In serious need of help. 4.0 ammonia 6.0 ph

mcb5522

My brothers fish tank is in dire need of help. He has neglected it and i took it upon myself to check it out. I used my test kit and only did amonnia and ph before i came to write this, i am doing nitrite and nitrate now. I am going to do a 50% water cahnge now after i quickly get results for other things. It is a 55 gallon cichlid tank. Aqua clear 100 HOB filter, temp is 79 degrees. brb

lorax84

With that much ammonia you are going to have a tough time. I am honestly surprised the fish are alive. Just keep changing the water and vacuuming the tank out any waste. I know organic material decomposing releases acid, that is probably why the PH is so low. You may want to get a bag of crushed coral and put it in the filter to bring up the PH. Unfortunately there is no quick fix, just large daily water changes.

Curt

HOpefully if your lucky that could be ammonium and not ammonia. Both show up on test kits unless you have a kit that shows only ammonia nh3. most dedect nh4.

This may explain why the fish are still alive. as nh4 is not toxic.

Good luck

lorax84

The problem he will have is that nh4 turns back into nh3 once the ph goes over 7.0, if I am not mistaken.

mcb5522

doubt its ammonium, no plants to even change the stuff into anything, the nitrite was .25 and nitrate was 100

there were these big shells in the tank and i found a HUGE amount of old food in both of them, like a fist full

i know he loses a fish a month but he also overstocked the tank. I was asked to help quarantine a fish he had that was getting nipped and decided to go the extra mile after i saw a fish dead. Ive never seen ammonia like that, i didnt think the fish could be alive either. How should my water change schedule go. Should i do two today or one

lorax84

I have changed 100% of the water in a tank in one day without any problems. I would do at least 50-75% a day until the numbers stabilize. It sounds like once you get all the organic waste out of the tank things should stabilize.

mcb5522

50 % done, still around 2 to 3 ppm, this is guna b frustrating

Romad

Water changes, water changes, water changes. Your future is looking very wet. I can't believe anything is still alive with those numbers.

Good luck.

mcb5522

Thanks, I did the test twice to make sure I didnt mess up

lorax84

I was just thinking about what this tank must have smelled like.

Where was this tank at? I can't imagine having a tank that is that dirty in my bedroom or living room.