# ammonia wont drop!



## TripDs (Oct 11, 2004)

my ammonia has been 8+ for a long long time. month+? whats the problem? my fish seem fine. i do use ammo-lock however. u think my tester is just messed up?


----------



## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

Hey, what company makes the test kit you use? Test kits that use salicylate-type reagents will work better producing a better result. Just curious though, how long has the tank been established and running?


----------



## TripDs (Oct 11, 2004)

i dont have a kit just an ammonia and nitrite tester from aquarium pharmaceuticals, inc.


----------



## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

are you cycling and it won't drop? otherwise i'd say do a partial water change asap... your fish look fine NOW but the longterm effects of ammonia poisoning suck.


----------



## TripDs (Oct 11, 2004)

ive been doing 33% water changes every week (evry sunday). after today i just checked the ammonia and it was the same as usual =/


----------



## Fresh2salt (Jul 16, 2004)

WATER CHANGES WILL NOT HURT THE FISH SO TRY 2 WATERCHANGES A WEEK . I HAD A BAD CASE OF AMMONIA WHEN I HAD 2 OSCAR IN MY 125. I DID 50% WATER CHANGE 2 TIMES A WEEK AND IT WORKED OUT .


----------



## janus (Oct 28, 2004)

If you regarly change your wather, say twice a week half a tank, it would be fine in a few weeks.
Maybe you`ve to clean the bothem.


----------



## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

ammolock depending on the brand, breaks ammonia down and restructures it into a different form/compound. it will still test positive on your ammonia test for NH3, but in fact will be a nonlethal form of it. if you have ammonia in your tank, that's a big sign that you never cycled your tank fully to begin with.. meaning your biofiltration is no where near sufficient for your livestock. if you were adding ammolock since the day you started "cycling", then your tank has not cycled and probably never will if you keep adding it.

if you haven't added ammolock for a while, and your readings still show 8ppm, that means that your tank is heavily overstocked and it will take forever for your tank to establish a bioload sufficient enough for the fish. most fish will die at an ammonia level this high. you don't even know if it's 8ppm... that is the highest marker on the test kit, it could be even higher than that because the test can not give you a reading beyond that. are your fish starting to gasp for air? are they starting to get ammonia burn on their scales? (ammoburn looks like blood stuck underneath the scales)

do heavy water changes for the next few days to bring the ammonia down to really low numbers. watch the ammonia levels every day from there. if it starts to rise again, go buy some biospira and stick it in the tank to help finish cycling your tank. i hope you are using water dechlorinater, (water conditioner), or you will be killing off all the beneficial bacteria in your tank everytime you do water changes. chlorine will rid your fish of a protective slim coat and will also kill off your bacterial colonies. so many possibilities of why you have such high ammo..









give more info about what you have been doing, you'll get better answers this way.


----------



## TripDs (Oct 11, 2004)

the ammolock i have is ammo lock 2 by aquarium pharmaceuticals. i have been using it (just in case) since like 2 weeks after i began cycling my tank and got my fish. theyre not gasping for air. no ammonia burns (due to ammolock i guess) i am using declorinator. so i should heavy water changes? i dont understand how the ammonia could be through the roof right after i do a 33% water change. i have a p and 2 goldfish that were there since cycling (and occassional feeders). isnt goldfish crap very toxic or something. should i remove them? ty


----------



## NavinWithPs (Apr 3, 2003)

do those ammonia removal fize tabs work? or is water change better?


----------



## shoe997bed263 (Oct 15, 2004)

u did cycle your tank right???? i would do a 20% water change ever other day


----------



## Phtstrat (Sep 15, 2004)

Depending on tank size I would do a 15% water change every day for a week or two and then slowly do less and less water changes until you are at your desired amount/week.


----------



## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

unless you used biospira to cycle your tank, 2 weeks is not enough time for a tank to cycle. by adding ammolock, it will increase the amount of "ammonia" according to your test kit, but it's not really ammonia. it's a different non-lethal form of it. read the back of the bottle, it will tell you the same exact thing i am telling you. are you still adding ammolock after you do water changes? check for rotting food in the tank/filters.. or a rotting fish some where. a lot of the times this will cause HUGE spikes in ammonia and nitrates.


----------



## TripDs (Oct 11, 2004)

i am still adding ammolock after i do water changes (just to be safe).

i just did another gravel vac/water change today and checked the ammonia and its still off the charts. its so irritating. there arent any big pieces of rotting food/fish anywhere. someone aid me.

EDIT: fish look fine tho


----------



## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

Hey iwantapiranha, what size aquarium do you have since you never stated that? Also, what filter set-up do you have for that aquarium? In order for ammonia to reach 0.0ppm, there must be nitrifying bacteria existing and living within the filter. Do you have any media for the biological filter to grow within it? How old is the ammonia test kit that you are using? An expired kit might give false results.


----------



## TripDs (Oct 11, 2004)

30gal, whisper 30.

maybe i didnt properly cycle my tank. i added fish n ammolock just in case after the water got cloudy. then i got the tester =/. how would i fix it if this is so?


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Add 3 tablespoons of pre-dissolved salt in that 30 gallon to relieve p of nitrite poisoning. Stop feeding that p for the next week and re-test.


----------

