How to reduce amonia level?

Question

hoca can i reduce amonia level, i have a 10 gallon tank and am trying to cycle it.
I have added one 2 small tetras to it. They seem to be doing good and playful for almost 3 days now.

I checked the ammonia level and they care coming up to .5ppm which is showing stress (light green ) on the test kit.

how do i reduce it.
In fact it has been the same all since the day 1...

shoud i be concerned with it or is it ok?

If so how do i reduce the amonia level, i do not want to add bottled water as it may screwe up all the ph levels..

thx

also how soon can i added more fish to my tank, it is 3 days since my tertras have been added.
I am planning to add dwarf gouramis to the tank, my be 2 of those...

Answer 1

Just keep doing partial water changes. Its normal for the ammonia to spike when you are cycling a tank. beneficial bacteria will start to grow, but in the mean time you need to do frequent water changes so as not to hurt the fish. about 10-15% every day or every other day should do the trick.

Answer 2

those are the fish im getting for my 10 gallon two but im getting 2 species of tetra and 1 gourami but my aquarium is still cycling. ok you can either do two things and they are either change 50% the water right now and maybe change it 25% in a day or two till there is no ammonia or you can go to a pet store and buy some stuff to take you ammonia down like tank buddies or tetra the company that makes aqua safe and they also make stuff to take your ammonia down i would change the water though i take the ammonia down faster (well at lest for me it dose, i have 2 aquariums) then you water should be ok. and you should just use bottled water you can just use tap water and let it sit over night in a clean empty 1 gallon carton or you can just use aqua safe or another water conditioner Good Luck, Have New Year, and Happy Fish Keeping

Answer 3

Do not overfeed. Complete regular water changes (10%) every 3 days. Test regularly. Amquel+ can help reduce stress of the fish. You shouldnt be concerned. This is the process of the fish. The tetras may die in the cycle but its the risk you take. Do not add any more fish into the tank. Good luck.

Answer 4

Besides doing weekly water changes (at least 25%) depending on what type of filter you have you can add Ammo chips or ammonia reducing bags to the filter until your "good" bacteria starts to grow..

Answer 5

Do not add any morefish until your ammonia is zero ppm, nitrites are zero ppm as well. Ammonia is toxic to fish and it becomes more toxic the higher you pH is. If you add more fish you add more ammonia. the best thing to do is this. Add Seachem Stability, Seachem Prime (everyday to reduce stress). and do a 2 gallon water change if it gets any higher. In about 4-7 days your ammonia will be higher. Ammonia burns the gills of fish and nitrites deprive oxygen to the red blood cells in fish. hope this helps any.

Furthermore, Ammonia can be reduced by having the beneifical populations of bacteria present in your tank all ready. the second way is to dilute it by doing a water change with water that doses not have any ammonia in it. The third is adding the seachem prime which does not remove the ammonia but converts it into a less toxic form for 24 hours. Its still in the tank and will still show on a test kit.