Ammonia After Water Change?

[Leeore]

Hello all


I just got my Api freshwater master kit in the mail today


Im coming up on the 1 month mark of having this tank. I had a betta and a platy in it for about a week or so..then I took the betta out and put in 2 mollies, and kept the 1 platy. The one molly had babies...and I couldnt afford a seperate holding tank/fry trap so I have about 10 little guys swimming in there aswell.


After 2 tests, I must say my arm hurts



I did a test before a water change (I did a 50% change yesterday around 1pm) and heres what I got:


NitrIte: 0.25 ppm
NitrAte: 5.0 ppm
Ammonia: 1.0? ppm
PH: 7.6 ppm (used the normal PH test, not the high PH...should I use the high? It's coming out a very dark blue )


So I did a 50% change. I tested my tap water for NitrIte and it was at 0. I used Aqua safe with the stress coat for my conditioner. And I still have ammonia? Wth? I took some pictures incase im reading it wrong, but im pretty sure it's matching up to the chart pretty well. (Note: the iphone 3GS's cam isn't as good as I thought it would be!! hehe)


NitrIte: 0 ppm
NitrAte: 5.0 ppm
Ammonia: .50? ppm
PH: 7.6 ppm


Is this normal, or should I do another change?



Thanks!!!

 

[OldMan47]

Give the sample shaking arm a rest. Until you get the ammonia and nitrites under control, you don't really care what the nitrates are. The water changes to get your ammonia down to much less than 1.0 and to get keep nitrites below 0.25 ppm will give you more than enough water change to prevent nitrates becoming a problem. Right now you need at least 2 of those 50% water changes to get the ammonia under control and then test to verify that ammonia is below 0.25 ppm. After that, test at least daily and don't be afraid of large water changes. Although I usually like to take things nice and gradual when changing water parameters, I don't feel that way when my fish are being poisoned.

 

[craig855s]

you'll still be a bit away from holding 0 ammonia so you need to do 5% water changes twice a day...if you dont your current fish wont last 6 months

 

[OldMan47]

A 5% change will only move ammonia from 1.0 to 0.95 ppm. That is not nearly enough at the beginning of a fish-in cycle Craig. The 50% is much more appropriate for early in a cycle and just adjust how often you do it based on the test results. Right now the test is screaming 1.0 at me so I suggest 2 changes. The first will only move ammonia to 0.5 ppm and the second will cut that number in half to around 0.25 ppm.

 

[Leeore]

Thank you OldMan47! Your help is much appreciated


Now that I have this kit - how many times should I test in a single day? And when I test, if I get any ammonia readings, should I do a change?

Also one last question. How often should I actually clean the gravel when I do a change as apposed to just siphoning out the water?





Im slowly becoming less of a noob at this hobby...so bear with me until then

 

[cowboy507]

Test daily, until ammonia and nitrItes are 0. If your ammonia or nitrItes is above .25 ppm then do a water change. Usually 50% is recommended, but not always needed sometime a 25% is all you need.
you should clean the gravel with your gravel vac everytime you do a water change.

 

[Leeore]

Test daily, until ammonia and nitrItes are 0. If your ammonia or nitrItes is above .25 ppm then do a water change. Usually 50% is recommended, but not always needed sometime a 25% is all you need.
you should clean the gravel with your gravel vac everytime you do a water change.

Thank you

 

[arobinson1984]

Agree with what has been said sbove, especially by oldman

If your ammonia was at 1.0ppm, a 50% change will have basically halved it, hence your reading of then 0.50ppm. In theory another 50% change will halve it again to 0.25ppm.

It doesnt always work out exactly like that buts its a good rough quide so depending on how fast your ammonia levels are rising and what level they are at in a morning when you get up and first test the water, you may need anywhere between 1-3 water changes a day (50% a time or even more if possible, 70%)

Your aim is to keep both ammonia and nitrite levels below 0.25ppm, preferably 0 or as close as possible.

Doing a large water change such as 70% may be of benefit if your experiencing higher levels such as 2ppm or above as the level of ammonia will do much more damage than the stress of a 70% change, but currently if your levels are only reaching 1ppm then you should befine with multiple 50% changes.

Remember to dechlorinate and temperature match any new water to minimise stress levels

Andy

 

[Leeore]

Back again, with another problem...this is tiring! lol


I did 2 50% water changes yesterday to get my ammonia down from 1.0 ppm. Last night before I went to bed it was at .25 ppm. I checked it this morning and it looked to be just over .25 ppm so I did a 50% water change...but it looked like it still came out at .25 ppm. So I said whatever I have to go to work il deal with it when I come back.


Well I got home, tested it. Looked to be .25 ppm still so I did a 50% change, and it STILL looks .25 ppm??!?! I took some pictures..maybe im going color blind. but the tube looks light green to me


Also, with all these big water changes to get my ammonia down...did I kill my nitrAtes? Yesterday it was at 5.0 ppm now it's 0 ppm. Again, I took a picture incase im going blind


(My cam might be making it seem darker...but held up to the light the NitrAte tube looks yellow)


Feel free to point and laugh if I am going blind, but it's better to be safe than sorry


Thanks!

*NitrAte*

*Ammonia BEFORE change today*

*Ammonia AFTER change today*

 

[arobinson1984]

Try matching your tank water against your tap water. Do 2 seperate ammonia tests, 1 on tank water and the other on tap water and compare them to see if there is a difference in colour. Sometimes tap water can contain traces of ammonia

Andy

 

[Leeore]

Try matching your tank water against your tap water. Do 2 seperate ammonia tests, 1 on tank water and the other on tap water and compare them to see if there is a difference in colour. Sometimes tap water can contain traces of ammonia

Andy

And there's my problem. They look the same colour...that faint .25 ppm green on the card. So...what do I do? Do I have to use jug water to do changes now?

 

[waterdrop]

No, don't use jug water. For now I'd just keep an eye out for traces of nitrite(NO2) and base water changes on that or if ammonia goes -above- the 0.25ppm that's going to be as low as you can go during cycling. After cycling is finished, the filter will make quick work of the 0.25ppm that's in your tap water.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[arobinson1984]

Agree with waterdrop here, keep your nitrites in check. Obviously with your tap water having 0.25ppm of ammonia, it won't really be beneficial to do water changes unless the ammonia rises above that (0.50ppm or above) if ammonia reaches 0.50ppm or nitrite raises higher than 0.25ppm then do a water change.

Once your tank has fully cycled you won't need to worry about the ammonia in the tap water as the beneficial bacteria will consume the ammonia dropping it to 0

Andy

 

[Leeore]

Awesome. Thanks both of you!


Nitrites easier to test for anyway...only one annoying bottle to open haha

 

[craig855s]

I meant 50% daily changes....mustnt have hit the key hard enough