Ammonia In Tap Water

[memder]

Hi! My fish just died of ammonia/nitrite poisioning in my 10 gallon tank.

I tested my tap water, the ammonia is 0.25-0.5mg/l. The test result is both before and after the usage of water conditioner. I used Tetra AquaSafe and use it proportionally only for the replacement water to be added to the tank, not the whole tank. The direction says 5 ml for ten gallons. So every time I do a 2 gallon water change, I use only 1-1.5 ml conditioner.

My question is: is 0.5mg/l safe for the tank? If it is not, what is the best way I can lower it down? I did put a Jungle Ammonia Clear tablet into my tank and it seems that the ammonia is 0 now. But I am worried that the tablet might destroy the beneficial bacteria buildup process.

Thanks very much.

 

[waterdrop]

Even by the time a good test kit begins to show a little ammonia, it can already be at a level that is unsafe for fish. Aquariums are very small and artificial environments for fish compared to their natural habitats. The most important and central thing in correctly outfitting this little artificial environment is the "bio-filter." The chemicals you are talking about in your question are at best a poor and temporary fix-up for a problem you ideally never want to happen.

At the risk of saying things you've already read.. An aquarium filter you buy is not a ready-to-use device. It is simply the raw hardware and needs anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months of fishless cycling to get its media properly conditioned for fish. (It is not a viable business proposition for fish stores to tell you this.) Despite your emergency, I urge you to be reading the wonderful pinned articles at the top of this forum during any chance you get - they will reveal all and its quite fascinating, especially once you've lost fish and want to understand why and how to do it better next time.

The solution to your immediate problem begins with a 50% water change (with dechlor & rough temperature matching.) Read some of the nearby threads. I've even described this in other threads tonight and there is good information to be found via the search tool at the top of the page. These large water changes can be repeated as quickly as one hour later until you get ammonia and nitrite readings as low as possible. Measure your tap water and make sure that in not adding ammonia too, in which case you would need smaller percentage changes, but would need to repeat them more times per day (still always waiting at least an hour to let the fish acclimate.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Amunet]

Are there still fish in the tank?
If not.. start a fishless cycle
http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/

Once the tank is cycled, the ammonia in the tap water won't matter.
We also have a 0.25 ammonia reading in our tap and it's never caused a problem.

 

[Evad]

Your water must not be chlorinated if you are showing ammonia readings. A lot of well water around farming areas can have ammonia in the tap up to 1ppm.

Ammonia is somewhat common to chlorine in the sense that you can degass it by letting it sit out for a while. Probably not practical but just wanted to pass that on.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Ammonia is somewhat common to chlorine in the sense that you can degass it by letting it sit out for a while. Probably not practical but just wanted to pass that on.

Sorry but I dont think this is true. The level of ammonia you measure can change depending on the Ph of the water and the PH can change by the ammount of CO2 in the water so in theory allowing the CO2 in the water to equalise with that in the air it could change the reading for ammonia. It will however still be there in some form (I cant remeber what happens to ammonia at different PH levels, I'm sure someone can explain though).

 

[waterdrop]

"(I cant remeber what happens to ammonia at different PH levels, I'm sure someone can explain though)"

If I remember correctly...
Ammonia exists in the water as NH3 and NH4+
NH3 is just called ammonia and is toxic to fish.
NH4+ is called the ammonium ion and is not toxic to fish.
At low (acid) pH there is less ammonia and more ammonium.
At high(basic) pH there is more ammonia and less ammonium.
Ammonia toxicity also varies a little by temperature,
getting a little more toxic at higher temps.

So, lower pH and temp = less toxic ammonia
higher pH and temp = more toxic ammonia.

(Is that right? Good! Now, as beginners we should file that away for an ammonia emergency and probably ignore such details if they just cause us to get confused!)

 

[memder]

THANKS FOR EVERYONE'S REPLY.

"(I cant remeber what happens to ammonia at different PH levels, I'm sure someone can explain though)"

If I remember correctly...
Ammonia exists in the water as NH3 and NH4+
NH3 is just called ammonia and is toxic to fish.
NH4+ is called the ammonium ion and is not toxic to fish.
At low (acid) pH there is less ammonia and more ammonium.
At high(basic) pH there is more ammonia and less ammonium.
Ammonia toxicity also varies a little by temperature,
getting a little more toxic at higher temps.

So, lower pH and temp = less toxic ammonia
higher pH and temp = more toxic ammonia.

(Is that right? Good! Now, as beginners we should file that away for an ammonia emergency and probably ignore such details if they just cause us to get confused!)

 

[Faythee]

My tap water has 3ppm ammonia and a ph of 7.5 so I feel for ya....makes things more difficult for sure !

I never do more than a 30% water change at a time. When I do a water change I will get a reading of .25 nitrite but it usually goes back down to zero within 24 hrs.
I do not feed my fish until it is back to zero.

This is with a completely cycled matured tank.

I do sometimes use spring water for my smaller 30 gal. tank and that way you can skip the adding of ammonia to the tank from the tapwater.

I also recommend using a product such as "Prime" as a water conditioner. It converts ammonia to a less toxic form. I add double the dosage.

 

[Evad]

Ammonia is somewhat common to chlorine in the sense that you can degass it by letting it sit out for a while. Probably not practical but just wanted to pass that on.

Sorry but I dont think this is true. The level of ammonia you measure can change depending on the Ph of the water and the PH can change by the ammount of CO2 in the water so in theory allowing the CO2 in the water to equalise with that in the air it could change the reading for ammonia. It will however still be there in some form (I cant remeber what happens to ammonia at different PH levels, I'm sure someone can explain though).

You are more right than me. After studying further I did see that Ammonia can degass but it takes a very long time and will never do it completely. It was a bad comment for me to make because its not realistic. Thanks for correcting.