What do I do about high ammonia levels?

Question

I have an in-tank tester that says my ammonia levels are getting high. What can i do? I know my tank is still cycling and I'm doing the water changes every week but now its getting worse.

Answer 1

Patience with your nitrogen cycle, it will come down eventually with proper filtration. Avoid rinsing filter media in tap water; this kills aerobic bacteria you need for ammonia removal. Also avoid throwing away filter cartridges from HOB filters (while the tank is cycling), this removes beneficial bacteria.
You can add zeolite (found in products such as Ammo Carb), but this is only a temporary fix, as are products such as Ammolock which only change the ionization of the ammonia, making the ammonia less toxic, but not actually removing the ammonia.
Changing filter media and gravel with an established HEALTHY aquarium is still the fastest and most sure fire way to bring down ammonia (outside of regular water changes too).
Be wary of products such as Cycle, the aerobic bacteria that are truly needed do not survive in a closed container stored at room temperature. Even the highly touted BioSpira has a poor shelf life especially when kept at room temperature, be wary of buying this product from anything other than a source that has kept it refrigerated until the minute you buy it.
Keep your feeding to a minimum and feed only foods high in digestible aquatic proteins, many foods available are of poor protein quality and thus add nitrogenous waste to the water column. See this article:
http://americanaquariumproducts.com/Quality_Fish_Food.html

And finally change water regularly using a gravel vacuum until your ammonia levels drop.
For more information about the aquarium nitrogen cycle:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html

Answer 2

It is normal for ammonia levels to "skyrocket" as you cycle. Makesure you have enough filtration for the tank. The ammonia levels have to get high so the bacteria will colonize your filter and change the ammonia to nitrate. if there is not enough filtration there will not be enough bacteria and ammonia levels will not drop. Try feeding less and do a 10% water change every 3 days. You may have rushed your tank by putting too many fish per tank too early. remember it is the food you put in the tank that leads to the ammonia so less food and water changes should help as long as there is adequet filtration you may look at seperating some of the fish if you have another tank.

Answer 3

either cahnge water so it comes down to a safe level (generally under 2 ppm is somewhat safe so your fish wont get sick but there is enough ammonia in there so the beneficial bacteria can grow) OR, do what I do, buy Prime water conditioner. Follwo the directions and add it to you tank without doing any water changes. It will lower both ammonia and nitrite with out the back ache!

Just remember to keep some ammonia and nitrite in there so it will cycle though! Also remember ammonia and nitrite are dangerous at higher ph levels.

Answer 4

Bekah - if you have fish in your tank now you need three chemicals: Stress Coat, Stress Zyme and Ammo Lock. I don't know how long you've had this tank and I don't know what you mean my "cycling", but I'm getting the feeling you have a new tank and new fish. What should have happened is that you should have set up your tank with water, filter, gravel and all and had it running for 3-4 days before adding fish. You MUST use the appropriate chemicals every time you do a water change - especially Ammo Lock. Ammonia is the biggest killer of fish. When I first got my fish, they only told me about Stress Coat and Stress Zyme. My fish died within 2 months. You must ALSO have Ammo Lock if you want them to survive. How long have you had your tank? I any event I would go right away and get the aforementioned chemicals.

Answer 5

You should cycle your tank BEFORE you put fish in it, by using a product like bio-spira (takes one day to work), or using a filter from an established tank (takes a couple days), or by putting in a source of ammonia like fish food every day for about 3-4 weeks.

Anyway, all you can do is keep doing water changes. Do 10-20% every day. Eventually the ammonia levels will drop.
What do you have in it now for fish? Because you used fish to cycle, you don't want to have more than a couple. If you have a lot of fish and cannot obtain some gravel or a filter cartridge from an established tank, or some Bio-Spira (don't use Cycle or anything else but Bio-Spira), then you should return your fish to the petstore until your tank is completely cycled.

Answer 6

1: do a 15% water change
2: test the ammonia level again tomorrow.
3:If your cycling with goldfish, remove one or two and watch to see if your ammonia levels drop.
These steps should settle your tank. Remember you want to keep excessive water changes from happening or your tank will slow down it's cycle.

Answer 7

This is really why you should cycle your tank before you put fish in. You should be doing the following:

1)Don't over feed. You should only feed what the fish can eat in about a minute once a day.

2)Use a gravel vacuum every 3 days until your ammonia levels stabilize.

Answer 8

If your tap water doesn't contain ammonia, doing more frequenty partial water changes will help. Prime can be used to help detox ammonia.

Feed only sparingly. fasting them is much better than toasting them with ammonia.

Biospira may help speed up cycling.

Here's a good article on what happens during the first 4-6 weeks and how to keep your water from getting toxic.
http://thegab.org/Articles/WaterQualityCycling.html

Answer 9

certain, save doing the on a daily basis water transformations. because you stated you receives a sparkling tank why no longer get the hot clear out now and apply it on your 60l tank? positioned fairly some the bio textile from the favourite clear out in the hot clear out to get it cycled speedier. If making use of an ammonia reducing water conditioner understand that it will damage down the ammonia yet will nonetheless teach a large on checks. sturdy success!

Answer 10

Zoe is right with the Bio-Spira. When my ammonia levels were sky high, I was told to do a 75 % water change and add Bio-Spira to the water.

It seems to work well. I would make sure you have a testing kit if you don't already just to watch it.