Ammonia In Tap Water?

[fidjet2]

AAAAAAAAAAAAND another post
Should there be in australia?
I have .25 ammonia in my tap water and less the .25 in my tank- am working on that with water changes.
I have started useing seachem prime as my dechlorinator- i had in cupboard but never used as it is expensive to replace but am going to start using as i have nothing else lest
So should i be worried or not?

 

[HayzH]

AAAAAAAAAAAAND another post
Should there be in australia?
I have .25 ammonia in my tap water and less the .25 in my tank- am working on that with water changes.
I have started useing seachem prime as my dechlorinator- i had in cupboard but never used as it is expensive to replace but am going to start using as i have nothing else lest
So should i be worried or not?

if its in your tap water then water changes wont help. maybe you can contact the water board over there???
you can buy Ammonia remover, i dont know if this stuff works...i spose others will correct if im wrong.
But yes...ANY Ammonia is harmful to fish...so getting rid should be your priority.
Hope someone else has some words of wisdom for yo soon xx

 

[the_lock_man]

Hayley is right, if you have ammonia in your tap water, then water changes will merely be replacing old ammonia with new ammonia.

Prime is the best thing, it temporarily converts ammonia into ammonium, which is not toxic, but the filter bacteria still eat it (IIRC).

Logically, I suppose, it would mean that some of your filter capacity is taken up by getting rid of the tapwater ammonia, so your stocking level would need to be reduced to compensate.

Fidjet, I know you have some fish, but are you cycled yet?

 

[fidjet2]

My tank has been up and running for about 7 months now. At fist i did not cycle- LFS advise as usal was wrong- but i assumed to bacteria was formed as i have had no problems with fish deaths since my first lot- which was of course the non cycled tank- My tests are all good. Nitrite is 0 and ammonia is never over .25 but never gets to 0 - assume thats the tap water.

So ?

 

[the_lock_man]

I assume you have tested tap water specifically, rather than just making the assumption? And that you are using a liquid kit - silly question, you've read enough of these type threads to know not to use strips. I also assume that you are testing immediately before a water change?

There are 2 possibilities in my mind.
(1) There's ammonia in the tap water, and it's dealt with by the time you come to change water - then when you test after a WC, the ammonia is back (hence why I asked my last question)
or
(2) There is some colour discrepancy between the test chemicals and the colour printed in the booklet - and actually you do have 0 ammonia.

I can't see why your filter would be dealing with the ammonia from the fish, but not from the tap water.

 

[fidjet2]

Yeah i have tested my tap water after it was sitting for 24hours. And i do use liquid test kit
I do test the water before the water change, Well i normally wait a day before testing after a water change, which is normaly when i do the water change- cause the ammonia-

It might be that im going colour blind my mum says it looks like .25 aswell though

Should i test again to make sure.
I have done a water change tonight, so i will wait till tomorrow before the next water change to test again, i shall see what happens

thank you

 

[fidjet2]

the tap water is again .25 and my tank just below .25.......does the ammonia remover help? does it harm the fish?

thanks

 

[Tizer]

Your filter should be able to process the ammonia to zero, so even if you have 0.25ppm in the tap water it should be gone a few hours after a water change, plus you are diluting it into tank water. Your test kit sounds naff.

 

[the_lock_man]

What make of test kit are you using?

 

[ZoddyZod]

ammonia can be present in tap water (at levels low enough to be regarded as safe for drinking water) and it appears you are in this unfortunate situation.

As said above, if you have a cycled tank and are performing 25% water changes, then the filter will remove it for you fairly quickly.

 

[the_lock_man]

ammonia can be present in tap water (at levels low enough to be regarded as safe for drinking water) and it appears you are in this unfortunate situation.

As said above, if you have a cycled tank and are performing 25% water changes, then the filter will remove it for you fairly quickly.

That's the point, though, Zod, is that the filter, apparently, isn't removing it, but is dealing with ammonia and nitrite from fish. Which doesn't make sense.

I reckon it's a discrepancy between the colour printed on the booklet, and the "0ppm" colour in the test tube. I used to use the Hagen Nutrafin ammonia test, and it never went down to the yellow printed in the book. The next colour up had a definite green tinge to it, but the colour in my test tube wasn't green tinged either - just a different shade of yellow.

 

[fidjet2]

I use an API liquid test kit. i will try and buy a test kit just for ammonia...any recomendations?

 

[nitrogen15]

You probably already know this (I didn't until a few days ago), but Prime causes false readings on most kits for 24 hours after the water change. My impression is that this is true for both salicylate and nessler test types. API should be a fine brand, but kits can go bad, so if your results are off it's worth trying another. Tetra kits are decent as well.

 

[fidjet2]

Ill test now then. i havn't done a water change for about 48 hours.
And cool i might have a look around for a tetra test kit

 

[fidjet2]

Ammonia- 0-.25 It has a slight green tinge to it, not much though.
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 5-10