Persistent Ammonia Levels

Question
Hi Nicole.  I'm into week 4 of my 10 gallon aquarium.  I have 3 guppies (one
fancy, one tuxedo, and one sunrise) and 2 hatchetfish. I've been doing
monitoring the ammonia levels and on Wednesday they were 2.0, so I did a
50% water change, and it went down to 1.0. I did another 50% water change
the next day, and it made no difference -- still 1.0.  I changed out another 3
gallons yesterday and put in a different filter (I was suspicious of my old one
-- now I have a marineland biofilter 100).  This morning my ammonia levels
were still far too high: at least 1.0, assuming I'm reading the color match
correctly.

I'm out of ideas...I can keep changing out some of the water every day, but it
doesn't seem to be making any difference and I'm worried.  The fish seem to
be doing just fine, but I know even 1.0 of ammonia is toxic.  I've even stopped
feeding them (starting yesterday) because I'm afraid that's part of the
problem.  What do I do?

Thanks,
Micah

Answer
Hi Micah,

Getting the Penguin 100 filter (I'm fairly sure that's what you have, I have the same one) is going to help lots, but it willl take time. A Bio-wheel takes a while to become established, after which you should never clean it unless it becomes clogged. If that happens, you can rinse it in aquarium water or dechlorinated tap water.

If you are concerned about the health of the fish, you should try detoxifying the ammonia by using Prime. Adding it to the aquarium at a double dose helps neutralizes the ammonia. So you would need 40 drops to neutralize the ammonia in a 10 gallon, since 2 drops per gallon is the normal dose. The 50 mL bottle of Prime (a Seachem product) has a dropper bottle which makes dosing simple. I would add the 40 drops to a little glass of water and pour it in.

Do keep performing the 50% daily water changes. It's a pain, I know (a gravel vacuum with make it much easier, do you have one?) but it really is the best way to make conditions safe for your fish. Always use dechlorinator to treat the new water, I highly recommend Prime. You can use it at a double dose during this time, but go back to 2 drops per gallon when everything has settled down.

Just in case you're new to fishkeeping, these sites are very helpful, everything is laid out clearly:
http://www.firsttankguiden.net
http://freshaquarium.about.com

These two are all around great sites:
http://badmanstropicalfish.com
http://www.wetwebmedia.com

I hope that helps, take care.
Nicole

P.S. Just to let you know, I'm going to be on a vacation for a week so I won't be able to follow up right away, if necessary. Best of luck!