Is there any way to help healing fish that were exposed to ammonia?

[Lennie]

Hey guys.

 

Today I got some new fish shipped. They exactly spent 23 hours in the bag until they are home.

Once I opened the pack, sad news. There was one dead. That being said, it started to release ammonia like crazy somehow. The water looked milky and when I opened the bag, it smelled a bit bad. I directly plop and drop the fish, didnt want to waste a single second for them to spend in that water.

Well I guess good thing I did. I checked their water after putting them into the tank and boom. HUGE AMMONIA. Like, it felt it is a miracle the rest are alive. They dont seem the do great and definitely negatively affected. It's sad. The guy who sent them said he even didnt experience such thing in 2 day shipments and he wa ready to refund for any fish Ive lost/will be losing in the following days (which I hope not to happen)

these are the chart readings:

 

Their gills dont look red. They were heavy breathing but it can be just stress but as you can see, the ammonia is huge. I kept the lights off then fed some live baby brine to observe their reaction, but they don't seem to react anything. Again can be just stress, or? 😭

 

@Odd Duck any idea Duck?

 

 

[JettsPapa]

As far as I know, clean water is the best remedy, which it sounds like you've done.  They probably just need time.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Ammonia burn should clear with time and good water provided the fish aren't too damaged. Some think water treatment with aloe does help the process (usually bottles with "stress" in the name). What is most concerning now is potential secondary bacterial infections so I would be dilligent about good, aerated water and keeping an eyeball on any potential reasons to medicate. If you have IAL on hand I'd consider putting that in or making a tea so the water stays clear of any debris.

Edited September 29, 2023 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Biotope Biologist]

With the gills not being red it is highly likely the water conditioner converted the ammonia to its non toxic form.

 

I agree with others monitoring and time are your best bet if ammonia burns were suffered. Gills can regenerate relatively quickly.

[Lennie]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions

 

So when I got them (roughly about 7 hours ago), I kept the lights off around 2ish hours and then fed them live bbs while feeding every other tank. They didnt seem to pay attention at first but I guess they ate them gradually because Ive found them active in the tank doing the cory thingy in their school. I haven't noticed any dead bodies so far, thankfully. The heavy breathing seemed to be gone as well.

I was a bit worried of finding no time to at least temperature acclimate but today is around 26C here and the fish room tanks read around 23-24C lately, so I thought colder water changes have always been a spawning trigger for my cories, thinking they wouldnt mind this sudden change if there is any. I bet staying in that funky water must be worse. 

 

On 9/29/2023 at 6:01 PM, Biotope Biologist said:

With the gills not being red it is highly likely the water conditioner converted the ammonia to its non toxic form.

 

I agree with others monitoring and time are your best bet if ammonia burns were suffered. Gills can regenerate relatively quickly.

Ive talked to hobbyist guy selling them. People dont commonly use water conditioners here. They evaporate the chlorine and use the tap water that way. Ive checked city test results a couple times, and they only mention chlorine but no chloramine. Would chloramine be included under the chlorine tag, or should be written seperately? I really don't know. I just prime anyway. I would be too anxious not to use prime and expect evaporating, which wouldn't work well for chloramine to my knowledge. 

Also, maybe I'm reading wrong but that test kit is reading between 5 to 10 mg/L ammonia, am I right? That's big. Ive been using Sera's kit for a long time now and Ive never seen such coloration before even when I start fishless cycles. 

 

On 9/29/2023 at 5:47 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Ammonia burn should clear with time and good water provided the fish aren't too damaged. Some think water treatment with aloe does help the process (usually bottles with "stress" in the name). What is most concerning now is potential secondary bacterial infections so I would be dilligent about good, aerated water and keeping an eyeball on any potential reasons to medicate. If you have IAL on hand I'd consider putting that in or making a tea so the water stays clear of any debris.

I have some botanicals on hand including catappa leaves. I can surely use them! Thank you. We only have Tropical's aquarium salt with alove vera here. I haven't seen any other specific product that seem to have it. So botanicals it is for me

[Galabar]

I've wondered about this.  Is there a "point of no return" where ammonia burns are bad enough that the fish just won't recover?  However, if such a thing existed (and it probably does), there wouldn't really be a way to determine (practically) if your fish reached that point.

I do think salt is a good idea -- it may not help the gills directly, but it might suppress bacteria/fungus/etc..

 

[Lennie]

On 9/29/2023 at 10:20 PM, Galabar said:

I do think salt is a good idea -- it may not help the gills directly, but it might suppress bacteria/fungus/etc..

I dunno the effects of salt  and if it helps to heal ammonia damage, but as I mentioned in my case its corydoras. I believe salt would be an extra stressor for the cories rather than doing good

 

On 9/29/2023 at 8:06 PM, Pepere said:

If the ph was low enough the ammonia would not be a horrid problem.

Ive checked the August 2023 ph levels in Istanbul, where the fish were shipped from. These seem to be the ph levels overall. I did not test the bag water, so no clue if the tap water readings and the tank water in the bag are similar. In terms of the location, the location of the sender seems to be right next to the value of 6,90 on the map

Edited September 29, 2023 by Lennie

[mynameisnobody]

I’ve seen a Jamaican fish tuber slice bits of aloe and toss it into his aquariums and stock ponds. This may help in this situation. 

Edited September 30, 2023 by mynameisnobody

[Odd Duck]

On 9/29/2023 at 3:30 PM, Pepere said:

most of the ammonia will be non toxic ammonium.

I think you meant to say less toxic ammonium because it certainly is toxic.  Just not as acutely toxic as ammonia.

@Lennie, low dose salt can help them regulate their electrolytes more easily and reduces stress on their system.  No more than 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons should be fine for cories, but it isn’t necessarily needed in this case.  Getting them immediately out of the bag was the smartest thing you could do, so well done!  Keeping the water pristine for at least 2 weeks afterwards is the next smartest.  This will give them time to heal from any ammonia damage to their gills or organs.