The best way to lower ammonia levels in fish tank naturally is to find and eliminate it’s root causes. In this article we are going to find some of the most common causes of ammonia spike and ways to eliminate these so that minimum maintenance is required and in future ammonia spikes don’t cause any troubles.
If your fish tank maintenance schedules is well maintained then it is unlikely that ammonia levels will rise in your fish tank. But there are many reasons why this happens and sometimes many factors are out of your control that lead
to such incidents.
Managing ammonia levels boils down to following rules of tank maintenance and as time goes you’ll be able to judge yourself what is best schedule for your tank because every tank will have some different set up and fish tank mates.
Levels of ammonia should be as close to zero as possible but this can be difficult to achieve and requires experience. If your fish tank is “cycled” then most probably it will have zero ammonia in it.
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Symptoms of high ammonia in fish tank
Ideally you must have a water testing kit with you to test levels of dissolved toxic gases in fish tank water. This testing kit will give you accurate measures of not just ammonia but several other readings and you’ll be on a safer side to take action if you find any noticeable differences in toxic gas levels.
It requires quite a lot of experience to identify if there is any difference in ammonia levels in the water just by looking at the fish. When ammonia levels rise fish will obviously start behaving in a different way than normal because ammonia is a harmful gas for these sensitive fish.
Some of the common fish behaviors when ammonia levels rise could be
- Lethargic movement or no movement at all
- Loss of appetite
- Fish gasping for air at the surface
- Color of gills changes (Becomes reddish)
- In some species you’ll see colors getting pale
- Fish sits at a corner or at bottom of the tank
If ammonia levels are not controlled, fish go under stress and this stress leads to further diseases even causing death.
How to check ammonia levels in fish tank without kit?
As mentioned earlier it requires some experience of observing fish behavior to find out if fish are normal or not. If fish behavior is not normal then it could be because of poor water quality and ammonia spike could be just one of the reasons for this.
It is best to have a water testing kit (paidlink) with you to accurately identify if poor water quality is because of ammonia spike or something else.
Common reasons for ammonia spikes in a fish tank
Now let’s have a look at some of the most common reasons that cause an imbalance in ammonia levels in a fish tank so that we can one by one eliminate the source of these spikes and ammonia levels are reduced to zero.
1) Crowded fish tank – Many newcomers into this hobby get overwhelmed by looking at beautiful fish at the pet store and tend to fill their tank with too many fish.
The problem with this strategy is that the more fish you keep the more food gets into the fish tank. Fish never eat all the food you feed them and the uneaten particles get settled at the bottom of the tank under the gravel or other decorations.
These particle start decaying as time goes and give rise to high ammonia levels in the fish tank. That’s why if you are new to fish keeping start with a handful of fish and learn the basics of maintaining the tank. Once you are good at it you can think of adding more fish.
Another important reason why you should not have too many fish is that they produce solid waste daily (poop) that gets settled at the bottom of the tank under the gravel bed and start decaying the moment it gets released from their
body. Once it gets decaying it becomes toxic ammonia. Obviously the more fish you have in tank more and more solid waste gets accumulated daily and this adds to the ammonia levels as well.
2) Faulty fish tank filter – A filter is the most important equipment a tank must have because it makes the job of removing visible as well as invisible harmful contents from fish tank water.
When fish tank water passes through filter initially visible debris gets caught and further the beneficial bacteria present on the filter media converts the toxic ammonia into less toxic nitrites and nitrates.
If the filter is not working properly or is clogged then obviously this conversion becomes difficult and you’ll notice an imbalance in ammonia levels causing fish to suffer. That’s why always keep checking your fish tank filter for proper working conditions.
3) Dead fish in fish tank – Many times if you have a planted tank or too many decorations in the tank it is likely to happen that a dead fish remains unnoticed in the tank and it’s dead body start decaying for days inside the tank.
This can definitely lead to ammonia spikes. To avoid these situations pay close attention to cleaning schedules so that during your routine cleaning schedule you notice any dead fish or any other harmful elements that lead to decay.
4) Dead plants in the tank – Similar to dead fish, dead plant is another source of ammonia spike in the tank. Remove all or part of the plant that is showing signs of death and you’ll be on your way to balancing ammonia levels again. It will not happen the next day but by removing it’s source you can quickly attain the harmless levels in the tank.
The ideal level of ammonia in a fish tank is always zero but you will not achieve it by the next day because it’s a slow process. The best way to achieve these levels is to first cycle your tank even when you add your first fish in it.
But if yours is an established tank then it can be a little difficult to achieve.
How to lower ammonia levels naturally
As mentioned earlier the only way to lower ammonia levels naturally is by eliminating it’s root causes that are mentioned above and once you are able to identify and eliminate these one by one you’ll see a considerable difference in ammonia levels by testing water using the water testing kit.
However to speed up the process you can change 20% water daily replacing it with a de-chlorinated water and keep checking the ammonia levels until the test kit shows “Zero” ammonia.
The newly added water will help to neutralize the toxic levels in water giving you an overall satisfactory result.
While maintaining your fish tank filter never drain out beneficial bacteria that are present in your filter media in the bathroom or sink. Since these bacteria are beneficial they help converting ammonia into less harmless gases and can help in fast results.
Generally it takes time to form a colony of these beneficial bacteria during the nitrogen cycle and by simply washing those out you are actually harming health of your tank. So keep this important point in mind that while washing
your filter. Always rinse the filter media in a bucket and use this water to fill the filter again.
Does an aquarium ammonia remover solution really work?
There are many commercially available products in the form of chemicals or solutions that claim to drastically reduce ammonia levels in fish tank water. However you should use these carefully because these products reduce ammonia levels for a short time.
However ammonia levels in your fish tank water will continue to rise unless you completely eliminate one or all the known and unknown root causes of these spikes. Eliminating root cause of ammonia spikes requires observations, strict cleaning schedule and careful planning of various factors such as water quality, fish tank mates, water chemistry etc.
What to do if Water changes not lowering ammonia?
If you see that even after changing water multiple times ammonia levels are still high then you must observe the reading in the water testing kit (paidlink). If you see that ammonia levels are below 0.5 ppm then you should not worry too much about these numbers.
It takes time to lower ammonia in tank water once it is below 0.5 levels. Keep changing water periodically and reduce the amount of food you feed your fish. Also keep checking some other factor that could contribute to the ammonia
spikes.
How to prevent ammonia spikes in fish tank?
The only best way to prevent not only ammonia spikes but any other kind of toxins in fish tank water is to follow a strict maintenance schedule. Maintenance does not mean just changing water regularly but its a lot more than that. Maintaining a fish tank means following it’s rules which could be as follows.
- Avoid overfeeding
- Avoid overcrowding with too many fish
- Regularly check efficacy of all the equipment such as filters, thermometers, heaters, air pumps etc.
- Observe fish behavior regularly and ensure that fish are happy
- Observe if tank mates are compatible or not.
- Maintain a habit of testing water with a water testing kit (paidlink) regularly.
- Avoid tasks that will put your fish in stress or shock.
- Maintain a quarantine tank apart from your regular main tank and treat sick fish in this hospital tank.
- Always buy new fish from a trusted fish supplier and put new fish in quarantine tank first before you add them in new tank.
- Keep reading and increase your knowledge of fish keeping almost every day so that you can apply this knowledge to make your fish happy.