My ammonia levels are very high and I do not know why. I do weekly partial waters changes, have a Bio Wheel filter, and my PH is good (7.0 ish) . I have had the tank for about 2 months. My fish seem to be ok for now but my poor wife will be devasted if something were to happen to any of them!
tank stats are:
20 gallon tank, with one clown loach, 2 serpae tetras, one guppy, 4 neon tetras, and one black molly. I have about 8 inches of fish so i do not think it is overcrowed.
What is the best way to treat this, Stress Zyme of Prime ? or possibly another method ?
I use Stress Zyme when I do water changes and i change my carbon filter every few weeks.
what can i do ?
Thanks! this site is great
2007-04-05 00:41:26 · 5 answers · asked by Russ P 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
Either or will do just fine. I would start doing your water changes a little more often to keep the ammonia levels at a minimum. Prime has some kind of agent that promotes the growth of a fishes slime coat which in turn will help mildly with the abundance of ammonia. I can't comment on the stress zyme, as I have not used it.
Your problem is that when you remove the carbon filter, you are removing your beneficial bacteria that keeps the ammonia levels down. Next time you need to clean the filter cartridge, just rinse it in used tank water. (used tank water, not tap water, tap water contains chlorine and will kill the bacteria) The only time you need to clean the filter pads/cartridges is when the flow of the filter become interrupted. I change mine every other month or so, if that.
Hope this helps you.
2007-04-05 09:25:09 · answer #1 · answered by ~Rush~ 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Do a large water change to get the levels down. I wouldn't try to treat this chemically, you need to allow the bacteria to catch up and take care of the problem. So to answer the quesiton of Stress Zyme vs Prime, neither in my opinion. You have some bacteria in the tank, all that needs to happen is for them to multiply enough to control the ammonia.
When you change your carbon, keep the old fiber bag and reuse it as long as possible. That's one of the major locations of the bacteria you need and replacing it isn't a good idea at this stage. If you can't replace just the carbon, then stop replacing the cartridge for now and allow the ammonia problemto resolve itself first.
So stop cleaning the filter, monitor the ammonia and change water as needed to keep the ammonia level at a low but detectable level. Within a week or two the bacteria will catch up and your ammonia problems will be solved.
MM
2007-04-05 02:11:41 · answer #2 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Water changes weekly.
StressZyme will introduce bacteria spores that will reduce cycling time by about 30%. I don't think that's your problem. Prime will convert ammonia into a less-toxic form, but the ammonia will still show up in the tests.
Sounds like you are not doing water changes frequently enough.
How big is the loach? You have way more than 8" of fish.
2007-04-05 06:08:31 · answer #3 · answered by something_fishy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You could make a major water change provided you have enough containers for the fish in the meantime so they don't get oxygen deficiency.
steps:
Leave out a bucket of tap water for a day or two to dechlorinate it. The bucket should be able to hold the amount of water in your tank altogether.
After this, pour some of the original water into containers
Catch the fish with a net and put them into the containers. Do not agitate them too much. You might also want to take out the acessories
Pour the water in the bucket into the tank.
Catch the fish again, and put them back in the tank. Pour away the original water.
2007-04-05 01:16:49 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Quit changing the filter.
It took a while for me to final accept a healthy tank is not a clean tank.
2007-04-05 01:03:57 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Clean your gravel, Use ammolock, get a larger tank or a better filter system. Dont feed them too much
2007-04-05 00:46:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋