Fish tank has Ammonia.. what to do?

Question

My fish tank is not a week old yet, the ph is 7.0, there is no Nitrate or Nitrite, but the ammonia is 2.0, what should I do, is it too early for a water change?

Answer 1

This is normal for such a new tank - you need to change the water - 25% today and 25% tomorrow.

There are also some products at the store that you can buy that have microbes that turn the ammonia into nitrites and then nitrates which are not as harmful to fish (in low levels).

Answer 2

The answerwill depend on if you're using fish to cycle your tank. If you have fish, you need to do a water change soon! Ammonia can kill at even low levels. Fish begin to be stressed at levels around 0.5, so that's the point where I recommend that the water be changed - your tank has 4 times that level. I would suggest a 50% water change as soon as possible (add the replacement water slowly, as even quick changed from bad to good can upset your fish), then do another 50% change tomorrow. This should bring your ammonia down to around 0.5-0.7. You might skip a day, then do another 25% change to lower it again. Keep doing changes whenever the level approaches 0.5. It also is better for your fish if the pH is 7 or lower, the ammonia isn't as toxic, but it can still harm your fish if the exposure is high, or lasts for an extended period.

If, on the other hand, you're doing a fishless cycle, it's not necessary to change the water (at all) until the nitrate is the only product (of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) that appears on your water testing. It's only necessary to lower the ammonia for the wellbeing of any fish that are in the tank. If this is your situation, once the nitrate is all you're registering, do a water change so the level of nitrate is below 40 ppm before adding fish, and only add a few at a time, waiting a week or so between additions.

Answer 3

If you have fish in your tank, you need to change 30% of the water today, treat the new water with Amquel or Prime, and change the same amount of water twice a week, testing the levels before you do it each time. If the ammonia and the nitrite are below 1ppm, you don't need to change the water, but you should any time the ammonia or nitrite creeps above 1ppm. Otherwise you will have dead fish. Make sure you vacuum your gravel during the water change. Also, you don't want to just change 10% or so and leave it, or the ammonia will continue to build and your fish will die. While you have to cycle the tank, keeping the ammonia and nitrite under 1ppm is the best way to cycle the tank without stressing your fish too much. You still very well might have fish die on you, unfortunately, which is why many people reccomend cycling a tank without fish. If you are cycling your tank without fish, don't have any fish in the tank,. don't worry about the ammonia or nitrite, other than to monitor it to know when the tank is cycled.

Answer 4

Actually, when the ph drops to 7.0 or less, ammonia is not toxic to fish. It gets converted to a non toxic form-forget the name of it. And somebody correct me if I'm wrong-if it starts at less then 7.0 or at 7.0/neutral when it's converted.....I just know that under 7.0 is ok with ammonia present.

If it stays steady at the 7.0 or drops lower, you should be fine doing water changes weekly, about 25% at this point. Now, once your nitrites start showing up, you'll need to start doing daily water changes because nitrites are also toxic to fish. Depending on what types of fish you have in there, you should also add some aquarium salt when the nitrites show up. Tetras, loaches, cory cats, plecos, any scaleless fish are all salt sensitive. 1 tablespoon per 5 US gallons should be good to start. If your ph does start to rise for whatever reason, and there's still ammonia present, then start doing daily water changes as well to help dilute it.

Answer 5

i might placed the tab in and do a water exchange and not upload any further fish. as quickly as I cycle my tanks i take advantage of the technique of Fishless cycling. earlier any fish are in the tank you upload a small volume of ammonia daily. i'm speaking like some drops. You examine for secure stages of ammonia and then save including ammonia drops to shrink nitrites. I quite have in no way had fish die with the aid of doing this methodology. It grows the stable micro organism earlier you upload any fish. in certainty, I did this with a 40 gallon tank -- stocked the tank and had no fish die. It took approximately six weeks to totally cycle the tank. endurance is fundamental in this activity

Answer 6

Hi Jamaican Vixen-Yes absolutely do regular partial water changes because 'The solution to pollution is dilution'! I would guess your nitrite [NO2] is not showing yet because the ammonia has yet to peak.

A tank that is still cycling is a bit of a juggling act because you need to reduce toxins [with the partial water changes] while maintaining a certain amount of ammonia producing debris for the good bugs to feed on & kick start the cycle so go easy on the siphoning & cleaning until your ammonia has peaked & then do slightly more thorough cleans but keep up with the partials!

Answer 7

Until your ammonia reaches to 0, which it would in about 406 weeks, then after it's Zero, check the nitrite and the nitrate and report back to us.

http://fishlesscycling.com/forum

Answer 8

you should definetly do a water change 10-20% and leave it for 1 week if problem persist another water change and repete untill problem is no longer a problem remember your chemical levals will be very unstable when starting any tank

Answer 9

how old is it? whats in it?

i would probably do 20% water change and monitor it. if you are close to 7 days you need to monitor it a lot less than if its only 3 days from the start.

Answer 10

id do a 10% water change and then leave it at that...The bacteria has to establish..your going through a cycle. Nothing you can do