How to lower ammonia?

[Red Cichlids]

30-40% is not enough. if he is at 1 ppm that will only bring him to.6-.7 ppm still to hi dont worry about the % off water take as much out as you can and still have room for the fish to swim. fill it up and keep doing it till you are under .25 and you can just do a water change every 2 days or you can test your water and find out when you really need a water change. after a few months you will find out how often you need to do a wc it might be ones a day or once a month depending on how you feed and your stocking among other things.

I do 80-90% water changes. Think of it this way: 2ppm ammonia x 20% = 0.4ppm, after one water change. Some sensitive fish like clown loaches, don't like the large water changes, and you have to be careful to get the dechlor in there as soon as you start to refill, and make sure the temperature is close so you don't shock them.

The main limiting factors are what depth are your filter intakes (ideally, keep the filter running the entire time), and keeping enough water in there that the fish don't injure themselves flopping around in the shallow water. Also, make sure you have shatter resistant heaters or unplug them. After cracking probably a dozen heater tubes (anyone remember buying replacement "test tubes" to repair broken heaters?), I started paying more money and getting the shatterproof ones, and don't even worry about unplugging them.

 

[adamsfishes]

As others have said, your tank wasn't cycled. Agree with those who suggest big daily water changes. Keep ammonia under 0.5 until the cycle finishes. Good luck.

 

[FINWIN]

For emergency use, try AMMO-LOCK

It will buy you time until your bacteria builds up. Do water changes with dose.

 

[Arowanablubber]

I have tested the water again after a 60 - 70% water change. Ammonia is down to about 0.25 - 0.5 and I haven't been able to get it much lower so I'll continue doing WC. I didn't feed the Aro for 2 days but today I gave in and gave him a few SW because i felt bad putting him through this.

I went to the LFS and they said the same thing. Your BB hasn't built up enough but he was pretty confident that if I continued to do daily large WC that my aro would eventually recover and my tank would drop in ammonia and PH. Would you guys say thats about right?

 

[Tj203]

I do 80-90% water changes. Think of it this way: 2ppm ammonia x 20% = 0.4ppm, after one water change. Some sensitive fish like clown loaches, don't like the large water changes, and you have to be careful to get the dechlor in there as soon as you start to refill, and make sure the temperature is close so you don't shock them.

The main limiting factors are what depth are your filter intakes (ideally, keep the filter running the entire time), and keeping enough water in there that the fish don't injure themselves flopping around in the shallow water. Also, make sure you have shatter resistant heaters or unplug them. After cracking probably a dozen heater tubes (anyone remember buying replacement "test tubes" to repair broken heaters?), I started paying more money and getting the shatterproof ones, and don't even worry about unplugging them.

why would you keep the filter running? there is no reason to keep your filter on during a WC you risk killing your BB if the conditioner does not work fast enough. also it wont be .4ppm it will be 1.6ppm you remove .4ppm. also the ammonia is way worse for the fish then a few degree temp swing and as long as you shut you filter you dont have to worry about getting the conditioner in. it can be 5 10 min hell i have forgot and put it in a few hours later and nothing happened

 

[Tj203]

I have tested the water again after a 60 - 70% water change. Ammonia is down to about 0.25 - 0.5 and I haven't been able to get it much lower so I'll continue doing WC. I didn't feed the Aro for 2 days but today I gave in and gave him a few SW because i felt bad putting him through this.

I went to the LFS and they said the same thing. Your BB hasn't built up enough but he was pretty confident that if I continued to do daily large WC that my aro would eventually recover and my tank would drop in ammonia and PH. Would you guys say thats about right?

that is just about word for word that i have been telling you. you are fine just keep up with the WC.

 

[Arowanablubber]

Hey boys I got 2 new questions for you.

1. When will nitrite start to show up on my water tests
2. Should I go buy PRIME? It’s a solution that makes ammonia non lethal for 24-48hrs

I’m thinking my tank wasn’t even close to being finished cycling ?

 

[RD.]

Some sensitive fish like clown loaches,

I have been keeping clown loaches for longer than I can remember, my weekly water changes are 80-90%, CL's have zero issues with that. But I also know what I am doing when it comes to my tap water, and my tanks.

why would you keep the filter running? there is no reason to keep your filter on during a WC you risk killing your BB if the conditioner does not work fast enough.

I keep my filters running 24/7, intakes to the bottom of the tank, and as stated above perform massive weekly water changes. No issues, ever. And we have chloramine @ 2 PPM.

Should I go buy PRIME? It’s a solution that makes ammonia non lethal for 24-48hrs

Sure, but with a regular test kit Prime &/or Safe will give false readings of free ammonia. (NH3)
Seachem sells a little widget that has a more sensitive/selective free ammonia sensor. If I was you I would consider it as a cheap investment. https://www.seachem.com/ammonia-alert.php

 

[RD.]

From a previous post of mine regarding false ammonia readings from Prime.

Quite possibly just a false ammonia reading from your test kit, if you are using Seachem Prime as a water conditioner. Salicylate or Nessler based test kits determine the total ammonia by raising the pH of the test solution to 12 or greater. At this high pH all ammonia removal products will breakdown and re-release the ammonia, giving a false ammonia reading. Total ammonia is simply a reading of NH3 (toxic) and NH4+ (non toxic) combined.


According to Seachem, when using their products such as Prime and/or Safe, the ammonia is converted into the Schiff base of an aldehyde (R2C=NH) which is non-toxic.

 

[Tj203]

I have been keeping clown loaches for longer than I can remember, my weekly water changes are 80-90%, CL's have zero issues with that. But I also know what I am doing when it comes to my tap water, and my tanks.







I keep my filters running 24/7, intakes to the bottom of the tank, and as stated above perform massive weekly water changes. No issues, ever. And we have chloramine @ 2 PPM.






Sure, but with a regular test kit Prime &/or Safe will give false readings of free ammonia. (NH3)
Seachem sells a little widget that has a more sensitive/selective free ammonia sensor. If I was you I would consider it as a cheap investment. https://www.seachem.com/ammonia-alert.php

Just because you don’t have any issues does it mean you’re not killing beneficial bacteria. But either way that’s bad practice because the one day you forget the dose your water conditioner before you start putting water in you’re definitely going to kill all your beneficial bacteria. Can you explain the reasoning behind leaving it all on are you worried that the fish can’t be without filtration for an hour. I have everything I need to shut off on a power strip I hit one button and everything turns off.