Cannot get Ammonia to ZERO!
- Thread starter CrystaliZed
- Start date
Geez! You got a lot of good advice in a hurry! I'll add my 2 cents. Once you have a good base of good bacteria built up, it's OK if your tap water has small amounts of ammonia in it. Your fish load might be too high so you might need at least temporaily to remove a couple. You don't need an RO unit. Spend the money on more filtration.
I don't think any one suggested this but you might try and place a friends "dirty" filter pad to try and boost up the bacteria load.
Good luck and keep us posted!
mark
I don't think any one suggested this but you might try and place a friends "dirty" filter pad to try and boost up the bacteria load.
Good luck and keep us posted!
mark
I'm sure the fish load is too high... right now theirs 5 large fish in the 55 plus I have a divider up b/c the Cichlid picks on the Balas bad... their lookin pretty beat up from it...
I have 2 of the Whisper EX-70's on the back (basically what's stock for that tank) and I believe it'll be fine for when the Cichlid is in there by herself which is the plan... this whole "5 large fish stuck in the 55" is a temp ordeal until this 180 is complete but I'm not sure how much longer I'm gonna need or what to do w/ the cramped fish in the 55 until then.
I don't know anyone else who does tanks like we are so I have no other media pads to use and I don't have anywhere else to put the fish for now...
I have 2 of the Whisper EX-70's on the back (basically what's stock for that tank) and I believe it'll be fine for when the Cichlid is in there by herself which is the plan... this whole "5 large fish stuck in the 55" is a temp ordeal until this 180 is complete but I'm not sure how much longer I'm gonna need or what to do w/ the cramped fish in the 55 until then.
I don't know anyone else who does tanks like we are so I have no other media pads to use and I don't have anywhere else to put the fish for now...
The Stability & Prime don't seem to be working... I've been using them for 3 days now as proper dosage. They have not been fed in this time. I actually lost one of my Balas tonight... 2 hrs before he died, he had a syndrome where his mouth was stuck open and he looked as if he was shedding skin. Like a white flaky look. I discovered he had a mouth & skin fungus... the other 2 Balas I have left also have this white flaky look... not nearly as bad and they don't have the mouth issue yet, so I did a 15 gallon water change w/ RO water instead of tap & started medicating w/ Melafix. It's hard to fix the situation as the tank is only 7-8 wks old b/c I had moved so not enuf Biomedia is established.
Your tank is going to take time to cycle even with stability.
Since you have described as overstocking your tank, then I definitely would want the most efficient bio media that can fit in the limited space of your filtration.
Prime will detoxify the ammonia present in your tap water and convert to ammonium.
unless your using a test kit that can differentiate between Nh3 and Nh4 (like seachem), Most likely your reading total NH3 NH4 if using a kit like common API brand one.
What are your other readings such as nitrite and nitrate ?
Since you have described as overstocking your tank, then I definitely would want the most efficient bio media that can fit in the limited space of your filtration.
Prime will detoxify the ammonia present in your tap water and convert to ammonium.
unless your using a test kit that can differentiate between Nh3 and Nh4 (like seachem), Most likely your reading total NH3 NH4 if using a kit like common API brand one.
What are your other readings such as nitrite and nitrate ?
rhodes...
My Nitrites were .5-1.0 as well...
Nitrates were at 0.
Temp is 80
pH dropped a bit to around 6.8 b/c my one Bala had died & I know that medicating will bring the pH down some
As of last night after my other Bala died... I've been using Melafix and a Stress Coat...
I was told the Melafix is a natural remedy for body & mouth fungus that wouldn't mess w/ what little biological I have and the stress coat had aloe in it which would help protect their coat as this seems to be whats peeling off of them... I've been using Eheim bioballs along w/ phos-loc pads in the filters along w/ the regular carbon pads.
The carbon has been pulled tho so I can use Melafix.
Ugh... so frustrated... Right now I'm just trying to do the best I can and keep an eye on it...
My Nitrites were .5-1.0 as well...
Nitrates were at 0.
Temp is 80
pH dropped a bit to around 6.8 b/c my one Bala had died & I know that medicating will bring the pH down some
As of last night after my other Bala died... I've been using Melafix and a Stress Coat...
I was told the Melafix is a natural remedy for body & mouth fungus that wouldn't mess w/ what little biological I have and the stress coat had aloe in it which would help protect their coat as this seems to be whats peeling off of them... I've been using Eheim bioballs along w/ phos-loc pads in the filters along w/ the regular carbon pads.
The carbon has been pulled tho so I can use Melafix.
Ugh... so frustrated...
Right now I'm just trying to do the best I can and keep an eye on it...If your tap water has ammonia, I second the pothos plant idea. Search it in the forums, the roots go in the water but the leaves hang down off of the back or side of tanks. They apparently suck up ammonia etc really well and thrive.
Will try to look for that plant.
Will that mess w/ the biological set up of the tank or anything else thats crucial?
I have no experience w/ live plants in aquariums so I'm wondering how this will affect the fish I have...
(1 Bala, 1 Catfish & a Vieja Zonata Cichlid)
I just did my readings in my tank for what I could and currently they are:
Ammonia - .5-1.0
Nitrites - .25
Nitrates - .5
pH - 6.4 (low obviously b/c I'm medicating the tank w/ Melafix to help w/ a body & mouth fungus the Balas have & also using a slime coat protector)
GH - 161.1 ppm
KH - 35.8 ppm
I actually just had another Bala shark die...
Will that mess w/ the biological set up of the tank or anything else thats crucial?
I have no experience w/ live plants in aquariums so I'm wondering how this will affect the fish I have...
(1 Bala, 1 Catfish & a Vieja Zonata Cichlid)
I just did my readings in my tank for what I could and currently they are:
Ammonia - .5-1.0
Nitrites - .25
Nitrates - .5
pH - 6.4 (low obviously b/c I'm medicating the tank w/ Melafix to help w/ a body & mouth fungus the Balas have & also using a slime coat protector)
GH - 161.1 ppm
KH - 35.8 ppm
I actually just had another Bala shark die...
