Decreasing High Ammonia Levels

Lots of dechlorinator and lots of water changes is probably your best bet. How was this tank cycled? How many fish? How big is the tank? Filteration? All of this can help you get a better and more accurate answer.


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Switch to Prime/Safe, it will remove ammonia and zeolite will do the trick

ShadowCrash said:

We've got a huge ammonia problem with 2 of our tanks, a 2ft and 8ft tank, we've finally managed to get our 2ft tank lowered to 2.0 but our 8ft remains at 8.0! We have stopped feeding them, we have removed all decor and gravel, we've vacuumed and cleaned the tank, and we've been doing 50% WC to both for days and the ammonia level on the 8ft is still not getting better. It took us a good 5 days in doing this before we got the 2ft tank from 8.0 to 2.0, we are worried for the fishes, so is there any faster way to drop the ammonia levels and what are we doing for it not to be dropping?

Thanks in advance.

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Do you know what the nitrogen cycle is ? Your aquarium needs to go through a cycle lasting anywhere from 2- 8 weeks where bacteria in your water feeds off an ammonia source converting it into nitrites which are then converted by another bacteria into Nitrates.

once there is a sufficient amount of Both of those bacterias' to convert toxic ammonia and nitrites then it is safe to add your fish. The reason you are still seeing spikes in ammonia is because your ammonia source is still in the water (The Fish) .

Removing your Decor and gravel may have removed a lot of the beneficial bacterias' which may have begun to multiply on to the surface of the gravel and decor.

Go out and get a product called "Seachem Stability" it has beneficial bacteria which will help. Keep up on the water changes and do not feed .

Give us an update on whats happening

Have you tested your tap water? If not it may be a good idea to establish a baseline and confirm your test kit is working properly.

There have been quite a few threads posted lately regarding high test parameters and most of them ended up being user error or faulty test equipment/reagents.

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Step One: Buy SeaChem Prime. It is a dechlorinator that also binds with ammonia, rendering it relatively harmless, and unlike most binding agents, Prime stays binded permanently.

Step Two: WHile buying Prime, also buy SeaChem Stability. As stated above it is a bottled form of bacteria. It will jump start your cycle and start using up the ammonia in the water. For that tank get at least 2 bottles and have 2 more on hand.

Step Three: RESEARCH THE NITROGEN CYCLE!!!!!!!!!!! It was already laid out in basic terms above. This is the most important step for your fish. You have to have an established tank before adding that large of a bioload.


Add the two products I mentioned to your tank, 50% water changes DAILY until it comes under control.
If you aren't using a liquid test kit (API master test kit is the most widely available/used) then get one. Test strips suck, aren't accurate, and give false readings 60% of the time.

depending on the size of the plecos you have, they are dirty fish. You have to step up your tank maintenance game when you keep plecos. ask anyone on here who has them.

I completely agree with predator and all the above but follow the dosing instructions for Prime. Prime is actually a reduction agent and will reduce dissolved oxygen if it is grossly overdosed, which is not only bad for your fish but also bad for aerobic bacteria.

Prime and Stability. Perfect combo. :thumbup:

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Aquafreak said:

I completely agree with predator and all the above but follow the dosing instructions for Prime. Prime is actually a reduction agent and will reduce dissolved oxygen if it is grossly overdosed, which is not only bad for your fish but also bad for aerobic bacteria.

Prime and Stability. Perfect combo. :thumbup:

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+1 sorry should have said be strict with Prime.

Get more surface agitation going as well. The canister isn't doing anything for your O2 levels. Get a bubble bar, or better yet another HOB filter for gas transfer (plus the added surface area for bacteria to grow)