Fresh water fish - Ammonia problem

[codewarrior00007]

Any fellow fresh water fish tank owners here? I'm having heck of time with Ammonia. Lost some fish today. Did the usual 20% water change drill with Ammonia fighting pills but doesn't seem to be working. Feed has been cut to 1 time a day. Any other ideas?

[StillFocus]

What size is the tank, what kind of fish are in it and how many, and what kind of filtration do you use? Also, how often do you do the water changes?

[codewarrior00007]

What size is the tank, 6 gal

what kind of fish are in it - Guppies and tertras

and how many, 5 now were 7


and what kind of filtration do you use? 1 came with the tank and one extra one

Also, how often do you do the water changes? two times a week in winter three times during summer.

[velvet4269]

Your biggest problem: You have too many fish in too small a space: A general guideline is 1" of fish per gallon of water for warm-water fish (1" if fish per 10g of water for cold water fish). You can sort-of get around that guideline by "layering" your fish: ie, mixing bottom dwellers (loaches, cori cats) with mid- to high-dwellers (pretty much everything else) and/or a fish that doesn't really move much (like an Oto - I'd avoid Siamese/Chinese algae eaters, particularly in such a small tank - they're too easy to mix up unless you buy from a reputable fish store (ie, NOT MajorName PetStore), and tend to be very large). Most people working in a reputable fish store (and most online sources) will tell you that anything less than a 10-gallon tank (and some will go as much as 20-gallons) is almost impossible to maintain. From my own personal experience, I can tell you they're pretty much right.

Also, your tetras & guppies might not mix: don't be surprised if you end up with guppy fry (babies), only to have them eaten by the tetras; and depending on the type of tetras, you could have other problems too - most tetras are schooling fish, meaning they like to live in groups of 5 or more.

Also "1 came with the tank" ... is it an under-gravel (evil, IMO) or is it one that hangs on the back of the tank that you add media to? Are you changing/rinsing the media when you do the water changes? How often & how much are you feeding your fish can affect your ammonia levels - feed too much, and it makes the fish poo more, thus raising the levels of ammonia. You should really only be feeding them once per day, period.

It also sounds like you're doing your water changes too often - you're not giving the tank time to build up beneficial bacteria. You can help that problem if you do a little trick, but it only works if you have a filter than hangs on the back of the tank (like an Aquaflo). Take one of the media sponges, slit it through the middle (keep the sponge in tact!) lengthwise enough to slip over the end of the intake valve. I generally used one the same size as the one that sits *in* the filter - this way, when you rinse one off, you can just slip the one that's been in the tank (not only preventing things that shouldn't get sucked up into the filter from getting in the filter, but also growing beneficial bacteria) into the filter, and slip the other one that you rinse out on the edge of the filter.

It can be frustrating - I lost MANY a fish until I finally got it right: a gorgeous, planted 55g tank that unfortunately, I had to leave with the ex-husband in California - but when you do, it's very rewarding. And try as I might, I never could re-create that tank. Unfortunately, it's been a while since I've kept fish (I moved from a first floor apartment to a 3rd floor condo - the tank couldn't come with me), so I don't have any of my fish-keeping links anymore. I do remember there were several very helpful forums out there, and a Google search should help you find them.

Good luck!

[codewarrior00007]

Thanks for detailed reply.

Yeah, it's small tank. Started out as 1 gold fish my daughter wanted to 6 gal tank minus the gold fish plus tetras and guppies, she actually wanted. Gold fish went back to Petco!

I have all male fish. So that takes care of any kiddies running around.

Guppies seem to hang around the middle While tetras like bottom in their "school". I've 3 Tetras and 2 guppies now.

Filter which came with the tank sort of hangs on the top with a long tube going all the way down with a cage like cap at the bottom. 2nd filter is a Whisper in tank filter double layers of filtering. Has two suction cups on its back.

I use dried up bacteria after the water has been dechlorified (don't know if that's a word) and let it sit for 24 hours for the bacteria to do their thing.

I think the issue started with the Vitamin dried blood worms I got. As compared with regular flakes, fish love them! Flakes were not being consumed and Vitamins were getting gulped down like crazy. I tried to do my best with netting the left over and vacuuming the gravel but I guess something we still being left off.

Yeah I need to get a bigger tank eventually with Salt water fish, Nemo, in it but that's ways away.

Actually it was google result which told me to change water every 20% for a week before the ammonia and algae went way. Those fizz tablets seem to be doing their job to as there was clear difference of toxicity level.

[freybear3]

i just encountered this amonia problem myself for the first time this week, after 4 years of having a tank!

I added 6 goldfish and a shark into a 10 gallon tank. It killed my 12 inch pleco and the shark so far! I did some research and the amonia problem may be caused from adding to many fish at once, which i think happened to me, overfeeding the fish is another reason you might have high amonia in your tank.

[codewarrior00007]

Thanks for replying. They should make these tank expandable! LOL! They know once one gets hang of smaller on he's going to expand!

Yeah I've cut down on Vitamins. These babies are on flakes only! Though my Betta, in a 3 gal tank loves the space.

Did the temperature of the tank go up? I have to kill the lights during day time to lower the temperature. Is this a summer thing?

[StillFocus]

Originally Posted by freybear3

i just encountered this amonia problem myself for the first time this week, after 4 years of having a tank!

I added 6 goldfish and a shark into a 10 gallon tank. It killed my 12 inch pleco and the shark so far! I did some research and the amonia problem may be caused from adding to many fish at once, which i think happened to me, overfeeding the fish is another reason you might have high amonia in your tank.

There's your problem right there. A 10 gallon isn't big enough to support more than 1 goldfish. Their waste output is way too high; they're one of those "1 inch of fish for every 10 gallons" fish.

[velvet4269]

Yup - goldfish are much better suited to ponds. As well, you're mixing cold-water fish with warm-water fish - also a big no-no. Cold water fish need a lot of space to move around in, to keep their blood flowing. As well, they also need the space to grow.

Which isn't to say that I haven't done it & made it work; when I first started fishkeeping, I had 2 goldfish (Zippy & Bob) in a 5g tank with a Betta (George). Surprisingly enough, they seemed to all live quite happily together - the only issue I had (after several months of them living quite happily together) was that after a while, the goldfish started to think George's fins were food. At that point, I learned a lot more about what I was doing, and contributed the goldfish to my ex's father's pond.

[peeperita]

i've kept freshwater tanks for over 40 years now.....when ammonia spikes......stop feeding for a few days.....you're not going to starve them, i promise.....in fact, during the aftermath of katrina, i was out of power for three weeks straight......knowing i had 7 heavily loaded tanks with no power to run the filters, i was running the risk of ammonia spiking......i didn't feed for the entire time and lost maybe three fish by the time the lights came back on......

good luck to you!

peeper