Okay what you need to buy is an test kit (liquid, not dip sticks) is ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph. We need those numbers to help. Yes, any amount of ammonia is dangerous. Im glad you are getting another filter. Im assuming your tank is going threw a cycle and your oscar couldn't handle it. Im very sorry you lost your oscar, if I lost mine I would be devistated.
my oscar has died suddenly
- Thread starter livelymc
- Start date
Sorry for your loss.
Ammonia can be deadly at very low levels. In tanks (as an example) with a Ph over 7.5 and temperatures of over 80 (27) degrees will increase the toxicity of ammonia to the point where it will kill your fish quickly. Stop feeding, Do dally a 50% water changes and vacuum all waste and debris from the substrate, also lower the temp in the tank a few degrees (78) to provide immediate relief.
Better filtration for 150 gals will be necessary, I would suggest a 405 and one of the 205s. Over cleaning the filter media will also cause the tank to continue to cycle. Alternate cleanings of your filters so you will always have established media in one. When you clean the filters use only filter water in something like a 5 gal bucket to rinse off the media and if replacing floss replace only half of it at a time so you dont remove too much of the nitrifying bacteria.
Using a chemical like AmQuel during water changes well also help (be aware the certain ammonia reducing chemicals can alter the readings of test kits so read the instructions carefully). When testing your water you want to see Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate 10 to 20 ppm however lower is better but 10 to 20 ppm is acceptable, I should point out here, that Os being susceptible to HITH will benefit from the lowest possible level of Nitrate requiring no less than weekly 50% water changes, if you decide to gat another one. For now I would not add anything to the tank until the current problem is under control. Yes, defiantly get a good test kit and do some research on ammonia toxicity and the nitrogen cycle to get a better understanding of your dealing with.
Ammonia can be deadly at very low levels. In tanks (as an example) with a Ph over 7.5 and temperatures of over 80 (27) degrees will increase the toxicity of ammonia to the point where it will kill your fish quickly. Stop feeding, Do dally a 50% water changes and vacuum all waste and debris from the substrate, also lower the temp in the tank a few degrees (78) to provide immediate relief.
Better filtration for 150 gals will be necessary, I would suggest a 405 and one of the 205s. Over cleaning the filter media will also cause the tank to continue to cycle. Alternate cleanings of your filters so you will always have established media in one. When you clean the filters use only filter water in something like a 5 gal bucket to rinse off the media and if replacing floss replace only half of it at a time so you dont remove too much of the nitrifying bacteria.
Using a chemical like AmQuel during water changes well also help (be aware the certain ammonia reducing chemicals can alter the readings of test kits so read the instructions carefully). When testing your water you want to see Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate 10 to 20 ppm however lower is better but 10 to 20 ppm is acceptable, I should point out here, that Os being susceptible to HITH will benefit from the lowest possible level of Nitrate requiring no less than weekly 50% water changes, if you decide to gat another one. For now I would not add anything to the tank until the current problem is under control. Yes, defiantly get a good test kit and do some research on ammonia toxicity and the nitrogen cycle to get a better understanding of your dealing with.
Agree, tank isn't even cycled. Please dose prime + stability.
That would be about the best thing you can do for your arowana now. They are highly sensitive to ammonia.
That would be about the best thing you can do for your arowana now. They are highly sensitive to ammonia.
wouldnt daily water changes be better then dose with another chem?? imo doseing with prime just covering the problem not resoving it.
If was me i would do at leat 30% water changes every day until the ammonia is at zero.
can overfeeding cause a spike in ammonia? if so may try cutting the food back a little.
If was me i would do at leat 30% water changes every day until the ammonia is at zero.
can overfeeding cause a spike in ammonia? if so may try cutting the food back a little.
yeah i did and i have been changing it daily and will continue too and also lowered the temp to 24 25ish. also have been vacuuming. he looks happy
k0y0te;4988973; said:
Not necessarily. Prime has the benefit of detoxifying the ammonia without leaving it unavailable for the bacteria, so it's only covering the problem until the problem resolves itself (until the bacteria are built back up).
The only problem with this is that you have to stay on top of it, dosing the tanks multiple times per day as soon as ammonia climbs again. It's the same with water changes, you have to keep doing them. I honesty recommend using Stability simply because it actually seems to work. It reduces cycling time to less than a week, which is awesome.
