OK, quick back story. I went an picked up JP27's fish tonight, as I am adopting them. They have been living in a 10 gallon tank for 6+ months, which yes, we know is overstocked.

So anyway, on Daryl's (from this board) advice, what we did is remove the water from the 10 gallon, keep the filter, gravel and ornaments wet with tankwater, and then swish the gravel to remove as much waste as possible. When I got home, I put the wet filter, gravel and ornaments back in the tank, filled it with room temp Prime treated water and turned on the filter. Filter is a Whisper in-tank 40i, 170gph, plus undergravel filter. After an hour I tested the water and got these results:

Ammonia: 1.0
Nitrates: 5ppm
Nitrites: 0-.25
PH 6.6 to 6.8

Keep in mind this was my first time using a water testing kit, it is an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater kit, with drops and test tubes.

I also tested my tap water:

Ammonia: 0
PH: 7.2

So the tank params aren't ideal right? Any ideas on how to get the ammonia down? I want them to be as stress-free as possible, the fish are not yet back in their tank. Keep in mind though that they have been living in this 10 gallon tank (four huge commons) for 6 months and are doing very well. I'll read up on getting the levels down but wanted to post this before some people go to bed.

Should I add more Prime and see if that helps the water? I just used the recommended amount for a 10 gallon tank.

Btw, these fish are going to move into better digs. First, three of them will go into a 20 gallon, and one will stay in the 10, so much better. Then hopefully I will get a bigger tank for them (like a 55-still not perfect but better). But they were tiny when Joanna got them and are friggin huge now, grew that much in a 10 gallon, so I am afraid how big they will get in a larger tank! They may end up being pond fish. I'll have to measure, but the biggest one is, to be indelicate, too big to flush should anything happen to it. They are huge!

Thanks for any advice , I am a total newbie!

P.s. I asked this on the end of another thread, before realizing there was a water quality section. Sorry!

I'm sure someone else from the board could help you better with this but in the meantime,you can do a 50% water change to help get rid of the ammonia and nitrites.Are you planning to put them in the tank tonight?If so,you can also use a double dose of prime to detoxify the ammonia.The ammonia will still register in your tests but will not be harmful to your fish Hope this helps some!

Thanks! Isn;t it weird to have that much ammonia with almost brand new water though? There was probably an inch or two of the old water in there, plus the filter, gravel and ornaments were kept in that water. Maybe the little water that was in there had a LOT of ammonia, so it just got diluted when I added the new, because I tested my tap water at 0. I want to put the fish in tonight because they are HUGE and are in a really small bucket. I will try a 50% change and a double dose of Prime. Thank you SO MUCH! :-)

Come to think of it,it is weird since you don't have ammonia from tap 2 inches of old water isn't that much to bring your ammonia levels to 1.0 with the new water unless there really was a LOOOOT of ammonia there I'm not making any sense am I?

You make sense to me, lol! I don't know anything about this stuff, I am brand new. But it didn't make sense that 0 ammonia tap water added to 2 inches of old water would show at 1.0 after running through the filter for an hour, with NO FISH even!


I just changed 50% of the water (although I was a failure with the Python siphon thing!) and added back new water, with a double dose of Prime. I'll test again in a bot, then I will have to add the fish I think, they are pretty big to be in the tiny bucket they are in!

Thanks for your help, I will post back after I test again. :-)

I'm sure someone who understands water chemistry will be able to help!I have no idea where your ammonia came from Good luck with your new fish!Keep us posted

After the water change, and waiting about 15 minutes the level seems to be down to .25, maybe a little closer to .5 not perfect but better! I think I am going to check again in an hour and as long as they aren't worse I will add them. That bucket isn't a good place for them for very long. But your advice seemed to work, thank you!

Unless someone else advises otherwise, I'll check the levels again in the morning and then I will do another water change until I can get it down. I just don't want to stress them too much, and if their ammonia was a lot higher before, then I think they will be ok?

I just checked the ammonia again, it has been about 14 hours since the tank ha been up and running, and about 12 hours since the fish have been in it. The ammonia is between .5 and 1.

Should I do another water change? Or should I wait awhile? The fish are still sitting on the bottom, kind of huddled in one corner, I don't want to stress them out too much by changing the water too much and distrubing the tank, but I don't want the quality to get too bad either.

What do you think?

As long as there is ammonia/nitrites registering in your tests,continue doing water changes to lower the levels.You can also add 1 tsp of salt per gallon to help ease their stress and protect them from nitrite poisoning

Hi Jen - I've transported already seeded tanks and equipment - only about a 2 hr drive and to be honest, I expected a bump in the cycle.

Bacteria is a living thing and like anything live needs to be constantly fed- and in the case of filters, they need a constant supply of fish waste (or ammonia) for conversion to nitrites and then to nitrates etc. If you have your fish in the tank now, then it should level out soon

How long were the filters unplugged from the tank? Or how long were they running without any fish to supply them with ammonia?

As Cathy says, do some massive waterchanges trying to keep your ammonia under 0.5 and Prime (which is my dechlor of choice) will render the ammonia harmless... You can double or even triple dose, it won't harm your fish. And salt is a great idea

I think you should see some improvement soon and congratulations on your new arrivals

Thanks guys!

I'll keep up the water changes and add some extr Prime. Is it ok to put it in the tank while the fish are in there, if needed? When I use it to condition I just add it to the water before it goes in the aquarium, but wasn't sure if it was safe to put in with the fish.

The filter was off and unplugged for about 90 minutes I think, but we did keep it wet in theold tank water. Then I set the tank up and turned it back on for about 3 hours, then added the fish. So the filter was without fish for about 4 1/2 hours or so. We did keep the gravel wet the 2 inches of tank water in the bottom of the tank, plus kept the plants and ornaments wet. But maybe having the filter off and fishless that long messed it up.

Thanks again, I'll keep you posted. :-)

I'd dilute the Prime in a tub of tank water first then pour it over the top of the tank - even a little swish around wouldn't hurt.... It doesn't hurt to pour it in though

Your cycle should get back on track soon especially if the filter media is well established.

Keep us posted on the progress though - I'm keen to see how long it takes to get back on track

Is this your 20 gallon tank? Im wondering if its just because its overstocked, even though it is only by one fish...If I were you I would just change 50% until the problem is fixed. Your cycle will start to kick in. Watch those nitrites too. They are very harmful also. I had heard that salt will help protect fish from the high nitrites. I had a HORRIBLE problem with nitrites when my tank was cycling.

Basically anything except 0 when it comes to nitrites is not good, and I was shocked to see my nitrites jump from 0 to 10 in 4 days!!!! No wonder my fish were acting funny. It took another week or so before my 2nd colony of good bacteria grew and took care of that nasty problem. But in the meantime Iwas doing 75% water changes every day just to keep the water SAFE for the fish.

Thanks again for the advice guys!

This is actually still the 10 gallon tank, so with 4 huge commons it is definitely overstocked. But I was showing ammonia at a 1.0 before I even put the fish in, even with my tap water testing at 0, so they cycle definitely was affected some, and there may have been a lot of ammonia in that 2 inches of water we kept. Daryl (from these boards) suggested that the best way to cycle the 20 would be to keep the fish in the 10, fill and start up the 20, cram media from the new filter into the old one, along with some other stuff into the tank, move it over and see if it'll cycle (his instructions are in the Equipment section in my post about what kind of hood to buy). So that is what I am doing so right now they are still in their little 10 gallon tank. So not surprising the levels are wacky anyhow.

I am cleaning up some stuff and in awhile I'll test the nitrites, nitrates and ammonia again and see where we are at. I did a 60% change yesterday but only tested the ammonia, it was at .25 So I'll see where I'm at this evening, probably do a water change and I'll let you all know.

I know with all the fish in the little tank it'll be dodgy for awhile. But since they are healthy and have been living in this situation for like 8 months I'm not too worried, just trying to get them in their new digs as soon as I can! Thanks for the tip about the Prime too!

I'll post back later and see where we're at.

~Jen

Ok, just tested and got this:

Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: .50
Nitrates: between 5 and 10

So not too bad for four giant commons in a ten gallon. So does that mean the cycle didn't get messed with too badly? I'm going to do a 50% change tonight or early morning if you think that is ok-with .50 it isn't emergent, just needs to go down, right? As long as the fish are ok?

Let me know if it is ok to have it at .50 for a little while. :-)

~Jen