# High Ammonia



## fluidnyc (Oct 15, 2003)

Hi ALL:

Was wonder why my Ammonia is high for. 
ammo = 3.0 to 4.0
pH = 7.0
nitrate = 0ppm
nitrite = 0ppm to 0.25ppm

My tank *isnt* cycled yet, I got 3 P's in the tank, and around 6 live plants.
I feed my P's everyday, once a day.

I dont wanna do a water change yet, cause I want the tank to cycle.
I added Ammo-lock 2 to detox the ammo. 
The fish look real healthy and are growing. 
I just dont know why the AMMO is high, maybe cause of the live plants along with feeding live fish to the P's? Should I slow down on the feeding?

The fish have been in the tank since Oct. 15th.

Thanks..


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

Since october 15th and still not cycled 







! how big of a tank do you have?

because with ammonia still high and nitrites are zero that means you're at the begining of your cycle. try and go slow on the feeding and water changes are the must-btw water changes won't affect your bacteria, i.e. cycle, since most of your beneficial bacteria is in your filter. Do a 30% water change and add salt, aquarium salt, one tables spoon for every 5 gallons to minimize the affect on your p's.


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## notoriouslyKEN (Jul 31, 2003)

> water changes won't affect your bacteria, i.e. cycle, since most of your beneficial bacteria is in your filter


 Water Changes will affect your cycle as it will take away the food source for the bacteria (Ammonia & Nitrites). This will only delay the cycle longer. I'd recommend throwing your RBPs in another tank or buying some Bio-Spira ASAP.


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## fluidnyc (Oct 15, 2003)

I added CYCLE to the tank the other day, but i dont think that would be the reason.
There is already aquairum salt in the tank.

I was reading this in the information section, but i *didnt* add ammonia, like the article states.

*Q:* how do i know if the cycle is working?

*A:* you initially need three test kits (besides a ph test kit). These kits are labeled as Ammonia, NitrIte, and NitrAte test kits. After a few days of adding ammonia to your tank daily, check your ammonia. Check it every day or every other day. *you should notice the level rising for a while, but then one day, it will lower. As it lowers it should keep lowering. Check for NitrItes. Follow the same steps with this as you did with the ammonia kit. When it lowers, check for NitrAtes. The presence of nitrAtes means your well on your way!* When ammonia and nitrItes are at 0 and you're detecting nitrAtes, do a water change and add your fish (not too many fish at once, you'll push the cycle past it's limit if your ammonia dosing was too low).


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## Noe (Aug 22, 2003)

That right your tank is not cycle. 
When cycling your tank you will notice Ammonia first go high then come down to 0 ppm. When Nitrite goes high then come dowm to 0ppm. Then you will notice that nitrate will be present in you water. That is when you know your water is cycle and is safe to put your fish in the water. Other wise you will hurt your fish internally.
So just be patient. Is better be safe than sorry.


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## Guest (Oct 23, 2003)

fluidnyc said:


> Was wonder why my Ammonia is high for.
> ammo = 2.0 and 3.0
> pH = 7.0
> nitrate = 0ppm
> ...


 Oct. 15th was only like a week ago, so you're right about the tank not being cycled yet.
I'm not sure how long you're fish will be able to live in there if the ammonia keeps going up. Definitely a water change is in order. I'm sure there will be plenty of ammonia in there to feed the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria to begin cycling your tank, even after a few water changes.

I don't know if the 'Ammo-lok 2' affects the tank's cycling time.

That effectiveness of products such as Cycle are in question. You're best bet to speed up your cycling time is to take a hand-full of gravel or filter media from an established tank and add it to yours, effectively inoculating your tank with beneficial bacteria.


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## akio525 (Sep 4, 2003)

fluidnyc said:


> Hi ALL:
> 
> Was wonder why my Ammonia is high for.
> ammo = 2.0 and 3.0
> ...


 keep adding bio spira or cycle and stop adding that ammo lock stuff it will take out ammonia that is needed for the cycle. I figure If they made it his far in an uncycled tank they should be ok since your ammon. and nitrites are only going to get lower. You also might want to add a partial dosage of aquarium salt to help your fish get through it. The full dosage is more for wounds, fin nips, and disease so just go with a partial dosage. You also might want to wait on the water changes until the Nitrates get too high.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Ammo-lock and all those other cycle-aids (except Biospira, which does seem pretty effective for some reason) are basically pure ammonia or very concentrated ammonia-solutions, and might speed up the cycling process a little, but don't expect miracles. Even though the package may mention "contains bacteria cultures" or something along that line, but bacteria don't survive in a plastic container without a steady oxygen and food supply.

I think it's effectiveness is about the same as keeping feeders in the tank while cycling, or putting some food in the tank to let it decay, thus functioning as the initial ammonia source...

I would remove the piranha's from that tank asap: the high concentrations of ammonia can damage your fish (noticable and unnoticable!) And the nitrIte spike, that will follow the current ammonia spike, is equally dangerous to your fish! Before it's all settled, it can take quite some time, and your fish can be dead/sick/injured by then...


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## fluidnyc (Oct 15, 2003)

Judazz I would love to move them to an established tank, but both my tanks are new.

I just checked my nitrites, result is between 0ppm and 0.25

im gonna recheck my ammo now. (result of ammo 3.0 to 4.0)








hope they survive this cycle.


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## mpdt (Jul 16, 2003)

Take your p's out for about 5 hours and throw in some bio-spira asap to bring down the ammonia.


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## fluidnyc (Oct 15, 2003)

I have no place to put them, and nobody locally sells bio spira, 
thats why i had to settle for "Cycle" by Nutrafin.

Im adding more "Cycle" now, and some Ammo-lock 2 again.

Hopefully this will get them thru it.


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## mpdt (Jul 16, 2003)

Go to walmart and get a couple of 5 gal buckets for you p's. I keep 2 near my tanks.


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Judazzz: Ammo-Lock is a water conditioner (not ammonia) similar to AmQuel and treats for chlorine/chloramine and also detoxifies ammonia by converting it into ammonium which still remains as an available food source for nitrifiers. It does not speed up the cycling process (nor does it claim to).

First week into the cycle, it's common to have an ammonia spike. So everything is on course... You do not want to stress your fish out any more than needed so do a water change (20-30%) to dilute the ammonia level in your tank. Don't worry about lengthening the cycle. The health of your fish is the priority. Your neutral pH should help a bit in relieving ammonia toxicity. Just add salt to help with the upcoming nitrite spike. Feed sparingly for the next 2-3 weeks.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

DonH said:


> Judazzz: Ammo-Lock is a water conditioner (not ammonia) similar to AmQuel and treats for chlorine/chloramine and also detoxifies ammonia by converting it into ammonium which still remains as an available food source for nitrifiers. It does not speed up the cycling process (nor does it claim to).


 Whoops...
















What I was reffering to are products that claim to speed up the cycle - picked the wrong stuff...


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## fluidnyc (Oct 15, 2003)

Just did a small water change. about 15 to 20%.

Hopefully the Ammo will go down now, i guess i re-test water tonight.

Hopefully everything will look ok.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2003)

DonH said:


> Ammo-Lock is a water conditioner (not ammonia) similar to AmQuel and treats for chlorine/chloramine and also detoxifies ammonia by converting it into ammonium which still remains as an available food source for nitrifiers.


 Don, I always assumed that Ammo-Lok somehow "locked-up" the ammonia, but apparently that is not the case. 
From what I can figure, it is mostly Sodium Thiosulfate that converts Cl2 to NaCl. It also makes the aquarium water more acidic, converting the ammonia to ammonium, but not really reacting with ammonia.
Is this how Ammo-Lok works?


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

The active ingredient that detoxifies ammonia in Ammo-Lock is not sodium thiosulfate. It's true that using sodium thiosulfate will drop the pH a bit due to the H+ ions that's released during the chemical reaction, but the drop should not be significant enough to convert all free ammonia (NH3) to ammonium (unless you grossly overdose on it).

Even though it may be different chemically (due to patent reasons), I think it works very similar to AmQuel and Prime. The active chemical in these products "bind" to free ammonia and converts it to a less toxic, stable ionized form of ammonia. So you can say that ammonia is "locked-up" during this chemical reaction.


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## PIKEFISH (Jun 30, 2003)

Stop feeding until the problem works itself out- feeding daily is going to make getting your ammo down next to impossible- try feeding every three days or so


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