ammonia problem

[kat]

:(( very new to this fish business and ended up with ammonia problem, which i have now got under control. water tests have all been good but am now terrified of another flare up. i have 60l tank, and have received lots of conflicting advice about everything so i am now confused! i have 2 dwarf gouramis and two silver sharks, will the sharks outgrow my tank? i was told when i bought them that they would not but the more i read the more i think they will?! will doing a water change of 25% once a week help prevent ammonia build up? i have cut back the amount i was feeding as well. i was also sold two male gouramis, who get along okay but if i bought a pair of females would i be asking for trouble? you are probably shrieking by now but i am desperate for some good advice! :o

[Ghengis]

What sort of filtration are you using, and what is the flow rate? Many people like to use products like Cycle or Stress Zyme

or whatnot to fight Ammonia, but (at the risk of going against the general consensus) my fave method is to go to my LFS and

ask very nicely for a squeezing of one of his filters. Absolutely chocka's with Ammonia devouring bacteria. Cannot be beat.

Just be very sure that you trust whoever you go to. Many petstores are teeming with all sorts of diseases and infections that

you DON'T want in your tank. You will be surprised at just how quick that Ammonia disappears. After that, you can use the

Cycle or Stress Zyme or whatever as part of your weekly W/Cs, to upkeep the system. Also, I'd suggest upping your water changes, until the system settles, to a little (20-25%) every day, or at least every second day, to help keep the ammonia in

check and not harm your fish.

One other thing, do you have many/any plants in your tank? Plants are great for helping to balance your system, also, as

they are able to feed on ammonia and nitrates etc.

Sounds like your tank isn't overstocked (although that could depend on the answer to the fitration question...), just try no

to add any more fish until you have the ammonia under control.

[kat]

What sort of filtration are you using, and what is the flow rate? Many people like to use products like Cycle or Stress Zyme

or whatnot to fight Ammonia, but (at the risk of going against the general consensus) my fave method is to go to my LFS and

ask very nicely for a squeezing of one of his filters. Absolutely chocka's with Ammonia devouring bacteria. Cannot be beat.

Just be very sure that you trust whoever you go to. Many petstores are teeming with all sorts of diseases and infections that

you DON'T want in your tank. You will be surprised at just how quick that Ammonia disappears. After that, you can use the

Cycle or Stress Zyme or whatever as part of your weekly W/Cs, to upkeep the system. Also, I'd suggest upping your water changes, until the system settles, to a little (20-25%) every day, or at least every second day, to help keep the ammonia in

check and not harm your fish.

One other thing, do you have many/any plants in your tank? Plants are great for helping to balance your system, also, as

they are able to feed on ammonia and nitrates etc.

Sounds like your tank isn't overstocked (although that could depend on the answer to the fitration question...), just try no

to add any more fish until you have the ammonia under control.

thanks Ghengis! have just tested water and ph, hardness and ammonia levels are spot on my tank has built in filter in top of tank, not sure on the flow rate though? the shop i bought my tank from steered me away from live plants but i am beginning to question their judgement there! really appreciate the advice, cheers

[y2jdaze]

something like hornwart/foxtail is great as it will suck up the ammonia and use it, and it's quite hardy as well and doesn't need quite as much lighting as other plants, so if you wanted an easy plant to start out with definitely try it (

[Bettarazzi]

The problem with having plants it ensuring that you have the correct lighting. The tubes that come with those all-in-one tanks are usually simply for illumination rather than plant growth. For plant growth you need tubes that have a Daylight (aka Cool Daylight) colour spectrum or a Kelvin rating of 6500K to 6700K. If you you're interested in putting plants in (and why wouldn't you be ) then check if you can replace the tube with one that has the right colour spectrum.