but there is no harm in using them.
This is because you added three fish. you should add 1-2 hardy fish and cycle it for around 6 weeks untill no ammonia or nitrite is present.



Woooo you rinsed out the filter cartridge? ammonia is broken down with bacteria (found in the treatments you have and natrally occurs) washing the filter is a no no. you want it to mature. so only slighly clean it in water you've taken out. ammonia will be present in a new tank butcos you have so many fish it will be at a higher level. dont over change your water. do around 30% each week probs take some fish back and once its sorted go to 30% every other week. dont replace the filter sponge just use old tank water. although you do replace carbon every 2 months.your corys will probably die. you can overdose the stress zyme wihtout any bad effects.

i assume you already using a dechlorinator.



once the ammonia goes down the nitrite will go up (also poisonous) then the nitrite will go and nitrate will appear this is used up by plants and you can have upto 40ppm of this. once the ammonia and nitrite are gone it shouldnt come back unless you overstock or overfeed or dont maintain your filter correctly.



it will go down natrally pretty fast but maybe you should of brought a book before all of this.
u added too many fish!! how many gallons is ur tank? and clean 30% of the water THEN add some of this water chemical thing.
Hey



First thing you did wrong, is rinse out the filter cartridge in tap water. That is a number one no-no.

All of the beneficial bacteria, which is made by fishless cycling or filter cloning, lives in there. The chemicals in tap water, which kill fish, also kill these good guys.



You also have added far too many fish. If you changed 30% of the water, which was 3 gallons, then I assume your tank is around 9-10 gallons. That's really small in the greater scheme of things, and really can't hold anywhere near what you have added. Well at least not that fast.



What you needed to do, was a 25% water change, then added Seachem PRIME water conditioner, as a double dose. It removes Ammonia, and detoxifies Nitrite and Nitrate. Also, pH is a bigger deal than most people make of it. Most thrive in a pH of 7 (neutral). You should buy a pH test kit and pH up or down, to get it to 7. Thereafter, do a 10-15% water change every single day, to dilute the ammonia and nitrite. Go to the pet store everyday to have the water checked, and if its bad they will tell you what to do next. Please only go to a professional fish store, or at least a pet store that knows there stuff about fish. There are a few good ones out there.



Add the Stress Zyme. Its beneficial bacteria in a bottle. Most will say it wont do anything, which it probably wont do much, but right now, in this emergency situation, it wont hurt!



Your levels need to be at:

Ammonia: 0PPM

Nitrite: 0PPM

Nitrate: Under 20PPM

pH: Around 7



Check these out.

http://www.fishlore.com/aquarium-water-t

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.ht

http://www.fishlore.com/tropicalfish-tip

http://www.fishlore.com/FirstTankSetup.h
Best bet is to go to the forum below. They'll offer expert advice.