Seriously need ideas, guys! HALP!

[Savvy1985]

I've posted on here before about my tank and its nitrates/ammonia levels being high. And I mean, the tested water gets about as dark as it can get, darker than the testing card chart. I've got Murray in a separate tank on my counter while his normal tank sorts it self out, but it's been about a month now, and he's slowly declining. Tonight, he rejected food. And he NEVER rejects a feeding. I'm worried about him now. I need ideas, how do I fix this issue? How can I get it to go faster? And how do I keep him healthier in the smaller tank? Doing frequent water changes. I've been monitoring his temps as best as possible, but I can't guarantee the temp while I'm at work. I've been adding his dirty water to the tank for the filter, and have been doing that for the last two weeks, hoping it would help and it has not. My only other idea would be the test I'm using has gone bad, and I need to try a new one, maybe?

I'm going nuts here, trying to figure all this out!

 

[LippyNix]

Confirm your results by testing other things. You may be going crazy for nothing. Are you getting the same results in his smaller tank?? From fresh tap water? A bottle of water? That would be an indication the test might be the problem. In general, it's much easier to keep ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates lower in larger water volumes. The small tank might be worse on him and you may be better off putting him in the large tank if he's going downhill in the small tank. Just do everyday water changes on the big tank until things level off. It should be close to finishing cycling if it's been going on a month.