Ammonia in Tap Water.

[Ozzie Boss]

So I had an Ammonia spike in my main tank probably due to uneaten tilapia. And had a rating of 1ppm of ammonia in the tank. I did two 50 percent water changes during the coarse of 2 days and a 25 percent recently. I could not get the ammonia down from 0.25 ppm. I was curious and tested my tap several times and got a rating of 0.25 ppm of ammonia. All the fish are doing okay the only fish that was hurt was an angel that is missing a bit of his dorsal fin but is recovering and eating. Anyway what should I do about the rest of the ammonia? I do have the tank planted with fast growing stem plants so can I just let the plants deal with it? The bioload of the tank is small for a 50 gallon.

 

[Colin_T]

You either have chloramine in the tap water or your tap water is contaminated by something that is producing the ammonia.

Chloramine is mixture of chlorine and ammonia and is used in various countries to kill microscopic organisms in drinking water. The ammonia helps the chlorine remain active for longer and chloramine continues to kill things for longer. Countries use chloramine because they can claim they have a lower chlorine level in the water, and because it lasts longer so remains active when traveling through hundreds of miles of water pipes. Whereas chlorine can break down faster or run out sooner over long distances.

If you have chloramine in your water supply, you should use a dechlorinator that neutralises chlorine and binds to free ammonia. This dechlorinated water then gets added to the aquarium where the filter bacteria use the ammonia and convert it into nitrite and then nitrate.

Most water conditioners that bind to ammonia will usually make the ammonia safe for about 24 hours. After that time the ammonia can revert to a more harmful state if it hasn't been removed by the filters.

The best way to dilute anything (including ammonia) from aquarium water is with big daily water changes. Removing 75-80% of the tank water and replacing it with clean water will dilute things much more effectively than a 25% or 50% water change. Just make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the aquarium, and make sure the temperature and water chemistry (pH & GH) of the new water is similar to the tank water.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I was told that ammonia readings from chloramine are not as concerning. The testing will show ammonia although it is really chloramine. Is this true?

 

[Colin_T]

Chloramine is a mixture/ combination of chlorine and ammonia. It is more toxic than either of these chemicals on their own. The chlorine dissolves organic matter and ammonia burns the gills, skin and organs. Chloramine does all of this at the same time and it remains active for much longer than chlorine so it can dissolve things for longer.

------------------------
As a general rule, if you test tap water that contains chloramine but has not been dechlorinated (treated for chlorine/ chloramine), you should not get an ammonia reading because the ammonia should be attached to the chlorine and is not normally read by ammonia test kits when attached to chlorine.

If you dechlorinate tap water that contains chloramine, the chlorine/ ammonia bond is broken and the chlorine is neutralised. You should then be left with ammonia that can be read by ammonia test kits.

If you have chloramine in the tap water and it has not been dechlorinated, but you have an ammonia reading, then it is probably from extra ammonia in the water that has been introduced by the water company when they treat the water with chloramine. Basically they have added extra ammonia, presumably to keep the chloramine active even longer or they were careless and sloppy and don't do their job properly.

This was the basic theory back in the 80s when chloramine started being an issue for fish. Test kits might have improved by then and might be picking up ammonia while it is attached to chlorine (chloramine), but you would have to contact the test kit manufacturers to find out about that.

 

[AbbeysDad]

It IS possible to have ammonia in "tap" water. I have some in mine, along with nitrates (Well water in the country with a 95 acre farmers field across the road.)
Having written the above, it may very well be chloramine as many municipal water supplies are using it these days as it's more effective than just chlorine.

Most good dechlorinators these days will handle both chlorine and chloramine, but check the label. In an established tank, the ammonia component will be neutralized long enough for BB to process. However also be advised that source water with chloramine will ultimately result in higher tank nitrates as the BB breaks down the ammonia component.