ammonia poisoning

[crick]

i have a 20g tank and i resently had to move my fairly new tank from my parents house to school making the tank even newer
i have 3 garra, 3 zebra nerite snails, and 1 platy
soon after i got the platy i noticed its down turn in health did some research and found it to be ammonia poisoning, yesterday i bought and ammonia insert for my filter and today i did a 30 % water change cleaning some of the substrate as well and resently put peat moss in my filter as well in an attept to lower the ph as i have partial limestone substrate thinking that may have been causing a problem as well.

today he appears to be moving around more but not much i have noticed his gills are very red, should i give up and remove him from my tank or wait it out to see if he recovers?

 

[OrangeCones]

What is an 'ammonia insert'?

If I were you, I would test the water to see what the ammonia and nitrite levels are. Then I would keep doing daily 50% water changes until both readings are zero.

Just my 2cents,
OC

 

[crick]

my type of filter you can get certain inserts for different things for example an activated carbon insert, bio max(for help make environment for good bacteria) and ammonia insert that is supposed to help remove ammonia and nitrite. yes i know i need to test my water but i am in a situation this week of limited resources but i may be able to get out tomorrow to a pet store.
any suggestions on a test brand? and is gh and ph important as well?

 

[KcMopar]

gH and pH is of little importance if you are always using the same water source. Important is the test kit is a liquid type and not those dip strips as they are not very accurate compared to the color changing liquid test kits. Even if your resources are low you should do water changes as this is the most important thing you can do if you do not have means to test the water. This alone will most likely keep your fish alive. Be wary of claims about a product removing ammonia and nitrite, save your money and just buy some good water conditioner. OC has a brand she recommends but I do not remember the name.

 

[crick]

thanks for all the help