Please Help, Ammonia through the roof!

[msitework]

My ammonia level is around 4.0, my trates are under 20, & I am doing constant water changes & it's not helping. I don't think anything died in the tank, but I can't find another reason, except maybe that one of my friend's tanks crashed so he put 2 clown & a few corals in there temporarily till his system straightens out. The level was 0 prior to adding this stuff. Does anyone know how I can lower the ammonia levels, and I have been using ammo lock to detoxify the ammonia, but that can't help for long. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. The LFS won't border any of my livestock, so I need to figure something out to fix this. i have another tank that is cycling now, but it won't be ready for approx. 2 weeks.
Thanks

 

[organism]

is this in a 20 gallon? how long have you had it up and running, and how many other fish are in it? what are the other water parameters?

 

[msitework]

I have a pair of oscelaris clownfish & a small damsel that i have been trying to remove for some time. I purchased the tank approx. 2 months ago, but it has been established for over 1 yr. I used the same water, sand, rock, ect. that was in it when I purchased it. All of my anomones are ok so far, fish & shrimp even look good, although they may be breathing a little hard. Does anyone know a quick way to decrease the ammonia levels?
Thanks for the help

 

[organism]

how big is the tank?

 

[msitework]

Sorry that wasn't very clear, I had those 3 fish, & when his system crashed he brought 2 more clowns & 5 different corals. I'm testing my water for PH, Nitrite, Nitrate & ammonia as we speak to give you guys the most accurate info.

 

[msitework]

20 gallon, I know it is crowded, but I have lots of LR in there so I thought it could hold his fish temp. to save him from losing them

 

[organism]

I'm guessing that adding all both fish in there all at once along with those corals crashed your system, not sure if it's gonna be able to handle that whole bioload at all... my guess is it'll either crash your tank or you've gotta decrease the bioload a bit, but someone else may give better advice
maybe you can throw something like prime in there to detoxify the ammonia to an extent for now

 

[debbie g]

I don't know how you feel about chemically speeding up the cycling process, but a few years back, I used a product in my 20 gallon tank that, I swear, it cycled my tank in 4-8 days. I can't think of the stinking name, but it was live bacteria of some sort. I wouldn't recommend speeding up a cycle except in an extreme emergency, and it seems like thats what you have. Do you think you'd want to give that a shot? Just trying to help.
Debbie G

 

[bang guy]

How much water flow in the tank?

 

[msitework]

I have a cpr bak pak skimmer which gives current on one side with the return, & the bio filter rated for a 40 gal on the other side. I have a powerhead i bought & put in the tank, but I took it out because I thought the current was too much, my anomones & LT plate coral looked like they were in a hurricane with the PH set on the lowest level. Should i put the powerhead back in? Please help, I don't want to loose my critters & my LT plate is starting to look bad.
Thanks guys

 

[rbaby]

Hey,
I'm not sure which product Debbie was talking about--but it sounds awfully similar to what I used help jump-start my cycle.
It's a product called CYCLE, it's basically bottled bacteria, maybe that can help? Look it up and maybe it can help save your tank.

 

[bang guy]

More ammonia = more bacteria food = more bacteria = more O2 consumption & CO2 production.
You need to get the water really circulating to bring oxygen to the bacteria and dilute the CO2 concentrations. This will allow more bacteria to survive in a smaller space and that will lower your Ammonia level.
As far as the bottled bacteria, it won't do any good if they don't have the resources available to survive. They will just die and add to the ammonia level.