I am so frustrated. The tank was great and now its a cloudy mess and I have fungus spots on my fish again. The ammonia levels are so high and I cannot get them down. I am not overfeeding them and I am water changing and vacuuming and nothing is working. I am almost ready to flush the whole tank (but not quite). I am wondering if the water in my town is really bad and they are using chemicals to test it right now or adding new chemicals. There is a big chemical investigation going on here right now and our community doesn't look good. The environmentalists are here from all over the place. It was about a spill that happened 20 years ago and about companies dumping toxic stuff for years. Those companies are in trouble now. I noticed I was not the only one in the LFS complaining about my tank having sudden ammonia problems.
So Frustrated with my tank
- Thread starter lilfishy
- Start date
You may have to do a larger water change . . . maybe 50%. Sounds like you are in a bad spot . . . not much control over the water company. You may have to resort to aquarium rated chemicals . . . hated to say that . . . . What are your other readings when you test the water? Heavy metals may have gotten into the water supply. Perhaps a lab might do a complete water test on water from your tap . . . maybe the environmentalists have a suggestion.
Sorry about the problem you are having.
Sorry about the problem you are having.
I know that many posts here would suggest against adding chemicals or other agents to your water to stabilze the water in your tank but if you have high ammonia levels you may have to.
I would suggest using AmQuel or adding some ammonia absorbing filter media to your filter.
As the previous post suggested do regular water changes. I would suggest a minimum of 25% or more weekly. Prior to that do the water test of the your tap water like revfred indicated. You may need to let you tap water stand in a bucket for a couple days before adding to your tank, but this may not be feasible depending on the size of your tank.
Keep a constant eye on your tank, the water quality and do not add any more fish until your tank i s stable. I wish you and your fish . . . good luck!
*celebrate
I would suggest using AmQuel or adding some ammonia absorbing filter media to your filter.
As the previous post suggested do regular water changes. I would suggest a minimum of 25% or more weekly. Prior to that do the water test of the your tap water like revfred indicated. You may need to let you tap water stand in a bucket for a couple days before adding to your tank, but this may not be feasible depending on the size of your tank.
Keep a constant eye on your tank, the water quality and do not add any more fish until your tank i s stable. I wish you and your fish . . . good luck!
*celebrate
Just curious:
What did your LFS have to say about the problem? Is your LFS experiencing the same problem? How are they dealing with this problem? Of course, I am assuming that you and the LFS share the same water source.
An expensive alternative (and also a pain in the butt):
You could use Reverse Osmosis water purchased from the grocery store. Though, you would need to use chemicals to restore the minerals that were depleted during the RO process. Just a thought....
Sorry to hear about your water.
What did your LFS have to say about the problem? Is your LFS experiencing the same problem? How are they dealing with this problem? Of course, I am assuming that you and the LFS share the same water source.
An expensive alternative (and also a pain in the butt):
You could use Reverse Osmosis water purchased from the grocery store. Though, you would need to use chemicals to restore the minerals that were depleted during the RO process. Just a thought....
Sorry to hear about your water.
Everyone pretty much suggested my suggestions...try a different source of water or see if you can figure out exactly what is knocking the water out of balance and see if anyone has any chemicals that would help it.
Sorry to hear about your troubles.
Keep us posted
If you don't use stress coat I would suggest getting some, it might help the fish make it through this more comfortably.
Sorry to hear about your troubles.
Keep us postedIf you don't use stress coat I would suggest getting some, it might help the fish make it through this more comfortably.
erm... why not use bottled waters for your tank? not sure how big it is, but that would be quite affordable for a 10-20g and 25% water change a week... thats only 2.5-5 gal. a week at about 60 cents a gallon jug around here. So figure a $1.80-3.60 a week to have a healthy tank til they get things sorted out at the water co.
just a suggestion.
just a suggestion.
If anything, WalMart always has uber-cheap RO jugged water. I get mine for like 40 cents a gallon. Out here in the desert, we have such crappy water it's advised you don't drink it. Hope this helps.
*remembers* ALSO! If you can, if you have water stores around your area.. like a 'Water and Ice' you can get a huge jug of RO water for fairly cheap.
This is what my family used to do with our Oscars and Paranas (sp) and Gouramis.
*remembers* ALSO! If you can, if you have water stores around your area.. like a 'Water and Ice' you can get a huge jug of RO water for fairly cheap.
This is what my family used to do with our Oscars and Paranas (sp) and Gouramis.