Is My Tank Having Too Much Free Ammonia?, Not sure about levels tolerated by goldfish Options

[2goldfish]

I have a new tub setup, roughly 70cm(L)x52cm(W)x30cm(D). It has been running for 11 days, 1st four days no fish, then a few small GFs(3) when I thought the cycling had completed (using old tank water).

I added in 3 more (1-1.5inch GFs) as I thought tub should be able to handle?

Two days ago, I bought some anti-ammonia rock (zeolites?) as my Seachem indicator has been reading green since day one. Changed water after 1 week and put it in but no reduction in ammonia as its still at the 'green' colour level (0.05mg/l) free ammonia.

Today, after I put in those 3 layered (coarse, charcoal, fine) combo media with ceramic rings sandwiched inside, the water was getting very cloudy after I repositioned the zeolite, threw out the old OHF filter media but kept the ceramic rings.

I STILL have been getting the same reading...but water has turned clearer by this evening. However, few days ago, the fish were all huddled together at the bottom of tub and occasionally dart here and there. This evening as water got clearer, they seem more lively.

Q: Is there a long term risk to expose them at these rates or should I reduce NH4 to below 0.05mg/l?
Going by HappyBuddha's post about NH4 toxicity levels, it should be ok? RG experts, please enlighten me.

Nitrite reading last taken 1 hr ago: 0.3mg/l
PH: 7.5-7.7
KH: 5-6 dkh

[CP]

Hello,

No offense,but I think you are making a simple hobby complicated.

The aim is to get a cycled tank. 11 days is not enough, and your tank will never be cycled if you use zeolites during the start up.

Put away the zeolites, keep the ceramic rings, let the tank run a month on low fish stock level. Check for nitrates periodically and when detected ( at least 20 to 30ppm), your tank is cycled,and you can then put away your ammonia / nitrite test kits.


Rgds
CP

[2goldfish]

Hello,

No offense,but I think you are making a simple hobby complicated.

The aim is to get a cycled tank. 11 days is not enough, and your tank will never be cycled if you use zeolites during the start up.

Put away the zeolites, keep the ceramic rings, let the tank run a month on low fish stock level. Check for nitrates periodically and when detected ( at least 20 to 30ppm), your tank is cycled,and you can then put away your ammonia / nitrite test kits.
Rgds
CP

Ok thanks! I will remove the zeolites. Just worried that the existing fish may die if the ammonia rises? or even if the ammonia level stays the same?

[CP]

Ammonia level of 0.05ppm is OK. Just perform weekly water changes with your current stock level.

[2goldfish]

Ammonia level of 0.05ppm is OK. Just perform weekly water changes with your current stock level.

The weird thing is that the indicator sometimes reads 'grey' no such colour on the four colour scale? I'm not sure if the Seachem thing really works even though sometimes I remove it from water and it goes back to yellow. So far fishes don't seem affected and water is a slightly greenish yellow so as you said, hopefully weekly water changes should be sufficient to prevent harm.

This post has been edited by 2goldfish: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 1:44 pm

[2goldfish]

Just some updates, fish is ok so far and the ammonia has come down to almost zero as as SEACHEM shows 'YELLOW'.

However, my nitrites seem to have shot up to 1.6mg/l as part of the Nitrogen cycle?

Dear experts, how long can fishies tahan (bear) the higher nitrites? I change 50% water, reduced feeding to two times per day still get the same bloody reading!

[small_ranchu]

I was told and I would do 50% water change when the nitrite hit 1.0 . I have read that nitrite is more harm full to the fish then ammonia.

[desireless]

In simple terms:
Too much of ammonia is fatal and too much of nitrates will cause fish to get sick easily.

If you read our archive topics, we always recommend 100% water change. It just doesn't serve the purpose of water changing by doing 50% every time. There are always traces of nitrate left behind and very quickly it will hit back the same reading again.

Seachem Ammonia Alert is a good and essential tool to monitor water quality in your tank. However, once you get your tank cycled, it won't be neccessary. But it is still good to keep the alert permanently installed in your tank - Whenever it is not yellow, you would know that something is wrong. The "grey colour" is probably light blue.

[bekko]

Adding a little salt will make the nitrite much less toxic. The chlorides in the salt and the nitrite compete for space to cross the gills and enter the bloodstream. You can use the normal salt dose of about 0.2 to 0.3%.

-steve

[2goldfish]

In simple terms:
Too much of ammonia is fatal and too much of nitrates will cause fish to get sick easily.

If you read our archive topics, we always recommend 100% water change. It just doesn't serve the purpose of water changing by doing 50% every time. There are always traces of nitrate left behind and very quickly it will hit back the same reading again.

Seachem Ammonia Alert is a good and essential tool to monitor water quality in your tank. However, once you get your tank cycled, it won't be neccessary. But it is still good to keep the alert permanently installed in your tank - Whenever it is not yellow, you would know that something is wrong. The "grey colour" is probably light blue.

Thanks for the advice! OK, 100% water change seems the only way to get rid of the nitrites.

Adding a little salt will make the nitrite much less toxic. The chlorides in the salt and the nitrite compete for space to cross the gills and enter the bloodstream. You can use the normal salt dose of about 0.2 to 0.3%.

-steve

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I do add 2-3 teaspoons aquarium salt everytime I do a water change.

[Smithy]

Thanks for the advice! OK, 100% water change seems the only way to get rid of the nitrites.

Errr...I thought you need the nitrites so that the nitrite eating bacteria can develop and turn them into nitrates? If you make 100% water change, won't that make a dent in the cycling process?

[desireless]

He has meant nitrates.

Please read on the Nitrogen Cycle link in the article below for more info:
http://www.rafflesgold.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3031

A fully cycled tank must have both Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria coexisting (it is a natural phenomenon for both to coexist). This is what you want to achieve when cycling an aquarium. When cycling a tank, if you are seeing only nitrites at a point of time, it means that the Nitrobacter is not sufficient to handle the nitrites produced by the Nitrosomonas. Then you just need to extend the cycling process and let the aquarium run for a longer time for the Nitrobacter colony to build up. At the end of a successful cycling of an aquarium, you should not be seeing much of nitrites.

When you do 100% water change on a cycled tank, it will not dent the nitrogen cycle.