Ammonia In Tap Water?

[boardy]

Hi,

I've just finally got around to testing my tap water and found I have the following levels with my API master kit I've had for around 6 months now -

Nitrate - 10
Nitrite - 0
Ammonia - 0.25

Is it normal to have ammonia in tap water or is this a dupe reading? I could be reading the tube wrong as the differences in the colours are pretty rubbish, especially the Nitrate high levels and Ammonia low levels.

Could someone please give me some advice on whether this is normal or should I ignore it.

Cheers
Adam

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i'm pretty sure that it does happen occasionally.

it shouldn't matter if your tank is fully cycled it'll be able to absorb the amount of ammonia that goes into the tank after a water change, however as a precautionary measure next time you do a water change test your levels for a few days after. if you see any small spike then possibly change your routine to smaller water changes but more often.

 

[Mikaila31]

Yep that can happen, Like Miss Wiggle said it shouldn't cause a problem during a waterchange. If you are worried about it you could always use Prime to take care of it.

 

[finchfarm]

We have ammonia in our tap water.....all the time. And not 0.25 ammonia either, its like 3.0 or 4.0 or something. Its high....I don't see how the city allows ammonia that high in our water, but its there. No, nothings wrong with my ammonia test kit...I've used multiple test kits that have read the same.

I actually have to treat my tap water with something to remove the ammonia before I do a water change on my tank.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

We have ammonia in our tap water.....all the time. And not 0.25 ammonia either, its like 3.0 or 4.0 or something. Its high....I don't see how the city allows ammonia that high in our water, but its there. No, nothings wrong with my ammonia test kit...I've used multiple test kits that have read the same.

I actually have to treat my tap water with something to remove the ammonia before I do a water change on my tank.

yeah with ammonia levels that high i'd probably treat before adding it to the tank, but with 0.25 you should be fine.

 

[boardy]

Thanks for the replies, put my mind at rest

I'll keep an eye on the levels for the next few days. I'm doing daily water changes sometimes 2 a day at the moment as I've just added quite a few fish to a nearly cycled tank so the filter is having a hard time of it. Ammonia seems to be sitting at 0 after 20-30min with the Nitrite and Nitrate's being the only real problem.

I'm sure it will calm down in a week or two, but until then, I'll just keep doing daily water changes. Currently doing 15% every day in the morning, with a 30% every other day in the evening.

Thanks again
Adam