Faulty Test Kit! What can I do?

[nick76]

Well Last Night I noticed that my Bangaii Cardinal was not eating, I began to get worried so I tested the water and got a reading of 0 Nitrites and .1 Ammonia... I wait until the morning to do the WC and the Bangaii is laying on the bottom struggling to move around, Right now hes perched on a rock breathing heavy, I just did a 20% WC now im hoping it might save him. I got a better test kit and realized the ammonia is closer to .25 than .1...
I can see that my Yellowhead jawfish is also taking damage from this, One of his fins looks like its being eaten away at. Theres only Half if it left

However hes still moving/swimming and digging like he always does but now hes short a fin

Lesson...Dont Skimp on cheap Test kits

Is there anything I can do to help them recover?

 

[perfectdark]

Do another 20% water change. Amonia damages the gills of your fish im no fish Dr. but IMO your prognosis looks grim. Hopefully you can swap out the tainted water fast enough where your fish might respond. Good Luck..

 

[nick76]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Do another 20% water change. Amonia damages the gills of your fish im no fish Dr. but IMO your prognosis looks grim. Hopefully you can swap out the tainted water fast enough where your fish might respond. Good Luck..
ty for the quick response. Should I wait at least an hour for the water to mix before I do another WC?

 

[perfectdark]

How big is the tank. You prob could of done a 40 to 50% water change from the get go. While large water changes can be stressful to fish, yours are already very stressed I doubt this would add to it. Make sure its RO or RO/DI water, mixed exactly to the salinity of your tank and temp. Is your water ready to go? Has it been aerated with a power head for a at least a few hours if not a day or so? Its tough to say if it hasent, if you can mix it and let it airate for a couple of hours I would say thats better than nothing. Matching your pH, and salinity are most important. IMO If your temp is a few degrees off it wont have huge effects as it will prob only affect your tank +or- 1 degree or so.
Your other issue is finding the source of the amonia. How old is the tank and have you had anything die in it? What are your inhabitants? Fish or invert...

 

[earlybird]

Use a product like amquel in the meantime. Follow the instructions.

 

[nick76]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
How big is the tank. You prob could of done a 40 to 50% water change from the get go. While large water changes can be stressful to fish, yours are already very stressed I doubt this would add to it. Make sure its RO or RO/DI water, mixed exactly to the salinity of your tank and temp. Is your water ready to go? Has it been aerated with a power head for a at least a few hours if not a day or so? Its tough to say if it hasent, if you can mix it and let it airate for a couple of hours I would say thats better than nothing. Matching your pH, and salinity are most important. IMO If your temp is a few degrees off it wont have huge effects as it will prob only affect your tank +or- 1 degree or so.
Your other issue is finding the source of the amonia. How old is the tank and have you had anything die in it? What are your inhabitants? Fish or invert...
Its my 24g aquaod, been up for about 3 months. Just the Jawfish and Candinal. Few snails n shrimp.
Dont use RO/DI never have, never had any issues with tap. A second WC batch is not ready to go as I just used the 1st one. Ill setup another now.

 

[perfectdark]

Just a thought... if you had a faulty test kit for amonia how do you know you never had an issue with your tap water? Have you ever tested it? Im just throwing it out there, if you dont know the cause of the amonia spike. You very well may have a problem with your tap water.

 

[nick76]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Just a thought... if you had a faulty test kit for amonia how do you know you never had an issue with your tap water? Have you ever tested it? Im just throwing it out there, if you dont know the cause of the amonia spike. You very well may have a problem with your tap water.
Ive used different test kits over the years, Im pretty sure this one was bad.
Yes I have, for everything with other test kits. Calcium, PH, ALK, Copper, phosphorus.
Surpisingly my tap water gives off everything very well.

 

[perfectdark]

Well thats good to know. Hopefully you can flush your system of the amonia in time to save your fish, and figure out where it came from. Good luck.