My fish tank has many problems...but what do i do???

Question
QUESTION: Hello-
I have many problems with my fish tank. Currently I have only two goldfish in a 20 gallon tank. One a comet, and the other a slightly fancier fantail. The tank they were in before was having problems with the tank and i noticed that my fish were in distress. They were each moved to their own seperate 10 gallon tanks. I went away for a weekend and when returning could barely see into one of the tanks. Very upset about this I moved the fantail into the tank with the comet for a couple of days while a 20 gallon tank was set up for the two of them. Now, with both in the 20 gallon tank, there are 2 fake plants for them to hide in. gravel, as well as a plastic hollow log. They were happy at first and then the ammonia shot up. It is at about 8.0ppm and I am adding ammo-lock to it as reccommended but i have no idea how to fix it. My fish were skittish at first but seem to have settled down now, but i am continuously worried about the extremely high ammonia levels. Is there anything i can do for it? The water is cloudy, but when i added crystal clear to it, it clears instantly and returns to foggy murky water in a couple of days. What can i do, i have 2 filters running, one with ammo chips and another with carbon. PLEASE HELP me i love my fish, Pablo and Diablo!!! I have no idea what else i can do for them...do i just wait it out and hope for the best?
THANKS

ANSWER: Hi Tina,
There's one thing you need to do, water changes! And plenty of them. Water changes will help keep your fish safe while your tank is still cycling. Having ammonia in your tank is normal since it has been newly setup. And the cloudy water common also, it is most likely due to a bacterial bloom due to a sudden abundance of nutrients.

But fortunately water changes will fix both problems. Your ammonia is extremely high, even trace amounts can be dangerous. Ammo-lock will neutralize ammonia, however, ammonia will still show up on your test results. Ammo-lock will help your fish make it through but water changes do more than any chemical ever could. I probably wouldn't use ammo-chips in my filter, because your tank may not cycle if the ammonia is constantly absorbed that should be feeding the beneficial bacteria's growth.

You can easily do a 90% water change, or drain the water to where there's just about an inch of water above your goldfish and then refill. This will do wonders to help save them if they are in distress and it's not harmful as long as the replacement water is equal in temperature to that of your aquarium (or just slightly warmer) and you insure it is dechlorinated every time. You can use water conditioners like Amquel+ or Prime with your water changes which help neutralize ammonia instead of adding so much ammo-lock.

Your tank will take a few weeks to cycle. You're doing really good so far, just keep testing your water daily and make those 50% or larger water changes whenever your ammonia goes above safe bounds.

Best wishes and I hope this helps!
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello-
Thanks for the advice...i have been doing water changes but only about 20%. I figured it would help but i dont want to do it too much. How often is it safe to do the water changes and up to how much? Is it okay to do one everyother day if its only about 40%? Also, should i take the ammochips out of the filter? HOw much gravel should be on the bottom of my tank to help the bacteria? Is there anything i can do to boost their immune systems as a preventative? I am very thankful of your help and advice and thank you for your time. What is the safe bounds for ammonia...shouldnt it be 0ppm if everything is working correctly? I have many questions and apologize for that i hope my fishtank will be okay, as well as my fish.
THANKS SO MUCH!!!!
~TINA~

Answer
Hi Tina, ((No need to apologize, that's what I'm here for!)
Small water changes wont have any effect if the ammonia is very high. And 50% is VITAL if you want to keep your fish safe. A large water change will immediately correct an ammonia problem and relieve tremendous stress on fish.
So be sure to do the large water changes whenever your ammonia is high. When a tank is cycling is when the majority of fish die, but it can be prevented through large water changes to control the ammonia that causes such fish loss.

You can do water changes as often as you need to. As long as the replacement water is equal in temperature (or just a little warmer) to your tank water and it is dechlorinated then its perfectly safe. It won't harm your fish at all. There's no such thing as too many water changes.

I would probably take the ammochips out of the filter, it would be much better to just use the ammo-lock or better yet just do massive water changes to deal with the ammonia.

A general good amount of gravel is about 1-1 1/2 inches. More is not always better, the main problem is making sure to keep the gravel bed clean. About an inch or two is fine.

The best thing to do to keep your fishes immune system up is to keep up with the water changes. There's nothing better you can do for your fish but insure they have good clean water. A good varied diet helps. But hold off on a lot of food for now until the tank cycles. It won't do them any good to have a big variety of food while the tank is still in its delicate stage. Once it gets past that and cycles you can give them a bigger variety of foods. Goldfish thrive on plenty of vegetable based foods with limited "meaty" food sources.

During cycling you'll always have some ammonia in the tank. There has to be some ammonia present of course in order to get the bacteria growing. But you must not let it get into the danger zone. You must have tough cycling fish that can handle the moderate levels of ammonia that will occur. Goldfish are usually OK and make it through cycling. But just be sure to keep it in the "acceptable" until the aquarium cycles. Once the tank cycles, the ammonia should always be 0ppm due to the bacterial colony being established in sufficient number to deal with the bioload. Most test kits indicate what level is considered near the danger zone.  And be sure to watch your goldfishes behavior, if they seem really stressed then immediately do a huge water change, draining the water down to the their dorsal fins for immediate relief.

You might also want to add some bacterial supplements. Biospira is known as the best kind out there. If you also have any access to another established healthy aquarium, taking some of that tank's gravel will help your aquarium get established better.

I really hope this helps!
Feel free to write again with anymore questions!
Karen~