Ammonia 9-1-1?

aflipfly · Nov 10, 2013

I feel like I should start every post by saying...."Hi, I'm new here. This may be a silly question but": My daughter has a 30 gallon DT, with maybe a 20 gal sump. We added her first fish 4 days ago. It is a royal gramma and of coarse very shy at first. So, I know that I have over fed trying different foods and trying to make sure something floated close enough to her hiding hole for her to quickly grab. Now, I see that my Ammonia is at .5 ppm. Nitrate/Nitrite/pH all look ok. I am alarmed. Should I be? Is there a quick fix? or a band aide? I have been trying to research this, however I feel like I should be taking action at this point and thought some quick advice might be the best thing. THANKS IN ADVANCE for your help.

Singlefin · Nov 10, 2013

Water changes are your friend. They pretty much fix everything. There's no silly questions. We are all here to help and learn. Fish don't need to eat everyday. Over feeding will cause a lot of problems that will take a lot of time and effort to fix. You also don't have to say you're new here. We can tell by your questions.

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Singlefin · Nov 10, 2013

Also by saying your parameters look ok doesn't help. If you have actual test numbers, post them.

Mike J. · Nov 10, 2013

Yes, you should be concerned. If tank was properly cycled you would not have ammonia reading. "The solution to pollution is dilution." Now, you're in a place where you'll have to do frequent water changes as long as there is detected ammonia or nitrites.

aflipfly · Nov 10, 2013

ok, thanks very much for the quick response. I was about to do a water change, but wanted to be sure there wasn't something else I didn't know about. Until next time friends...

cromag27 · Nov 10, 2013

I have a silly question of my own - did you cycle the tank properly?

Singlefin · Nov 10, 2013

Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids.... Great question.

aflipfly · Nov 10, 2013

The possibly silly answer is "I think so". The tank was my brother's year old tank set up. He just upgraded so he had taken everything out of the display tank except the shallow sand bed and some CUC and left it running for several weeks. I added a piece of live rock that I'd had in another tank for a month, then some dry. Perhaps my lack of adequate amounts of live rock has something to do with it. The water change seems to have brought the ammonia down to around .25 ppm. I will do another tomorrow. I probably should have asked what percentage is recommended in this situation. I only did 10% because of the amount of RO water I had on hand. I assume I should do a bigger one tomorrow if the number remains above 0?

Mike J. · Nov 10, 2013

I recommend 10 - 15% every day for the first few days then every other day till you hit 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites.

Dalmatia · Nov 12, 2013

Use some prime if the fish is looking bad, that's the only 911 for ammonia!
If he's ok I suggest you go buy a rock from your LFS to keep your ammonia in check

Eienna · Nov 12, 2013

Dalmatia said:
Use some prime if the fish is looking bad, that's the only 911 for ammonia!
If he's ok I suggest you go buy a rock from your LFS to keep your ammonia in check

Prime is not enough. I know from experience. It does help, but must be coupled with water changes unless it stays approximately at or below 2 or so ppm. Even for 1ppm water changes should be done.

cromag27 · Nov 12, 2013

Remove all livestock and cycle the tank properly. ANY detectable nitrites can be fatal.

aflipfly · Nov 12, 2013

Update: I did two water changes on back to back days. I am testing twice per day. Both of today's samples show ammonia is back to 0 and nitrite has remained at 0. All livestock looks good. Thanks for the tips.

Eienna · Nov 12, 2013

aflipfly said:
Update: I did two water changes on back to back days. I am testing twice per day. Both of today's samples show ammonia is back to 0 and nitrite has remained at 0. All livestock looks good. Thanks for the tips.

Good to hear. Keep watching it.