Didn't cycle tank, ammonia levels are off the chart
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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JRC3
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Re: Didn't cycle tank, ammonia levels are off the chart
I will PriorityMail some cycled filter media to bring your current filter up to speed. What filter are you using now? I or other members will tell you how to properly seed your current filter. If somebody is in the OP's town, the they could do it easier.
There are many knowledgeable fish keepers on this forum willing to help and give great advice...The advice is free; What you choose to do with it gives it value.
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J-P
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Re: Didn't cycle tank, ammonia levels are off the chart
if you are using "Prime" you will still read the ammonia but it is not toxic.
Follow the directions on the bottle and you should be good. The build up of beneficial bacteria doesn't know non toxic forms of ammonia from the toxic forms.
You should be good to go with water changes daily but I personally wouldn't do 80% while using "Prime". More like 25~30%. Make sure you have enough of it to last the next 4 weeks +
Follow the directions on the bottle and you should be good. The build up of beneficial bacteria doesn't know non toxic forms of ammonia from the toxic forms.
You should be good to go with water changes daily but I personally wouldn't do 80% while using "Prime". More like 25~30%. Make sure you have enough of it to last the next 4 weeks +
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Re: Didn't cycle tank, ammonia levels are off the chart
Prime may detoxify "some" of the ammonia but not all. What about at dangerously high levels?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
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Nuclear_Glitter
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Re: Didn't cycle tank, ammonia levels are off the chart
Maybe you could sell some of the GSPs on aquabid.com so you can have a more manageable tank.
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J-P
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Re: Didn't cycle tank, ammonia levels are off the chart
Pufferpunk wrote:Prime may detoxify "some" of the ammonia but not all. What about at dangerously high levels?
not sure... there really is no way of testing it. Our tests can't tell neutral vs harmful ammonia. Also the directions on the bottle are per gallon not per ppm. of ammonia... so that is another question mark.
There still has to be some residual ammonia in there for the bacteria to consume and develop. It is kind of a sticky situation either way. 80% water changes a couple times a day may reduce the ammonia to 0 but it may also delay the cycling process and then you have to match the temps. 30 ~50% will reduce the ammonia but not eliminate it but matching the temps is much easier and there is less rick in delaying the cycling process. It is really a matter of reading the numbers.
When I had that happen to me a while back, and was using prime, when the ammonia hit 4ppm I did a water change with prime to keep it at 2 or under. Being diligent and watching the numbers, I believe, is more important than the actual volume.
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