# Help! High ammonia levels!



## stevef10 (Feb 8, 2009)

I have a 125 gallon freshwater tank that we cycled with roseys (we now know about fishless cycling but a local pet store advised us to do it this way) and we saw a spike in nitrites and then low ammonia levels. We added our fish a couple every week or so and all was well for a few weeks. Then the fish got ich. We dealt with that but lost a few fish. Now we have 2 tiger oscars, 2 electric blue jack dempseys, 2 bala sharks and a pleco. All are juveniles around 2" - 2 1/2". After the ich problem, during a routine water change I cleaned the filtration system with tap water which I now know killed all the beneficial bacteria. We had what I'm assuming was a bacterial bloom because the water was cloudy for a couple days then cleared up. Since then, the ammonia has been off the charts for over a week and we can't seem to get it under control. We have tried a couple different things including Ammo Lock and daily water changes up to 25% per day with heavy gravel vacuuming but the ammonia is still high. According to API ammonia test kit, dark green is 8.0 ppm and our tests get dark green after a couple minutes. 
So I guess my question is, is the tank re-cycling? And if it is, how long should it take and what should we do? Could it be lack of filtration? We have a Rena Filstar xP3 that is rated at 175g and 350 gph of flow. It's set up like this: bottom tray - 20ppi and 30ppi foams, middle tray - bio-chem stars, top tray - RENA crystals, ZeoLite ammonia remover and micro filtration pad. Should we add another xP3 to our aquarium? 
Both my wife and I are fairly new to aquariums, we both had smaller ones when we were kids but that's about it. Any help you could offer would be appreciated!! I tried to include everything I could think of but let me know if you need any more info. Thanks!

Update: I just tested for nitrites and it's high too, around between 3.0 and 5.0 ppm. Our fish seem to be stressed too, picking on each other so any help would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

At those numbers I would recommend 50% water changes daily until they are no higher than 1.0 each. Yes the tank is cycling. at numbers that high there are some serious things that could happen and you want to avoid them as much as you can. Pay attention to gasping at the top for breath and any red streaking through the fins. Those are signs of ammonia/nitrite poisoning. The cycle will happen  Do the best you can and learn from this. 

If you have another tank with filter media then I would squeeze the dirty filter sponge contents right into the filter of this tank. If you don't have that they find out if any of your friends do. If not then you can always ask your local fish store for a bit of their gravel that is set up in running tanks. You want it as gunky as you can get it, not pristine. Hang that in a clean stocking in the tank. That will bring over beneficial bacteria. 

Stability will help. Tetra safe will help (I think that is the name of the biospira product), if not you can see about finding some Biospira. Those have the beneficial bacteria in them and can really help with the cycle process. You can do all of these together too. 

Good luck with this, know that there are ways to get help, just need to be vigilant and ask around. Friends friends etc. Someone has a tank!

Hope that helps.


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## stevef10 (Feb 8, 2009)

Thanks for the advice Obsidian! We are definitely learning a lot from this. We are using something similar to Stability called Top Fin Bacteria Supplement. It's the same stuff we used when cycling the tank the first time. And what about using aquarium salt? We have heard both good and bad things about using it. What's your opinion?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

You can use some salt to help with the toxicity but you are honestly pretty well beyond what it will help you with. You can add 1 teaspoon for 5 gallons while you are going though this. Add it slowly (over the course of a day) and only add it back in after every 2nd water change. When you add it in for a water change you only want to add enough for the amount of water you are replacing, not enough for the whole tanks capacity. Salt is not evaporated off and only gets removed via water changes. That is why I am suggesting replacing only every other water change as it will help you from putting too much salt in. When you are done with this situation you can remove the salt by simply not adding it back in during water changes. It will eventually go away 

I have not heard of the product you mentioned, but if it has the bacteria like stability then it will help. If you can find filter media from an established tank you will be significantly helped.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

A few things to consider

1) The ammo-lock you used can throw off your readings on ammonia and nitrite as a side effect of using this product because the test kit cannot decifer whether its ammonium or more toxic ammonia. 
2) adding "topfin bacteria suppliment" is not the same as adding stability. Stability has been proven to work... these generic brands tend to be snakeoil and do more bad than good... stop using it and get stability or Biospira.
3) Stop feeding your fish. Less waste and leftover food = less ammonia. Feed lightly every other day.
4) Do some water changes (50-25%) every day until your levels come down (either from the ammo-lock or from actual readings)


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

FF do you know the name of the new product that will eventually replace Birospira? I know that one is out on the shelf in many stores and it might be easier to find.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

It's called SafeStart by Tetra.

Your ammonia & nitrite levels are quite high, and in fact so high that they are even injuring the bacteria which eat them, ( slowing down your re-cycle bigtime ) so some big water changes are definitely needed, and fast. Do that before adding Stability or SafeStart or BioSpira, so they'll have a chance.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Safestart I think


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## Preston (Feb 7, 2009)

*lower amonia*

i used to have amonia spikes all the time in my tank until i began useing marineland white diamond. also planting real plants lowers amonia too. i dont even do water changes anymore in my 29 gallon planted tank and the amonia and nitrate always stay extremly low if even there. hope this helps!


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## stevef10 (Feb 8, 2009)

Thanks everyone for your help! I did a 15% water change today but I'm going to do a 50% water change first thing tomorrow and then add Stability. I'll let you know how it goes and if I have any more questions. Thanks again!


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Preston: that's a dangerous practice, never doing water changes. Your pH will eventually crash, I'd imagine your nitrates will get quite high.

A properly cycled tank with no decaying matter should always read 0 on both ammonia and nitrite, and it's safest for your fish to keep nitrate below 40 (I keep it below 20)


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

You might want to ease up on the gravel vacs. The bacteria also grows in the substrate, not as much as in the filter media, but every little bit helps at this point so don't disturb it. Just do a light pass over to pick up the biggest gunk but don't vac the whole tank at once.


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## stevef10 (Feb 8, 2009)

Thanks to everyone who gave us advice. We think we're back on track! Before we did a 50% water change today I tested the water and it was down to about 2ppm of ammonia but the nitrites are still pretty high. So I guess my next question is what should we do about the high nitrites? We're planning on doing daily water changes until the ammonia gets to zero but is there anything we should do to speed up the cycling process or just wait it out? I've been adding Stability with every water change, is that enough?


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

keep doing water changes daily til both ammonia and nitrite is 0, then you can ease up a bit and do them every other day for about a week.


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## stevef10 (Feb 8, 2009)

just wanted to thank everyone again for their help. after doing water changes every other day and using prime and stability both the ammonia and nitrites in our tank are at 0 ppm!! this forum really helps especially for beginners like myself!


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