ammonia in water for freshwater tropical fish

Question
Dear Karen, After looking at so many websites I was so relieved to have just
read your reply to David and found it very useful indeed.
I am new to this and also made the same mistake with my tropical tank and
wished now I had waited for 5 weeks before adding any fish. My aquarium
size is 36ins x 15ins x 12ins and 22.22 gallons. I have 1  male Siamese
fighting fish, 1 small angel fish, 2 guppies, 5 Harlequins, and 1 loach (
cleaning fish) I'm not sure of the proper name but it stays at the bottom and
sometimes sticks to the side of the tank, and 2 dwarf frogs unfortunately 1
found1 dead yesterday. The fish all seem healthy and  I was assured their
were compatable. I was abit concerned with the fighting fish but he seems to
get on well with the other fish.
My questions are 1: I have a biological under-gravel filter which contains
Airstone and Airline tube. Do I need a sponge? I'm abit confused because I
was told I did, and then I phoned another pet shop and they said no. The
instructions don't mention a sponge. Some pet shops aren't willing to help
and advice you. I spoke to one man and he said " I don't want to sound rude
but I will lose a sale if I tell you over the phone what the best product is. "You
have to come to the shop." So this is why I am writing to you.
2: I have tested the water for Ammonia which is 0.6 - will this kill my fish? Is
this why the dwarf frog died.  I've read it should always be 0 for tropical fish.
Ph is 7.0. I have no test kit for Nitrates. 3:The water looks very clear. Should I
do a water change if so how many litres and how often? Will this method
eventually  bring the ammonia down to 0?. After reading the test kit leaflet I
have started to use Nutrafin Biological Aquarium Supplement.    4:  Should I
also start feeding my fish less flake food and limit it to only once a day?
Should I also stop feeding them frozen blood worms?  I must admit it is very
time consuming taking out leftover flakes, is this very important for now
whilst the Ammonia is 0.6
5: What temperature should the water be?.  My pet shop told me to set the
heater at 26oC.  
I look forward to hearing from you very soon. I hope you didn't mind me
asking so many questions, I'm just so concerned for my fish.

Yours thankfully  Sheel

Answer
Hi Mrs Sheel,
While undergravel filters are usually still used very commonly. I don't really like to use them in my tanks at all because they don't benefit the fish all that much. And they are very hard to get clean. They are "old-fashioned" filtration and there are much better filters out there that are easier to maintain and do a better job at filtering. Waste can get trapped underneath the filter plate and be a constant source for nitrate and sometimes even ammonia spikes and anerobic (bad bacteria) growth. The only way to clean underneath the filter plate is to run an airline siphon down the tube and hope that with a siphon started, it will suction up the filth.

I would take out your under-gravel filter and instead run a hang on the back power filter on your tank. Most brands work wonderfully. Some good ones though are Cascade, Marineland, ect... It'll clean the water very well and all you have to do to clean it is to take the cartridge out and rinse it in a bucket of tank water, only replacing the cartridge when the fiber becomes too worn.

Sponge filters are great. They are good aerators and biological (beneficial bacteria holding) filters. They are good as an extra backup for your tank but they aren't 100% necessary for a thriving tank.

Having any trace of ammonia can be very dangerous for your fish. Ammonia is so bad, it burns their skin and fins and can do terrible damage to their gills. But you can do something about it.

While some people may advise 10-25% water changes these are very ineffective when it comes to ammonia and high ammonia levels. The best way to make an impact on it and relieve your fish is to change about 50% at a time, sometimes you have to do more if the ammonia is -REALLY- high but 50% usually works. You can also use a water conditioner than neutralizes ammonia like Amquel+ or Prime.

Water changes won't cause your tank not to cycle and it is necessary to keep your fish safe. Your tank will eventually establish and lower the ammonia levels and keep them safely at 0 consistently.

Definitely be careful with feedings and limit it to just a few small flakes per fish once a day. Once your aquarium establishes then you can feed a little more and offer more variety. I'm leery of the 'leftover flakes' might be that you are overfeeding. Try to feed just enough so you don't have any leftovers.

As far as temperature goes. With an average tropical tank, 76-80F is a good general range.

I hope I covered everything and let me know if I missed anything!
Karen~