Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
Its beautiful. Can’t really tell much because the picture is a little too small. I am confused. There are no plants in your aquarium?
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
I am not a great fan of plants and have never had them in my aquarium. Does not mean that you should not have them if you want to.
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
Here is the bigger version. The second picture shows my redtail shark. You can see the Pakistani clown in both pics.
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
Beautiful fishes. You have an elegant looking tank. Mine’s is way too colorful compared to yours. Makes me wonder if it has too much color.
Can’t believe you actually bred the clown fishes. That’s just plain awesome. So the shark fish doesn’t bother other fishes? Your tank is beautiful MashaAllah. How many gallons is it?
I wasn’t to keen on plants, maybe one or two here & there but the associates told me that fishes need hiding spots to de stress & plants give the feeling of natural environment. So they made me buy a lot of plants. They are all artificial though.
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
You fell for the sales pitch there. let me ask you an important question, what back up do you have for emergencies. Just want to see are you ready for emergencies and are you aware of all of them, I am thinking of one especially which many new aquarium enthusiasts miss out and sometimes pay very heavily for it.
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
The only emergencies I thought of were a power outage in storm season & I asked the fish store associate & he told me that you can get battery powered aerators to keep the water oxygenated with that.
There was the prospect of moving since we plan to buy our own place by next year so did some research on how to move fishes in the same town.
The disease you mentioned that broke in your tank but I don’t know anything thing about so no preps there.
And lastly we quite often end up making sudden trips to a different state where our families live. Regarding leaving the fishes hungry the fish store associate mentioned they can stay without food for up to two weeks.
That’s all I can think of.
What am I missing?
I really do appreciate you showing interest & actually giving me proper guidance on this subject. When I first thought of keeping fishes I went to a fish store & then after that I kept on going to a pet store that also has an aquatics department. Seems like none of them have been that good with their advises & here I was all excited to write a great review for the pet store.
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
two weeks without food? No way. The best thing if you are going away for that long is to ask someone to feed them at least every two days or so. Also you can get time release food capsules which you can leave in the aquarium to feed them over a week or so. You cant cater for all diseases but only treat them whenever they break out, hoping that it never happens.
The thing which you have missed, maybe you have taken care of it but have not mentioned here is what to do if you need to take your fish out of the tank either because you want to clean the tank or the tank has developed a leak and you need to repair it which would require draining the tank. What you need is an extra tank in order to transfer the water and the fishes into that tank if required. My current tank is 200 litres, I have an extra tank of 100 litres which I can use in case of emergency. Very important otherwise your prized fish could die if you have no spare tank to put them in during an emergency.
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
Also my Ammonia is still stuck at 1.0 Nitrites & Nitrates are still zero.
3 days back I went to the pet store I have been frequenting. I had to buy water condiotioner. Mentioned my Ammonia issue & they told me to buy this
ATM Colony Professional Grade Nitrifying Bacteria Freshwater Aquarium Supplement at PETCO
Add it & no water changes for 48 hours & then check the Ammonia levels. I did as they said & its still the same. They said this supplement will help introduce bacteria to cycle the tank & they also said that I should do a 10% water change only twice a week because if I change it daily then I might getting rid of the good bacteria as well.
What do you say?
Next week will be one whole month into the set up. I will need to change my filter cartridges right? Rinse the new ones with tap water or aquarium water?
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
I did not know this. I would have never in a million years anticipated a tank leakage. Also my understanding was that once the tank is set up & running properly then the only cleaning required is the water & filter changes.
Do you have to often clean a tank this large?
We live in humid climate now. Summers here are extremely hot & humid. Will it be a good idea to buy a spare tank & leave it in the garage which has no climate control?
How many gallons tank should I look into?
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
No you dont need to clean the tank fully once it is up and running but there are instances when you might need to, like after a disease breaks out and once you have cleaned some of the medicines will leave your water discoloured regardless of how much you clean you might need a full clean. Normally tanks dont leak but the chances are always there. Also if you need to isolate certain fish again due to disease than you will need a spare tank. If by accident the glass cracks or anything else happens which requires the fish to temporarily be moved than you will need an extra tank. You can leave the extra tank in your garage but keep an eye on it as I am not too familiar with the climate conditions in your area. You dont need too big a tank as a backup. I have used my backup tank once when my fish died after disease and the medicine I put in had turned the water green and it wouldnt clear despite water changes. I switched the fish into the spare tank cleaned the main one and cycled and returned the fish after a few weeks back into the main tank.
As for water changes you can now ease off them and do once or twice a week change and let the fish and water develop in them. Dont buy anymore fish yet.
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
I have learned so much besides the whole Ammonia issue. I’ll look into buying a spare one as soon as I can. Jazak Allah Khair again.
Keeping my fingers crossed & hoping the tank cycles soon.
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
^ No problem, enjoy your new tank and if you need any further help please do not hesitate to contact me via PM.
Re: High Ammonia Levels in a Fish Tank
Got it 