Fish tank Problem, need help solving high ammonia levels?

Question

I've been cycling my water once ever three days and the high ammonia levels keep returning. All of my fish have died out and I was thinkinh about addind real plants to the aquarium to neutrilze the ammonium. I also noticed that brown spots have been appearing on the fake decorations in my aquarium, I think that chemicals from it might also cause some poisining. I have a gold fish aqarium and want to have only gold fish, not tropical, so I've been buying cheap feeder fish to see whether more expensive fish like koi can survive in my tank. Does anyone have any suggestions? Btw i've used an anti-ammonia neutiling solution, but I was thinking about using an alkaline solution, would that also be good?

Answer 1

Cycling means the tank is maturing, not changing water. You have high ammonia levels because the tank isn't cycled. Each water change removes more of the bacteria that break down the waste, their growth is what cycling is all about.

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Answer 2

I don't understand when you say you've been cycling your water every 3 days. Cycling is a 6 week bacterial process.
Ammonia is introduced to the tank via the fish and their food. Ammonia, which is toxic to fish, rises until it peaks. At that point (usually about a week later), nitrite forms. Ammonia levels drop to 0 and nitrites start to rise. When they peak, at about 3 weeks, a new bacteria forms: nitrate, the good bacteria. At levels of 20 ppm for nitrate, 0 for ammonia and nitrite, your tank is cycled and ready for more fish.
Fancy bodied goldfish will require an excellent filter system (no underground filters as they cause toxic build up below the gravel!) and at least 10 gallons per fish.
I'm not sure how large your tank is...but koi get HUGE when properly cared for an belong in outdoor ponds. Most home aquariums are not sufficient.
All types of goldfish, plecos and cichlids have a high bioload output, meaning that they are big waste and ammonia producers. The brown spots are algae btw..usually indicating that your nitrites (the other BAD bacteria) are also high. I think your fish are being poisoned.
What size tank do you have and what type of filtration system.

Answer 3

First, since all your fish have died out, I think you should empty the tank and start over new. But this time try not to put too many fish in your tank, because fish waste causes high ammonia.
Its always good to have natural plants in an aquarium, if you do get some try getting some oxygenators like: cabomba, hornwort, or anacharis; these give oxygen to the fish and also help keep your water clear.
About the koi, it probably isn't a good idea. Koi get very very big, and they need lots of room to swim around in. Its better to keep koi in a pond or watergarden.
I hope I could help.

Answer 4

First you really need to understand the cycling process and what goes on in your tank. You should be doing smaller daily water changes to control ammonia when cycling a tank with fish in it. I'll include a link that will help you quite a bit and if after reading those pages you have any questions feel free to email me.

The brown you are seeing is most likely algae and completely harmless to the tank or the fish or the cycling process.

Live plants wouldn't help with the ammonia levels or help the tank to cycle.

I also wouldn't suggest using any type of ammonia control solutions during the cycling process as most of them will interfere with the process. The same goes for alkaline solutions, there really is no need and they will not help the problem at all.

Here a link to step you through the cycling process and what goes on in the tank:

http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

Since you currently have no fish in the tank I would suggest you use fishless cycling. Here's a link that explains how that works.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article14.html

Again, if you have any additional questions after reading these, feel free to email me.

MM

Answer 5

If you've been changing out all your water every 3 days you aren't cycling the tank. Cycling refers to the nitrogen cycle.
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
Food -> ammonia
ammonia + bacteria -> nitrites
nitrite + different bacteria ->nitrates
Nitrate are 10-30x less toxic to your fish.

"Cycling" in aquarium terms is building up the bacteria for ammonia, and then nitrites. Chemicals are bad as they starve out the bacteria then once they are used up the ammonia levels spike.

Plants don't consume much in the way of ammonia/nitrite/nitrates unless they are growing quickly. Even then you'd need massive amounts of plant compared to fish.

PS- The brown spots are brown algae and are common in tank with too much ammonia/nitrite/nitrates

PPS- Koi aren't suitable for a tank. They get huge. Goldfish require 5-10 gallon per fish. Koi require 25-100 gallons per fish.

Answer 6

Need a bit more info first, what size tank do you have? How many goldfish are you trying to keep in the tank? What kind of filtration do you have? How long have you had the tank up and how long have you tried to keep fish in that tank?

The brown spots are just algae which while ugly isnt bad.

Without the above questions answered it is really difficult if not impossible to answer your questions.

Answer 7

I don't get where you say your cycling your water ever three days... it takes several weeks to fully cycle a tank unless your using a product like "Cycle".

Live plants are great ammonia reducers.

http://naturalaquariums.com/

Answer 8

empty the tank and wash it out. start over. use real plants and no fake decorations.

Answer 9

This should be no problem as long as they don't kill the fish or about to kill your fish.