Toxic Ammonia levels?

Question

Okay I am having a lot of trouble dealing with ammonia. Yesterday I went into the fish store I always go to to have my water tested. Anyway, my ammonia level was toxic. So I was given that "Prime" ammonia and nitrite remover and some of those ammonia pellet things as well. Well I put in the prime stuff immediately to see what happened. However, I tested the water again today and the level is still the same! I do have fish in there (i have no where else to put em) and they are all still alive! But i feel like theyre suffering so what can i do? Also, how do i use those ammonia removing pellets? It says to put them in the filter but where exactly do you that? Someone help!

Answer 1

I have been keeping fish for 40 years , I have tanks from 20 gallon to 160 gallon and everything in between and I have never used ammonia control compounds in freshwater tanks . A partial water change every 2 weeks to a month taking out from 1/4 to 1/3 of the water and replacing it with fresh water has always worked. If it is saltwater that's a little different yes you do need ammonia control, the pellets can be dropped in behind your filter media and they sometimes take a couple of days to show any noticeable change.

Answer 2

Ammonia is a big issue in aquariums.

Is your tank new or has it been set up for awhile?

If new:

Aquarium water quality begins with establishing and maintaining biological filtration. Proper biological filtration will help ensure aquarium health and rid your water of toxic elements.  Biological filtration relies on the natural bacterial process involved in the nitrogen cycle.  Basically in a nut-shell, you need to have good bacteria build up in your aquarium to cut the ammonia levels down.  The good bacteria needs ammonia for a food source.

If your tank has been set up for awile:

Then either you are feeding you fish way too much, or your tank is overstocked, meaning too many fish in the tank, and they are producing way too much waste for your bacteria to handle. The key is water changes.  I would do 25% at least once a week.  Monitor your feeding habits.  If your overstocked, you may have to get rid of some fish.....

Hope this helps........Good Luck

Answer 3

There are two parts to your question here:

-Why is my ammonia at the same level after dosing with Prime?

This is because Prime does not remove ammonia, it converts it to a non-toxic form. It will still show up on your test, but it's not toxic. Prime is active about 24hrs in your water, at which point any further ammonia produced will once again be toxic.

The beauty of Prime is that the non-toxic form of ammonia is still available to your biofilter bacteria so your tank can still cycle properly. It's an excellent product.

-How do I use those ammonia removing pellets?

Short answer: you don't. These pellets are made of something called zeolite which effectively absorbs ammonia, HOWEVER:

1) that ammonia is never available to your biofilter bacteria, which means your tank will effectively never cycle, which means you'll always have to be doing water changes, and

2) zeolite can become 'saturated' with ammonia, at which point the ammonia will LEECH BACK OUT into your tank, causing a massive ammonia spike that will result in fish fatality quicker than you can get your water change bucket.

I would recommend you get your own test kit so that you don't keep wasting gas going to the store, it'll pay for itself within 5 tests. Don't get the strips, they're notoriously inaccurate. Ask for the API master test kit, it comes with an ammonia test as well as nitrite, nitrate, pH and high-range pH. Plus you get to play scientist with test tubes ;)

Lastly I'd recommend joining a fish-specific forum rather than yahoo, you will get WAY better answers. I found fishgeeks.com to be excellent when I was starting out (then I branched out to forums specific to my fish, such as thegab.org for goldfish.)

Good luck to you and your fishies. :)