How can i get rid of very high levels of ammonia in my tank. already change water and filters?

Question

How can i get rid of very high levels of ammonia in my tank. already change water and filters?

Answer 1

My guess is that you have too many fish in your tank to start off with (most people start this way). Also people tend to overfeed their fish. both of these things produce ammonia. If you have a new tank I would not have more than 1/4 the amount of fish that it can hold until the cycle is complete. If you can get some gravel from an established tank and/or the filter cartridge from an established and healthy tank, you can ;put these item(s) in your tank. You can put the gravel in a nylon bag to help establish the good bacteria in your tank or rinse the filter cartridge in your tank to release the good bacteria in your tank.It might look dirty for a day or two but that looks better than dead fish. Oh yes, do partial water changes when the ammonia goes up (abut 20% at a time with dechlorinated tap water.

Answer 2

If your tank is not well established, meaning it is a new set up and hasn't had time for beneficial ammonia eating bacteria to grow, the only way to get it out is by performing water changes or waiting until your tank cycles and can handle the ammonia load.  One way you can make your tank cycle quickly is by adding a product called Bio Spira, which contains good bacteria to cycle your tank quickly.  Other bacteria products don't actually contain the proper bacteria so they don't so anything except compete with the correct bacteria.  

Other than that it will take about 4-6 weeks before your tank will have enough bacteria in it to eat all the ammonia, and the Nitrite as a result of the ammonia consumption.  

Changing the filter really won't have much effect unless it is from a established tank and already has a good biological load on it.

If you already have fish in the tank you can just use a product that detoxifies the Ammonia ( like ammolock or amquel) but doesn't actually remove the ammonia.  This way you can keep your fish safe while your tank cycles.  Otherwise, if you don't have fish in there, look up fishless cycling and that will help a lot.

Good luck

oh and if you don't have fish in the tank and you are still getting high readings the reason might be poor tap water.  But if you do have fish already in the tank they are just replenishing the ammonia quickly after you change the water.

Answer 3

You can try Amquel-Plus, and benificial bacteria like Cycle or Biozyme. You can get these at Petco/Petsmart. Petco also makes generic Cycle and generic Amquel. You also shouldn't have changed your filter because it holds a lot of benificial bacteria that neutralizes ammonia and helps convert it to Nitrate.

Answer 4

I had an ammonia spike in my aquarium.  I had to do a 15-20% water change everyday for a week to get my level down.  Then I was worried about nitrates and nitrites.  I bought a water test kit and checked them everyday until my tank stabilized.  I was overfeeding my fish.  I was not that I was not cleaning my tank because I was changing 20% of my water weekly before this happened. Good Luck I hope this helps.