HELP HIGH AMMONIA

[swifto]

problem,did a 90lt water change 3pm yesterday 8pm clean the top basket of c/f ,consis of carbon, coarse filter pad,filter wool.added prime about 60ml,40ml of cycle.So i just did a check the levels are ,P.H=6.0,AMMONIA=0.50ppm-1ppm,NITRITE=0ppm,NITRATE=0ppm,KH=0-50ppm=3 drops,GH=140-200ppm=8 drops.I did have meds in there 4 a week with no water change.I've just added 50ml cycle, 60ml prime, will c if i can get some softern to lower GH and stabilty later today.Would like to know if there is any thing else i can do.I've never had a ammonia spike this high before or this high a gh.thanks

[Exotic Aquatic]

WOW!

Might be the carbon, it has a use by once put in your water, it will absorb to its full capacity and then release it all if not removed.... could be alot of factors really, but guessing which wont help right now, we need some action.

Daily water changes of 30-40% for now use the prime at the larger dose rate on the bottle, forget cycle- as far as im aware its mainly water- i tested it AND tasted it!!!

keep your water changes as non abtrusive as possible as your fish will already be stressed, place the bare hose in opposite corner of where the fish are hanging out for syphoning and refilling. Temperature match before putting the hose in for refil, and run as much aeration as possible near where the fish are likely to be.

Keep us posted!

wishing you and your pets the best of luck,
EA team

[swifto]

carbon was new,will brakish water extract help softern water.

[Exotic Aquatic]

Brakish water refers to where river easturies hit the ocean causing a freshwater/saline mix...i believe you mean blackwater (tannin?) which may help a bit, but really i wouldnt worry about it, just get the water changes happening.

Please do test your water direct from the tap and let us know what the hardness and ph are like?

Looking forward to a solution!
-Adrian EA

[swifto]

water straight from tape is ph=7.6,gh=5drops=50-100ppm.

[Exotic Aquatic]

ph is a bit high, but gh is fine.

Just keep up the 40% daily, better still (if you have the time).

Try break it up 20%morning and 20% at night.

Either way hopefully you should be ok.

I wouldnt do MASSIVE water changes untill your bioload learns to cope as you might end up back at square one down the track.

[BigDaddyAdo]

I disagree. I would be doing several 40% water changes per day. You want to remove as much of the ammonia as possible to minimize the damage it is doing to your livestock.

I am also yet to see any real proof that carbon will release what it has absorbed.

I also wouldn't bother with Cycle. Was of money IMO.

Can you give us some details of your set up? Tank size? Filtration? Livestock? Etc?

[Exotic Aquatic]

Thanks Ado, swifto your in good hands here.

[swifto]

sorry forgot to say i added meds to tank for a week with no water change as i added 2 new discus to tank.would this have kill benificial bacteria in c/f.mayb the cycle process is starting again.hm hm.

[lpiasente]

what meds were they

[goodoo]

Both my filters died within a space of days a few weeks ago. What a nightmare. When the first one died, I thought ah ill fix it on the weekend, weekend comes and the other filter died. Ended up with no filter for a few days. I think the only thing that saved the fish was the gruby substrate.

[boxters]

The meds I gave you will do nothing to your filters. You washed your filters a few weeks ago which would kill the bacteria if you used tap water. Also the amount of prime you are using can give you a false positive ammonia reading. I would test your ammonia straight out of the tap. Then as an experiment add 1 drop of prime to the test vial and the colour will change.

Kh is fine. Don't be overly concerned about gh. It is on the high side but will do no harm

[swifto]

when i cleaned/washed filter out i did it using the aquarium water as not to kill benifical bacteria.im doing a 60ltr water change now.and will test 1hr after that will repeat it in the morning.

[BigDaddyAdo]

.

Can you give us some details of your set up? Tank size? Filtration? Livestock? Etc?



Answers to the above would be very helpful.

[swifto]

ammonia level now at 0.25ppm added 80ml stability, will do 60lt water change tonight and add 80ml stability.i stress out to quickly when it comes to these guys.

[BigDaddyAdo]

ammonia level now at 0.25ppm added 80ml stability, will do 60lt water change tonight and add 80ml stability.i stress out to quickly when it comes to these guys.

Yet you won't answer any question ........

[swifto]

tank is 300lt,c/f-1200,5 discus,2clown loaches,2 bristle noses.it also has half dozen plants and driftwood.air stone .filter media is bott basket matrix,mid basket matrix,top basket carbon,coarse filter pad and wool.

[lpiasente]

we all stress out and with ammonia you should. Keep up with the water change. I would feed either not at all for a few days ar very very lightly

[swifto]

water change 60lt prime,stability added just done ,will check levels in morning.need to get ehiem 2075 or bigger and uv sterilizer.

[BigDaddyAdo]

Not enough filtration IMO.

What substrate?

Do you clean it?

Are all your fish present and accounted for?

[swifto]

substrate flourite gravel vac every water change and al fish alive and counted for.

[mistakes r crucial]

More filtration, keep up the water changes.

Boxters, why does adding a drop of Prime to a test vile change the colour of the test? I've never known Prime or any other water conditioner to get rid of Ammonia, I thought it merely changed the structure to Ammonium?