# what the heck



## huntfishcampin (Nov 12, 2003)

My 75 will not get rid of it's ammonia! I've tested the water for ammonia 
today 3 times! Do my piranha have overactive bladders or something? WHATS WITH ALL THE AMMONIA! 
I put the right amount of amquel ammonia killer (the orange
bottle) in there and theres still tons of ammonia . Please help! I need to get my water normal.I've had the setup for about a year now running.


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## fluidnyc (Oct 15, 2003)

1yr old tank with high ammo, why not do a 50% waterchange..also syphon gravel.

Then test it..see if ammo goes down..
then see if it goes back up..and and fast..

whens the last time you cleaned your filter..


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## Guest (Nov 28, 2003)

huntfishcampin said:


> I put the right amount of amquel ammonia killer (the orange
> bottle) in there and theres still tons of ammonia .


 I believe the Amquel 'locks up' the ammonia and renders it safer for the fish. It doesn't actually eliminate the ammonia. The ammonia will still show up on a test.

There are many things that could cause ammonia to build in an established aquarium. Three are: inadequate biofiltation, overfeeding, and uneaten food.


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## 14_blast (Oct 6, 2003)

and weekly water changes at least 25%


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## huntfishcampin (Nov 12, 2003)

ok thanks


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## huntfishcampin (Nov 12, 2003)

Fluidnyc; i clean my filters every month ...(2 big filters)
and change that charcoal like every 3 1/2 weeks


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## RBPFan (Dec 1, 2003)

Hey, dumb question, but how do you cleany your filter. I know to rinse the carbon and amonia crystal insert things, but should you clena the floss pad thing or just change it. If you change it do you run the risk of loosing beneficial bacteria? I dunno, dumb question.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2003)

RBPFan said:


> Hey, dumb question, but how do you cleany your filter. I know to rinse the carbon and amonia crystal insert things, but should you clena the floss pad thing or just change it. If you change it do you run the risk of loosing beneficial bacteria? I dunno, dumb question.


 No, that's not a dumb question.

Carbon adsorbs chemicals from the water. I doubt it can be regenerated and there fore it serves little purpose to rinse it off. (unless there's crap on it restricting the water's flow through the filter).

The ammonia crystal insert is unnecessary if your tank has been up and running for a while. An established tank has enough bacteria to 'eat' the ammonia and so it doesn't need to be removed. So there's probably no need to replace that.

The floss pad, depending on the specifics of your model filter should be maintained. Ideally, you could rinse it off the bucket of discarded fish tank water when you do a water change. This will clean all the solid crap off it so it flows well and conserve the ammonia eating bacteria that live on it. If that can't be done, either washing it in tap water or replacing it with a new one will suffice.


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## Noe (Aug 22, 2003)

Bullsnake said:


> RBPFan said:
> 
> 
> > Hey, dumb question, but how do you cleany your filter. I know to rinse the carbon and amonia crystal insert things, but should you clena the floss pad thing or just change it. If you change it do you run the risk of loosing beneficial bacteria? I dunno, dumb question.
> ...


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

AmQuel will render most ammonia test kits useless by giving false high readings. Buy an ammonia test kit that uses salicylate reagents.


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