# Amonia



## OrfrO (Jan 16, 2011)

I left town for a month and had a friend oversee my tank. Not sure what happened but upon return my amonia levels were out of control and before i could get a hospital tank ready and the levels down it was too late. What need to be done to the items in the tank prior to re-establishing the tank. Do i need to replace all the rocks and gravel or is there a proper way to sanitize without doing hram to the new tank.


----------



## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

Sounds like your fish were over fed while you were gone. Also any fish that died and were left in the tank would add to your ammonia problem.

If you do a full tear down and cleaning you will have to recycle the tank.

If your tank was fully cycled before you left I would just do a large water change 50-75% with a good gravel vacuum. Remove any rocks/fake plants/decorations so you can vacuum the whole substrate. You can give these items a quick rinse with tap water or swish them around in your removed tank water.

I would also clean the filter(s) media. Do this in the removed tank water only to preserve the bacteria.

Put every thing back in the tank and refill with fresh dechlorinated water.

Retest for ammonia/nitrItes/NitrAte after a couple hours.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Definitely a good gravel vacuum is in order. Makes me scared to do something like that.


----------



## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

If your tank is empty now, you could just let the decomposing bio-matter in the tank source the re-establishment of your nitrogen cycle. If you're adding fish immediately however, I would suggest a good gravel vacuum session. You could also do a 50%-75% PWC if there are no fish in the tank. That will cut your water concentrations in half or better.


----------



## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

The simplest explaination is that your fish were overfed. I would simply run your filters (new pads every week) and aeriate your tank and your ammonia levels should eventually drop to near zero. Once that happens, replace about 50% of your water and test for nitrates. If low, you can add new fish. If not, make another 50% water change and test again. Make sure you have plants, they like to take up ammonia as a fertilizer.
Good Luck!


----------



## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

How long had your tank been set up for?


----------

