Advice please

I'm doing the daily water changes as recommended and did one last night just before bed. I've just tested it this morning and the Ammonia is 0.25 again even though it is only 9hrs or so since I did the last water change.

Should I be doing water changes more thano once a day because if I was just doing it every 24hrs this reading would have gone even higher wouldn't it?

I don't know whether to see if I can take these fish back to the lfs and start over again. I don't know what I am doing here could someone give me a bit of advice please?

Thanks guys.

Don't worry mark, at least you havent got a fully stocked tank full of expensive fish just look at it that way, although it is sad to see them die, you have fish which are very readily available in most if not all LFS,

Water changes can only do good, so change away. Some fish need 2 plus water changes EVERY day in general, even in a fully cycled tank.

So long as you dechlorinate the water all should be fine.

If you can take them back and start adding pure ammonia, you will cycle probably faster and without so much death.

tis your call, let us know what you decide and we will help you through.

Hiya Fishfan. I made the same mistake and put the fish in before I had cycled the tank too, so I know how you feel.

I had to do water changes twice a day for a while, and it took about 2-3 weeks before it all settled down. I didn't lose any more fish once I started the regular water changes so hopefully that will happen with you too.

One thing to note though FF, make sure that your tank IS cycled before adding any more fish, I added mine too quickly and got something called bacterial bloom.

That was a real pain because I had to do water changes all over again.

As mentioned... water changes can only do good things

I did a fishless cycle on my 240L and it took 21days but I was able to get things going with gunk from my other tank.
As Rob said.. it's your call, just keep posting

Thanks Munchycarrot, I'm just not too sure how often I should be testing?

I know now that with the fishless cycle you just test once a day, but is it the same when you have fish in?

I would for now, just to keep track on the toxic levels

I test my cichlid tank weekly as it's overstocked and my community tank every 2 wks as it's been running for 2yrs and i'm confident that there aren't any changes

Thanks MunchyCarrot.

Do you think then that when your tank is established and settled, weekly water changes arent needed. Everything that I have read seems to say that you do weekly water changes. Do you only need to do water changes according to how long it takes your tank to deteriorate - ie if you had 0-0 readings for a month would once a month water changes be ok?

Not sure if I hagve made myself clear, but hope you understand what I mean

I know what you mean.. i always do weekly water changes, sometimes on the community tank i'd leave it 10 days occasionally but no longer. On my 180L community 10% is only 2 buckets so it only takes 15 mins to do.

On my cichlid tank I do 50% per week, sometimes a bit more, but that's an overstocked tank and my fish are all juvenile at the moment. When they grow I will still test that weekly and water changes maybe 30-40% twice a week.

Also..with filter sponges, don't replace them every 6wks like the instructions say, you will be throwing away your beneficial bacteria. I rinse mine every 4-6wks in dirty tank water, never in clean water

That's a good question actually. I have never left my tank to see how long the water stays 'clean', I have made it part of my weekend routine now to change the water whether the readings are 0-0 or not.

I dont think I would like to leave it any longer than that tbh, because I also give the tank a general spring clean then too - vacuum the gravel, clean the windows, polish the fish :lol:

I check my water twice a week and change it every week whether it needs it or not. I wouldn't want to leave it any longer after all the roblems I have had.