My tank has ammonia and i dont know what to do?

Question

i dont know how to get the ammonia out of my tank

how do u get the ammonia out of the water

i cleaned the tank not 2 long ago like a month and i changed the filter i got a new one and the amonia came back how

i dont want to get another tank can i do anything else

i have three fish in a 10 gallon tank and the tiger barbs scale looks like the color is coming off and the scales look like they are coming off

i have had my tank for about 1 year and i change my water every 6 months and cleen my rocks every 3 months

Answer 1

Here are several steps:

*First make sure your tank has a properly established nitrogen cycle, if not add some aged filter media such as sponge from an established aquarium to jump start your nitrifying bacteria

* Add some Prime or Amquel Plus to immediately protect your fish. These tow porducts have the most science behind them working safely, but are only temporary sollutions.

*Change 20-30% of your water every other day until your ammonia levels are near 0

*Cut back on feeding and use highly digestible foods when feeding (beware of high cereal or un-digestible protein based fish foods).

*Keep in mind that at higher pH your free ammonia is more toxic.

*Make sure when you clean your aquarium to not kill the nitrifying bacteria by removing filter media, gravel, etc and washing in tap water with chlorine.

* A 30 methylene Blue bath can aid in ammonia poisoning. Prepare this with MB and tank water and leave the fish in this bath for 30 minutes then throw away this water (twice per day is recommended)

Please read this very in depth article about the aquarium nitrogen cycle for more information and charts:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html

:~) C

EDIT:
Actually some persons need to read the research behind Prime as this products does not “lock” ammonia where bacteria cannot use it, it still fully bio available to nitrifying bacteria. Please read the above article and the research links there in provided!

Answer 2

You need to understand the cycle process and to change your water and clean the tank much more frequently. Do NOT buy any product to "lock" the ammonia as that will just prolong the time needed to get your tank in a good balance with healthy bacteria. You do need to change about 25% of the water every day until the ammonia and nitrites (not nitrates) read 0. Test the water BEFORE you do the change because it will probably read the same afterward, but the bacteria will do its work over the next day. Continue to do changes daily until it reads 0. Then do your changes every week. Clean the gravel every other week and on the odd week change the filter if it's dirty. That way you won't be upsetting the balance each time. If your tank is 30 gallons or larger, you can do water/gravel/filter changes every two weeks, but if it's smaller, weekly is necessary.
Since your tank isn't cycled, even though it would be by now if you'd cared for it properly, you will do well to read and heed the following:
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

Answer 3

Two ways. First, at the pet store, you can get an additive which will reduce the ammonia. The problem comes from the fish, specifically, the fish urine. Your tank is not healthy biologically. In an ideal tank, a biological culture builds in the gravel and the filter which processes the fish waste products. Also, your filter should have activated charcoal inside. Second, you may not be changing out enough water as often as you should for the size of the tank and the number of fish. Remember, the tank is ecologically separated from the rest of the environment and the bacterial cultures which process the fish waste products can be overloaded if there are too many fish for the volume of the tank.

Answer 4

An immediate solution is Ammo-lock, available from fish stores. It binds with the ammonia and means it will no longer harm your fish. This isn't a solution to your problem.

The partial water changes are a great idea, lots of little water changes will remove the ammonia but won't disturb the water chemistry enough to kill your fish.

Ammonia is produced by the fish as waste and by decaying uneaten food. You always will have ammonia in your tank, you just need to keep it to managable levels. You can do this with a combination of filtration (carbon), and bacterial colonies. The bacteria will establish itself within about six weeks of adding fish to a tank, you can speed it up with Cycle, another product from your fish store. For long term management of ammonia, don't overfeed your fish or have an overcrowded tank.

Removing all the tank's water and changing the filter will destroy the ammonia-eating bacteria in your tank, so you will have to start again. Idealy, new tanks should be run for six weeks before you add fish, or you should only add one or two fish to start with, then slowly build up to your tank's full population once the tank has cycled to develop a working colony of bacteria.

Answer 5

Hi Erica, it's easy-simply do a 30% partial water change using same temperature, treated water to dilute the toxins. Use a test kit to determine how often to repeat the process-ammonia & nitrite above zero is poor water conditions. You also need to be doing regular gravel vacuuming as well as rinsing your filter media gently in the old water you remove from the tank to remove any loose debris-this is what gives you poor water conditions. The link below tells you all bout this in great detail.

Answer 6

Clean the filter and replace the charcoal, exchange at least 25% of the water weekly, siphon clean the gravel at least weekly, do not overstock the tank and do not overfeed the fish. Ask at the local pet store about things to put in the water to bind ammonia

I do all that plus all my tanks have live plants. Dwarf water lilies are so pretty, too.

Edited to add that if you remove the fish and the water and clean the tank, you will have to re-cycle the tank which will take at least a month or your fish will all die in a few days.

Answer 7

regular partial waterchanges with a gravel siphon once a week, that's the way you do regular and good maintenance on a tank
You NEVER break down an established tank
and you NEVER take out your fish when doing a waterchange either

You just need a gravel siphon and clean your gravel with it by siphoning out all the debris and replacing the water with conditioned new water

For right now, i recommend a 50% partial waterchange immediately, then follow up with 25% every 3 days until your ammonia is at least down to 0.25 ppm, after that you just need to keep up with weekly partial waterchanges of 25%




Hope that helps
Good luck



EB



Feel free to email me or follow the link in my profile

Answer 8

well for one do you have an ammonia tester if yes then good now what you need to do is a 50% water change and put nice clean water with aqua safe in it if your dont have aqua safe then you need to let the water sit over night next finish changing the water and check the ammonia levels if they are still high what i do (i just did this cause my ammonia levels were high too) you should do another water change or if you have aqua safe put about 14 drops in and it should take out the ammonia if the levels are still high you can go to your local pet store and there are tablets to take out the ammonia hope that helped

Answer 9

take out the fish and start with clean water you have to redo your tank. lots of work, i know its no fun but for the fish sake you it already.

Answer 10

Just get a new tank.