# high ammonia levels



## Badfish (Oct 25, 2009)

Hello All,
I have a 30 gallon tank with carnivorous fish and a fluvall 205 canister filter, My fish diet consists mainly of small commet gouldfish and frozen beef hearts. My ph stays around 7-7.2 but the people in my area say its becouse the local water. My main concern is my ph level which occasionally spikes to .1 to about .3 on my mardel master kit. I have tried everything but the best results i get usually only last bout 1 or 2 days. I use AP_ ammo-lock, Aqueon ammonia neutralizer, and even ammter. Does anyone have any other ideas? Thanks for your help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your Friend,
Badfish_


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## obscbyclouds (Apr 6, 2009)

How many and what type of fish do you have? A 30 gal sounds small for multiple fish that can eat goldies. Also, be very careful feeding live fish to them continuously, especially goldfish. You really want to be feeding them a balanced diet, with live feeders only very occasionally. Goldfish generally do not offer proper nutrition for common types of carnivorous fish. 


Sometimes chemicals meant to neutralize ammonia can disrupt the nitrogen cycle in your tank. Ammo-Lock doesn't remove ammonia but detoxifies it. Have you tested for Nitrites and Nitrates? What do your readings look like there?


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## Badfish (Oct 25, 2009)

6 red bellies pirahana. nitrate and nitrite are both zero. Goldfish are usually just a treat a couple times a week. Their main staple is frozen beef heart and liver. I also took out my real plants and went with fakes because the real ones were making such a mess because they kept dying and clogging the intake valve on my filter.
Thanks,
Badfish


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## flyin-lowe (Oct 3, 2009)

Live plants typically help with the chemistry of an aquarium. What type of plants and what type of lighting do you use. Maybe try some hardier plants, or some better lighting and the plants will help keep the water in check. (they won't do it alone, but they will help.)


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## obscbyclouds (Apr 6, 2009)

6 Red bellied pirhana's probably need ~100 gallons minimum of water as adults. They make a lot of waste. The reason you are having ammonia problems is quite simple, you have too many large fish in a small aquarium. I'm not sure there's any way you'll be able to get your levels under control unless you get a larger tank, or find them new homes and stick with fish who will thrive in 30 gals. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.


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## Badfish (Oct 25, 2009)

They,re just babies right now, about 2-3 inches long and I am waiting on my buddy's tank to settle in b4 i give him some. What would be a good number to keep in a 30 gallon tank because I really do not have room for a bigger tank. As always Thanks a million,
Badfish


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## obscbyclouds (Apr 6, 2009)

Badfish said:


> They,re just babies right now, about 2-3 inches long and I am waiting on my buddy's tank to settle in b4 i give him some. What would be a good number to keep in a 30 gallon tank because I really do not have room for a bigger tank. As always Thanks a million,
> Badfish


They get to 12"+ in length when full grown. I'm not sure you could even keep 1 or 2 in a 30 gallon tank....Ideally you'd want something at least 48" long to give them enough room to swim and turn around freely. Not to mention you need the water volume due to their waste production. Piranha's are a shoaling fish and will be very skiddish and stressed if not kept in groups of 4 or more.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you are making water changes (using dechlorinator of course)regularly until there is no detectable ammonia in the water. I would be very careful using those chemicals to detoxify ammonia also.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

How often and how much are your water changes?

Substrate?

Do you vac the substrate (if there is any)?

As mentioned, with (6) RBPs you are going to need to do frequent and large water changes.


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## Badfish (Oct 25, 2009)

25-40% once a week. Subtrate just gravel. Kinda new at this and don't really know what you mean by subtrate. Since its just gravel i would have to say know i don't vacumn all of it because its so difficult because of all the hiding nooks i have for them.


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## Badfish (Oct 25, 2009)

I plan on moving in about 6 months and will make sure the place has enough room for at least a 100 gallon tank. I had real plants that caused a mess and clogged my filter, so I took them out an went with artificial which i hate. Since then i have taken the advice and put some hearty plants in. What kind of lighting do i need. I currently have a 50/50 and a blue acitinic.


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## phil_pl (Apr 10, 2009)

i wont address the amount of fish you have in the tank since it has already been hit pretty hard but what i would recommend is:
1. Try swapping out one of the media chambers in your fluval and replacing that media with ammonia remover. 
2. When you vacuum your gravel dont skip over any spots cause they are hard to get to. those spots are normally where you can pull the most "debris" from. if that is just left there all it does is produce ammonia.


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## Badfish (Oct 25, 2009)

Thanks phil. I have tried every media in my filter from white diamond, to api ammonia ahips and now have an ammonia pad. Nothing seems to work so it has to be the number of fish. Have a guy coming by today and hopefully he will get 3 off my hands which would leave me with four. And then I'll go from there, like maybe add a protein skimmer. Plus I don't want them to be overcrowded would rather have them in a 72 to 100 gallon tank just don't have the room right now.


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