are my ammonia levels too high?

[kezdoc09]

hi, i got a couple of problems. 1st problem is that i bought a new lido 120l tank set it up entirely as new, waited two weeks and added two danios. Nothin happened so then had to put in 6 neon and a plec out of my other tank and ammonia started going up so i took them out and put them in my friends fish shop. The tank has been goin about 4 weeks now but there is no nitrites or nitrates??
the next problem is i bought another tank rekord 600 but put all my old gravel and filter media in it and my fish ( 4 neons,1 wcmm, 1 plec) waited a week and added a couple of rummy noses and a shrimp (was gonna add more the following week). but then noticed one of the rummy noses had white spot so needed to treat the tank without killing the shrimp so set my old tank up took the filter media back for it and moved the shrimp over. Then the ammonia started rising, i think because the new filter wasn't ready without the old filter, so moved the rummies over with the shrimp and wcmm and neons and plec into the lido. Now the ammonia is reading 8ppm in the rekord and are not going down even tho there is nothin in it?? do i need to try and reduce it in order for it to cycle or will it be ok?? please help!!!

 

[kezdoc09]

ammonia 8ppm, too high to cycle?

hi i got two tanks waiting to cycle, 1 has ammonia at 8ppm and the other only has 1 ppm, will they both still cycle or are readings too high or too low?

please help really can't wait to put my fish in!!!

 

[FroggyFox]

they will cycle as long as there is ammonia...the trouble with the one at 8ppm is that you may have a level higher than 8ppm. Most test kits only go up to 8ppm so anything 8 or above will show up as 8. Thats why we usually suggest getting the level to somewhere around the middle of your test kit chart (like 4ppm) so you can measure it and take note when it starts to lower. I would do a water change in the one with 8ppm and see if you can get it reading a little lower. In the one with 1ppm you might want to add a little bit because if the ammonia all disappears your bacteria will run out of "food" and it will cycle slower. See if you can bump it up just a little bit.

 

[kezdoc09]

thats great i'll do some woter changes on the small one then, the big one produced the ammonia with danios but when the ammonia went up i felt guilty and took them out! they have left fry behind and if i keep feeding the tank will this work?
thanks for your quick response!

 

[FroggyFox]

Hmm I think I'm going to combine this thread with your other one. I was under the impression that you were doing a fishless cycle when I answered the other one. Your tanks need the ammonia to have the cycle continue to progress, but it is highly toxic and stressful for your fish to be living in it in high levels. You already know its stressful because one of your fish got sick...big sign of stress. The best thing to do would be to evenly split the fish between the two tanks and then monitor the ammonia levels. Once the levels get over about 2ppm, you want to do water changes to bring that level back down. It will cycle faster if you leave it high, but your fish will suffer and probably die if they are exposed to those high levels very long.

 

[kezdoc09]

i am doing a fishless cycle, the small tank had old filter in it and was really fine for a couple of weeks till i needed that filter back for my old tank, all the fish out of there have now been split between my old very well cycled tank and a tank in my mates fish shop. So no fish in these tanks. But took your advice and put some water out of the tank reading amm 8ppm into the tank reading 1 ppm now they both read 4 ppm! when i say one of the rummies had white spot, i mean it came with it, i would never keep fish in a tank wit any ammonia which is why half of them have gone on holiday!so suppose i just have to wait now??

 

[FroggyFox]

ok im still very confused....but sounds like now its just a waiting game. When that ammonia gets lower (like under 1ppm) the tanks need some more ammonia to continue cycling. You have filters running on these right? You can seed these two tanks by swishing your filter cartridge/media in them from your established tank or squeezing it over the new filters to make the process move along more quickly.

 

[kezdoc09]

sorry i'm a very confusing kinda girl! basically no fish and both readings of ammonia are 4 ppm. both tanks have built in filters and heaters. Thought about squeezing out my old filter in them but wont that loose bacteria from my old tank? dont wanna have 3 tanks that are no good at mo or the rest of my fish will have to go on hols too!

 

[FroggyFox]

the amount that will come off of your filter from squeezing it or swishing it in there a little bit is insignificant. I'd do it today and then again in a few days. Its basically like rinsing your filter cartridge during a water change

 

[Sarbear4464]

your ammonia levels should NEVER be above 0ppm (or whatever the abbreviation is) I know that for a FACT. Anything above 0ppm can be harmful to the fish. to reduce ammonia levels without buying expensive stuff you should probably vacuum your gravel if thats the substrate you have, and do at least a 25% water change (do 50 if your ammonias really high like above 3ppm) and then dont rinse our your filter but instead get a BRAND NEW filter and replace it.
best of luck
Sarah

 

[kezdoc09]

great i love u guys u been really helpful!! i've posted another thread about which fish to get so if u get time could u help me out with that one?? just really wanna get everything right and wanna meet the challenge of not loosing any fish (apart from old age)! cheers dude x

 

[kezdoc09]

tank u for your help u been great, i got another thread asking about which fish to get so if u could help again that would be great! thanks again ill keep u posted! xx

 

[FroggyFox]

Sarah you are very right in an established tank, you shouldn't see ammonia...however, these tanks are in the initial cycling process and have no fish in them right now Also, if you are having ammonia problems and you replace your filter you will just continue to have problems...in general, since the good bacteria colonizes on your filter media.

 

[kezdoc09]

ok thank u sooooo much my head is much clearer now!!!