my 10 gallon fish tank is alway high on ammonia?????what to do??????????????

Question

i have a 10 gallon fish tank, it's 2 months old but since then my fish die every other week.i got water test and amonia level was high, i cleaned took the sample back, high again. is there any product in the market to control ammonia's level in water??

Answer 1

Like someone else said, you're tank probably hasn't cycled. If you already cycled your tank then you're probably way overstocked. You should do a large (40-50% at least) water change right now and then figure out whats going on. Test your ammonia and nitrites, and keep doing water changes until your ammonia is below 1ppm. Now you'll want to read up on cycling. Since you already have fish (unless they've all died) you'll have to go with the cycling with fish method. Unless you can get your hands on some Bio-Spira which would really help you right now.

The cycling process is a bit hard to explain so here are a few sites I found that will help you with it:
http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishcycling.html
http://www.worldcichlids.com/faqs/cycling.html
http://www.fishyou.com/saltwater/tankcycle.html

It might help to let us know what kind of fish you have and how many are in the tank. Even if you have already cycled, adding too many fish to the tank can cause you're tank to go through another mini-cycle.

And to answer your question, yes there are products available that are suppose to reduce your ammonia levels, but I would not recommend using them until you have identified the cause of the problem.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I'm guessing you're not doing enough water changes, and the tank is probably overstocked. What kind & how many fish are there? They do make stuff, but I wouldn't recommend using them for a long period if at all really.

Start out by doing a 40% water change. Do small daily water changes about 10% until the ammonia comes down. You could buy this stuff called Prime from the store to help neutralize the ammonia, but nothing replaces doing normal maintenance on the tank.

Answer 3

Your tank isn't cycled.

In a fully established (and cycled) tank, bacteria control ammonia by converting it to nitrite (which is less toxic than ammonia but still toxic to fish). Another type converts nitrite to nitrate (significantly less harmful than nitrite).

There are products that you can buy that can de-toxify or convert ammonia to a harmless form, or even remove it. Totally unneccessary in a fully cyled tank, and typically prolongs the cycling process in a tank not cycled.

Aquariums typically take 4-8 weeks to fully cycle. If cycling with fish, stock slowly. Add a hardy fish like a zebra danio (or other type of fish which can withstand high ammonia levels that usually proves fatal to many fish).

Your tank will be considered cycled when both ammonia and nitrite are non-detectable and you have detectable levels of nitrate in the tank. You can then keep or remove the danios. Your tank will be ready to support a bio-load equivalent to the quantity of danios you used.

A more experienced fish keeper can use household ammonia instead of live fish to cycle the tank (fishless cycling).

Answer 4

Try Ammo-Lock.

You also should allow the tank to establish itself before adding more fish as another user suggested.

For the future you might want to try to get some kind of plant in there. People say they make a lot of algae but they also help to eat some of the ammonia and nitrates in the tank. If you keep it trimmed it will be okay.

Answer 5

What type of cleaner are you using to clean the glass? That has alot to do with it. It actually absorbs into the water. Where I work we have a 100 gallon we keep live mains in. There is absolutely no chemicals we use to clean the outer glass other then warm water with a very mild detergent. If we use something stronger it will kill the lobsters. How it absorbs is beyond me but it happens.

Answer 6

Go to Petsmart and get an ammonia nutrelizer. If that doesnt work clean everything out and try again. Petsmart has a guarentee on their fish, most places don't. They can help you more with any other 'Fishy' issues.

Answer 7

Contact your local pet store. They should be able to help you get your tank back on track. Make sure you disclose everything you do to your tank & put in it. That way they can make sure you're not mistakenly harming it. Good luck.

Answer 8

Yes.You can buy ammonia remover at Wal Mart real cheap.Good luck.

Answer 9

change the rocks and toys in the tank

Answer 10

Do a fishless cycle, and then once it's complete you can stock it with fish.

Fishless Cycling...
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Fishlesscycle.htm