Lana Bollers Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 I have had my tank going for approx. 3 weeks, a week with no fish a week with two fish and now has 13 fish in it. I have done a 25% water change and the amm level is still at 8ppm. I am currently in the process of completing another water change, when I did my last water change I put Aqua Plus in the water on stand by (water using to replace old tank water) let it sit for a night and then put it into the tank, I also added 1 heaping tablespoon of salt. I have since put more Aqua plus in the tank and waited a day retested the water it is still high, so put Amm Lock in it... I am still sitting high, I am at a loss as to what to do to get the levels down to normal. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. I am changing out the water with RO water, as it has nothing in it, bad thing is it does not have a strong PH level either... Lana Oh and I learned that the city water we were using has 0.25ppm - .50ppm of Amm, I have been trying for three days to get that to 0 and it is not budging... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Have you done much research in the Nitrogen cycle and how it works? Right now your tank isn't cycled and with 13 fish there is TONS of ammonia being produced. You need to do LOTS of water changes to keep the Ammonia and soon to be Nitrites down. I don't know if Aqua Plus neutralizes Ammonia too. A better choice would be getting some Prime(made by Seachem) as it neutralizes Chlorine, chloramines and Ammonia(converts it to a non toxic form). Do you know if your area uses Chlorine or chloramines? If it uses Chloramines you need to be using a product that removes the chloramines and neutralizes the ammonia too. Since your area has ammonia in the water already you definitely need to be using a water conditioner that takes care of the ammonia too. I have had no experince with Amm Lock or other similar ammonia specific products, so I'm not sure how they work. I would stick to water changes with extra Prime added. If you know anyone near you with a aquarium ask if you can have a cup or 2 of used gravel or a used filter sponge. You need to get some good bacteria in there to help the cycle along. Even ask a LFS or petstore if they have any. IF possible I'd return the fish as its going to take a while for your tank to cycle. Keep a couple if you want to cycle with fish, but even better is fishless cycling. Its quicker and since it doesn' use fish(it uses pure ammonia) its better. So my recommendation is to buy some Prime and do large frequent water changes to try and keep the toxic levels down. Also try and find some used gravel or filter media and try to return some of the fish if possible, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Thank you Valerie, I can not take the fish back, but I will do my best to get the levels down. Yes they use Chlorine in the water here. I am heading to Big Al's tomorrow so I will ask there about the Prime. and filter. I did a 40% water change tonight. The fish have been eating normally and seem okay... so far, I will get the Prime for sure tomorrow. Should I continue with 25% water changes daily until levels are safe? Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 You come to Fort Saskatchewan correct? If you would like I can give you Some filter juice to jump start your system and help speed up your cycle. Pm me for info, I will be home after 4:30 pm today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobies et al Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Many years ago I picked up a pamphlet put out by Hagen called Basic Aquarium Guide. It had a graph of the typical levels of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as the nitrogen cycle progresses. I have referred to this many times over the years. I believe the pamphlet has changed appearance but is still available. If you have Adobe Acrobat on your computer and can download PDF files, it is accessible at this link on about page 5 or 6: http://www.hagen.com/pdf/aquatic/bag.pdf The bottom row of numbers is days into the cycle. There is lots of good information amongst the sales pitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 (edited) Also, cut back on feeding the fish. Feedings will only increase the waste produced. Your fish won't starve if you feed sparingly every 2 days or so. 25% water changes might not be enough. Try to do as many are needed to keep the levels as low as possible. That might mean 25% or 50% a day, or even twice a day. What size is your tank and what kind of fish are they? Edited July 19, 2008 by degrassi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Also, cut back on feeding the fish. Feedings will only increase the waste produced. Your fish won't starve if you feed sparingly every 2 days or so.25% water changes might not be enough. Try to do as many are needed to keep the levels as low as possible. That might mean 25% or 50% a day, or even twice a day. What size is your tank and what kind of fish are they? My tank is 50 gal approx. 190L I completed a 35% water change yesterday if I had more water I would of done more. But we can not use our water on the farm. I will be purchasing more water today. Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byte Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 My tank is 50 gal approx. 190L I completed a 35% water change yesterday if I had more water I would of done more. But we can not use our water on the farm. I will be purchasing more water today.Lana Why do you not use the water from your farm? My well water is not suitable for drinking due to high sulphur content and other things, but this doesn't affect the fish at all. I do not treat the water for my fish tanks anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Why do you not use the water from your farm? My well water is not suitable for drinking due to high sulphur content and other things, but this doesn't affect the fish at all. I do not treat the water for my fish tanks anyway. WE don't use our farm water, because we have a softer on it, and I was told that the fish would not do well with that kind of salt in the system. Our water is super hard, I mean before we had the softener put on it, we had a thing called the rust buster, but it didn't do anything on it's own, the kids could bath and you could not even see their legs in the tub, the water was that rusty! Now we have the softener added the water for the most part is clear, but I still get the wonderful rust residue on my tub... I know the ph level of our house water is perfect for my cichlids I have not tested it for anything else... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobies et al Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 That sounds like water I had at one of our locations. There should be some place along your water line that you can get your water from before it goes through the softener, an outside tap maybe. I used to boil some water to get the rust to form a sediment, maybe OK then? Otherwise, get a salinity test kit and see what your salinity actually is. Maybe some high alkaline fish would be happy with your conditioned water. Water conditioner salt is plain salt with no additives. Post your water specifics on General Aquaria Discussion (ph, kh, gh, salinity) and see if suggestions are offered for you to be able to work with your water. There are too many natural conditions in the world to make a blanket statement of fish will not do well..... WE don't use our farm water, because we have a softer on it, and I was told that the fish would not do well with that kind of salt in the system. Our water is super hard, I mean before we had the softener put on it, we had a thing called the rust buster, but it didn't do anything on it's own, the kids could bath and you could not even see their legs in the tub, the water was that rusty! Now we have the softener added the water for the most part is clear, but I still get the wonderful rust residue on my tub... I know the ph level of our house water is perfect for my cichlids I have not tested it for anything else... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byte Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 WE don't use our farm water, because we have a softer on it, and I was told that the fish would not do well with that kind of salt in the system.Our water is super hard, I mean before we had the softener put on it, we had a thing called the rust buster, but it didn't do anything on it's own, the kids could bath and you could not even see their legs in the tub, the water was that rusty! Now we have the softener added the water for the most part is clear, but I still get the wonderful rust residue on my tub... I know the ph level of our house water is perfect for my cichlids I have not tested it for anything else... Lana If you could get some water BEFORE it goes through the softener and put it into a tub (even a plastic 45 gallon drum) and let it sit for a bit I think all the rust (iron) will settle to the bottom. I also have VERY hard water which is great for cichlids and plants (I can load LOTS of C02 into the water pH: 8.2 KH (degrees): 1100 ppm (very high) GH (degrees): 800 ppm (very high) Have you have your water tested? In our area the waters tests are free. All I have to do is get the 2 containers and fill them. They are sent to U of C for testing and they will send you a report (or phone if the water quality is not within standards). There is a good chance that your water is just fine for the fish tanks if you can remove the cloudiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I know for a fact that Prime is a good product to use but Seachem also has another product i used to cycle my 40 gallon tank. Funny enough it's called Cycle. It does a wonderfull job of speeding the cycle. I don't think my ammonia got over 2ppm unless i tested just before or after the spike. It was fully cycled in a week. Do as the experts (not me) suggest though. I just thought i'd let you know my experience with prime and Cycle. Good luck Lisa p.s. i was recommended Cycle when my 30 gal was takeing months to cycle by a number of people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I know for a fact that Prime is a good product to use but Seachem also has another product i used to cycle my 40 gallon tank. Funny enough it's called Cycle. It does a wonderfull job of speeding the cycle. I don't think my ammonia got over 2ppm unless i tested just before or after the spike. It was fully cycled in a week. Do as the experts (not me) suggest though. I just thought i'd let you know my experience with prime and Cycle.Good luck Lisa p.s. i was recommended Cycle when my 30 gal was takeing months to cycle by a number of people. Thank you Lisa, I have used Cycle, so far in all my tanks. It came with the tanks I have purchased with the exception of one. I purchased a product called stablelizer yesterday as well as the prime. I tested my water and the Nitrite was sitting at 0.25ppm and the Nitrate was sitting at 5ppm when I used my combination Amm/nit kit, it was still through the roof. So now I am just hoping that it hurries up and clears up... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Okay I started a new thread with the last water test we had done. Let me know what you all think... I will see If I can get work to run more tests and test for salinity as well... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moutain Dew Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I know for a fact that Prime is a good product to use but Seachem also has another product i used to cycle my 40 gallon tank. Funny enough it's called Cycle. It does a wonderfull job of speeding the cycle. I don't think my ammonia got over 2ppm unless i tested just before or after the spike. It was fully cycled in a week. Do as the experts (not me) suggest though. I just thought i'd let you know my experience with prime and Cycle.Good luck Lisa p.s. i was recommended Cycle when my 30 gal was takeing months to cycle by a number of people. I think you meant stability not cycle....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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