Ammonia Emergency in Non-Cycling Tank?

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try getting some prime handy, it is good at neutralizing ammonia, it could help you out between water-changes, if you don't have much circulation try getting some bubbelers in the tank (this will help gasses transfer between water and atmosphere) also try adding a bit of aquarium salt (if it is safe for gars, im not sure) i read that it helps with ammonia somewhere here but ant remember exactly. It could be "old tank syndrome" which caused this however im not sure. I know that you are a very experienced fish keeper and this shouldn't be much of a problem for the likes of you!

hope i could be of some help, good luck

alex
 
Tskstorm said:
after my ph being back at 7.2 last night its back down to 6... back to the drawing board.... lol back to water changes, going to add some new drift wood this weekend
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Driftwood has always lowered ph in my aquariums. Crushed coral seems to be what helps most people.



Also, Madding, I have always heard that the bacteria goes dormant at a low ph at first. It may be dead at this point, but I would keep up the water changes and continue to check ph to see if you can recoup without re-cycling the aquarium. Like I said in my earlier post, internal hemorrhaging will eventually take the life of your fish with these off the chart ammonia readings.
 
My pH has been at around 7.5, same as my tap, for two days now. I will continue monitoring it each day. It seems to have stabilized, now I need to get rid of the ammonia.

I meant that the initial pH crash (whenever it was) killed the bacteria and now --hopefully-- doing water changes will be good enough until the BB is back in order.

alexpie said:
try getting some prime handy, it is good at neutralizing ammonia, it could help you out between water-changes, if you don't have much circulation try getting some bubbelers in the tank (this will help gasses transfer between water and atmosphere) also try adding a bit of aquarium salt (if it is safe for gars, im not sure) i read that it helps with ammonia somewhere here but ant remember exactly. It could be "old tank syndrome" which caused this however im not sure. I know that you are a very experienced fish keeper and this shouldn't be much of a problem for the likes of you!

hope i could be of some help, good luck

alex
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Thanks Alex. Not sure how much of the thread you read but I use Prime with each water change and I added an aerator yesterday. :D. I always have salt on hand, couldn't hurt to add some, thanks.

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@whoever was talking about their driftwood: You don't want to add more driftwood unless you are trying to lower pH, not raise it.
 
sounds like you have a lack of media/surface area in the tank. Adding more gravel/stone in the tank itself will allow more bacteria to propogate. Also when was the last time you compleltely cleaned out the filter? Sludge can build up over time if its never been scrubbed out over time.
 
kcp1989 said:
sounds like you have a lack of media/surface area in the tank. Adding more gravel/stone in the tank itself will allow more bacteria to propogate. Also when was the last time you compleltely cleaned out the filter? Sludge can build up over time if its never been scrubbed out over time.
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I'm not sure I follow what you mean about the tank. I have a layer of sand across the bottom. In a large tank you do not want stone/gravel, my fish produce way too much waste to risk it getting caught under the substrate. Also I've never entirely cleaned out the sump, the tank is only about a year old and the sump is pretty clean (flashlight can see in pretty clearly, and see the bottom, just some brown clinging to the sides and the bio media, I don't want to clean this stuff away or my tank might recycle). No thick sludge or anything. Do not mean to shoot down your advice, just not sure we're on the same page.

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Ammonia seems to be down to 4 ppm as of last night. These tests are tough to accurately judge when you're dealing with the dark levels of the chart, but it is definitely moving away from the whopping 8 ppm that started this mess. I'd say 4 is an improvement, though still a major problem.

Will be doing a morning and evening water change today.
 
Ammonia seems to be about .25 this morning after a weekend full of water changes. :)

One of the gars just bit me trying to test some water, was bleeding all over the place. I think they need food & soon!
 
Madding said:
Ammonia seems to be about .25 this morning after a weekend full of water changes. :)

One of the gars just bit me trying to test some water, was bleeding all over the place. I think they need food & soon!
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Woot Woot! Raise the roof. I think it was a love nibble.

My gar gave my eel a "hug" once.
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Ammonia is somewhere between zero and .25 tonight. Feeling really good about that.

Weird thing is that there is planaria in the tank right now, after not feeding for 4 days and doing a ridiculous amount of water changes. Any thoughts? I'm used to seeing a couple squigglers, but the ammonia outbreak and water changes seemed to have gotten rid of them. Now that the water is clean again they are back...?

Doesn't really bother me, but making me wonder.
 
Maybe the planaria have been there all along, and now that there is not enough food, they are venturing out of hiding looking for food? I have no clue or experience with them, just making suggestions. lol
 
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