Problems beside ammonia level within my reservoir?

I'm quite brand new to keeping fish so i'm guessing i'm doing something very wrong. I hold a 15litre tank near a black moor in it. since i get him i've given him ammonia poisoning (thankfully he's ok now) but the ammonia levels are still markedly high. i've be trying to do a 10-20% water alter every few days and adding a solution which says it will help out with reducing the ammonia to see if that help but it is still high

the tester i use is one next to 3 bottles of solution which i add to some of the reservoir water and compare the colour to a chart. apparently it is toxic but not poisonous. i'm going home for christmas and leaving him near a friend and i'm worried about him.

Would a filter (which i be planning on getting when i get his shiny clean tank) help decrease the ammonia levels?

Other information that might help out - he usually has aquarium plants but he's eat them and i used to have a bubble point but it broke recently. the ammonia level dont seem to enjoy changed since i stopped using this


Answers:    Hi Joanne,

I don't speak French either lol. Basically, if I grasp this correct, you didn't have a filter since? That is why your ammonia is high later. The sponge in a filter holds fritter away, but also holds the bacteria requisite to oxidize both ammonia and nitrite. Ammonia will get broken down into nitrite, and next nitrite into nitrates, by two seperate and different bacteria's. This is the short of what they call the nitrogen cycle.

You'll call for that filter to give the germs a place to colonize. I very much reccomend, if you can find, Aquaclear filter. They have a three stage filtration system, the sponge (mechanical), activate carbon (chemical) and Bio max (biological) filtration. The bacteria will reside within both the sponge and bio max parts and keep your cistern clear of ammonia and nitrite.

However, since you did not have this earlier, you are basically at the commencing stage of the cycle, even though your ammonia is already high. Once you acquire the filter up, it's going to take something like 2 weeks for the proper amount of bacteria to grow, so do be tolerant. Once your ammonia starts going down, you'll see your nitrite levels commence to spike. It takes going on for 4 weeks for that process to complete. Once you see nitrites lower, you'll see a rise in nitrate reading. This is a sign your tank is almost grow. Once you are reading 0 ammonia, and 0 nitrite, and only reading nitrates, the cycle is done, purely maintain the reservoir by regular water change.

I'd avoid using chemicals to detoxify the ammonia. This will skew your readings. If you save finding the ammonia high while the cycle is going, merely increase those water change as needed. Cut the food you give down to one feed a day, and lone just adequate food the fish will eat completely. Don't verbs about the amount. Fish do not use food contained by the same deportment you and I do, and you will not be harming your fish by doing this. Food uneated or eat directly = more ammonia. Either by waste or food not eat, the first part of breakdown is ammonia, so hold on to your feeding to a minimum until the cycle is completed.
First you inevitability a filter! thats key, draw from a decent ability one from a reputable fish shop who will advis you. Second are you overfeeding? as most people do. Keep doing the marine changes (treat the hose down before tallying it).

The Pets information post by website user , PetQnA.com not guarantee correctness.


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