Fish got ammonia poisoning

[bensoo00]

I let the ammonia get too high in a qt tank and they all were suffering hard. I put some back in the DT and they are ok albeit breathing heavily but the diamond goby and long nose hawkfish are stationary. The goby is breathing really slow and the hawkfish is breathing somewhat fast. Is there anything I can do to help them? I put an air stone, turned off the wave maker, and lowered the return flow so they don’t get tossed around by a strong current. I’m really worried for this fish, and the DT has 0 ammonia.

 

[bensoo00]

this is all I could do for them, are they too hurt to save?

 

[littlefoxx]

@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

 

[Reef By Steele Verified Sponsor]

Aerating with the stone is a good thing. Trouble with ammonia is it burns their gills. Maybe turn your lights of as I believe that can reduce their stress and then just have to wait and see how they respond.

Are these new fish or did you have to take them out of the DT to treat something?

 

[bensoo00]

Aerating with the stone is a good thing. Trouble with ammonia is it burns their gills. Maybe turn your lights of as I believe that can reduce their stress and then just have to wait and see how they respond.

Are these new fish or did you have to take them out of the DT to treat something?

I took them out of DT to treat ich but my ammonia spiked so I had to take them out, I didn’t even begin treatment yet though and they were in the ammonia spiked water for about 40-1hr I believe. The hawkfish has passed as his gills were insanely red but the goby is still fighting. The clown goby swims around so I’m not sure about him.

 

[Reef By Steele Verified Sponsor]

I took them out of DT to treat ich but my ammonia spiked so I had to take them out, I didn’t even begin treatment yet though and they were in the ammonia spiked water for about 40-1hr I believe. The hawkfish has passed as his gills were insanely red but the goby is still fighting. The clown goby swims around so I’m not sure about him.

So sorry. Another option may be to dose some H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide). Look up humble.fish or google treating velvet with H2O2. Not for treatment, as it doesn’t work on ich I was told, but adding it to the water increases the O2 content and it breaks down into water. But there can be some issues with overdosing so find that post to be safe.

 

[Reef By Steele Verified Sponsor]

Actually I remembered I have it book marked. Here is the link.

How To - Peroxide (H2O2) dosing for parasites in reef tank

***Current dosing recommendation for active outbreaks, using 3% hydrogen peroxide*** (a TLDR for people who just need to know how to get started) Week 1: 1mL/8g, 3x per day Week 2: 1mL/5g, 3x per day Week 3: 1mL/5g, 3x per day, plus overnight dosing. Continue the week 3 dosing regimen for a...

humble.fish

 

[vetteguy53081]

No peroxide and do at least 30% water change and add carbon as well as increasing aeration with air stone, however often Ammonia is to blame for heavy breathing and cloudy eyes when it can be bc simply flukes or other issue
How were you testing ammonia?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Don't use peroxide on fish if you suspect ammonia damage to the gills - that is just going to cause further damage.

The scopas tang is also breathing very fast in the video.

How high did the ammonia go and what is the tank pH? I want to rule out that the issue is actually an ammonia problem, and not a continuing disease issue. We see this issue fairly often - people start a treatment for a disease, they symptoms get worse, and the person thinks the worsening symptoms is due to part of the treatment, when actually, the issue is related to a continuation of the diseases.

Jay

 

[bensoo00]

Don't use peroxide on fish if you suspect ammonia damage to the gills - that is just going to cause further damage.

The scopas tang is also breathing very fast in the video.

How high did the ammonia go and what is the tank pH? I want to rule out that the issue is actually an ammonia problem, and not a continuing disease issue. We see this issue fairly often - people start a treatment for a disease, they symptoms get worse, and the person thinks the worsening symptoms is due to part of the treatment, when actually, the issue is related to a continuation of the diseases.

Jay

Both badge and strip turned green so I assume it would have been 0.05ppm + and the ph is 8.4

 

[bensoo00]

Don't use peroxide on fish if you suspect ammonia damage to the gills - that is just going to cause further damage.

The scopas tang is also breathing very fast in the video.

How high did the ammonia go and what is the tank pH? I want to rule out that the issue is actually an ammonia problem, and not a continuing disease issue. We see this issue fairly often - people start a treatment for a disease, they symptoms get worse, and the person thinks the worsening symptoms is due to part of the treatment, when actually, the issue is related to a continuation of the diseases.

Jay

Also my desjardini tang is lying down, is he moribund? Is there anything I can do?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Both badge and strip turned green so I assume it would have been 0.05ppm + and the ph is 8.4

Badge and strips are the ones I trust the least
Please don’t spend $18 on cheap tests to maintain a couple hundred of dollars of fish
But good test kits such as Hanna and salifert brands are industry bests and offer you the best results

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Both badge and strip turned green so I assume it would have been 0.05ppm + and the ph is 8.4

0.05 ppm is just at the detectable limit for most test kits, did you mean 0.5 ppm? 0.05 won't harm the fish unless they are at that level for days. The high pH does tend to make the ammonia more toxic though.

Jay

 

[bensoo00]

0.05 ppm is just at the detectable limit for most test kits, did you mean 0.5 ppm? 0.05 won't harm the fish unless they are at that level for days. The high pH does tend to make the ammonia more toxic though.

Jay

It probably was higher then, which was an error of my fault. Everyone else is ok besides the goby who eats and swims but breathes a bit slower than usual and doesn’t move or sift sand as he usually does.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Also my desjardini tang is lying down, is he moribund? Is there anything I can do?

As I mentioned, the scopas was breathing fast in the first video, and now, this one has crashed on you. One possibility is that this is the gill parasite called Amyloodinium, or velvet. If so, you would need to treat all of the fish with a full dose of coppersafe or copper power ASAP, and you will likely lose the sailfin.

I cannot tell you 100% that this is the issue, but it seems likely....

Jay

 

[bensoo00]

As I mentioned, the scopas was breathing fast in the first video, and now, this one has crashed on you. One possibility is that this is the gill parasite called Amyloodinium, or velvet. If so, you would need to treat all of the fish with a full dose of coppersafe or copper power ASAP, and you will likely lose the sailfin.

I cannot tell you 100% that this is the issue, but it seems likely....

Jay

Got it, thank you. I’ll get them in qt once again.

 

[bensoo00]

As I mentioned, the scopas was breathing fast in the first video, and now, this one has crashed on you. One possibility is that this is the gill parasite called Amyloodinium, or velvet. If so, you would need to treat all of the fish with a full dose of coppersafe or copper power ASAP, and you will likely lose the sailfin.

I cannot tell you 100% that this is the issue, but it seems likely....

Jay

If it is velvet, all the fish would have it right? The tang has been in the system for 2 months now and as of now he is the only one breathing fast. Could it just be stress or he is recovering from any ammonia burn because I retested the water and the ammonia was quite high and my pH as I am looking at the strip (which is unfortunately the only test kit I have) is redder than what 8.4 is. Would this be why my fish got hit so hard in the uncycled qt? Also, is it ok to cycle that qt and use copper power? I am unsure of how copper power affects nitrifying bacteria. Thank you in advance for the help, I really appreciate it.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

If it is velvet, all the fish would have it right? The tang has been in the system for 2 months now and as of now he is the only one breathing fast. Could it just be stress or he is recovering from any ammonia burn because I retested the water and the ammonia was quite high and my pH as I am looking at the strip (which is unfortunately the only test kit I have) is redder than what 8.4 is. Would this be why my fish got hit so hard in the uncycled qt? Also, is it ok to cycle that qt and use copper power? I am unsure of how copper power affects nitrifying bacteria. Thank you in advance for the help, I really appreciate it.

Well, not knowing what the actual ammonia level was makes it difficult to guess if that is the root issue or not.

If it is a disease, then copper power has little negative effect on nitrifiers - maybe knocks them back 25% or so.

Jay