Ammonia In Water

[ezipf]

Sorry this story is going to be a bit long, I just had to tell the backstory.
 
I recently bought three cory cats and an angel to start stocking my 36 gallon tank, but when I woke up this morning the angel was sitting on the tank bottom and two cory cats had died, and the last cory cat was not looking well. So I tested the water and did about a 60% water change. 
 
My results for the water pre-water changer were- ammonia:0.5 ppm, nitrite:0, nitrate:0. So I assume the water change has helped so I tested the water again to make sure, but I get the same results! Then I tested all the water sources where I get my water from, and they all have between 0.25 ppm to 0.5 ppm of ammonia!
 
Which confused me even more, because I used to keep fancy goldfish, before I re-cycled this tank, and I never even got close to 0.5 ppm.
 
Does anyone know how to neutralize ammonia from your water sources?

 

[Akasha72]

Hello and welcome to the forum
 
It's not unusual to see this with our members from the U.S. It's not something we see here in the U.K due to E.U laws but over in the States it seems to be normal to have ammonia in your tap water.
 
The good news is there is a product that will remove it. It's just a general water conditioner which we always recommend using unless you use R.O water. It's called Seacham Prime. 
 
When you do your water change turn off your heater and filter and add Prime to the tank as per the instructions. This should help to 'lock away' any ammonia. 
 
The fact that you have no Nitrate reading this would suggest that the tank is not cycling and so I would think you are now in what we call a 'fish in cycle'. Have a read of the info in the new to the hobby section on rescuing a fish in cycle. There will be some useful information there.
 
Hope that helps  

 

[NickAu]

Prime will bind ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for 24-48 hours. At which point, if they are still present, they will be released.
 
http/www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=3983

 

[Akasha72]

thanks Nick, I don't use prime so my knowledge of it is limited

 

[Efishent]

I thought it was good to have some nitrate in your water. I'm not an expert, though. I should move to the EU if taking care of fish is easier there.

 

[Akasha72]

we still have to work at it! We have flouride in our water and copper and other metals. We still have to use dechlorinator. I use Interpet tapsafe myself but I've considered ordering some Prime a few times now.
 
Regarding your water. You need to keep ammonia and Nitrite at zero and keep Nitrates below 40 is possible. The best way to keep Nitrate down is to add some live plants as they use it up as food.
If you go here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/ it explains the Nitrogen cycle far better than I can
 
As for the EU, I'd rather not be part of it. It costs a fortune and they rule everything we do. With some things it is good but the majority is just expensive silliness... like how bent banana's are allowed to be

 

[NickAu]

Hey mad cory woman, Merry Christmas. I got 6 Albino Corys for Christmas, Well actually they were rescues from a 3 gallon cube, It was a case of take them or they will be flushed.
 
I also do not use Prime, I use Easy Life Fluid Filter Medium, I do not like the smell of prime.

Easy-Life fluid filter medium — English

 

[Akasha72]

photo's please Nick when you get around to it! You know me and cories lol

 

[NickAu]

Photos can be found here My 2 Foot Rebuild

 

[ezipf]

Thank you for all the advice.
 
I couldn't find prime at my local fish store so I bought a different neutralizer, and I tested it afterwards and it definitely neutralized almost all the ammonia.
 
I'll take a look at the fish in cycle info
 
Thanks! 

 

[Akasha72]

no problem, it's what we are here for

 

[ezipf]

Also how long does a cycle usually tank?
 
I thought it took about a month, but my tank had been sitting for three weeks with already cycled substrate and filter media before I added fish.

 

[NickAu]

Cycling a tank is a bit more complicated than just letting it sit for a few weeks.
 
Please read this

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

 

[Byron]

Prime will bind ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for 24-48 hours. At which point, if they are still present, they will be released.
 
http/www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=3983

This has me puzzled, the ammonia part I mean.  I will go into this with Seachem myself, because they have stated several times, and to me personally, that the detoxifying of ammonia by Prime is permanent; it converts ammonia to ammonium which is basically harmless.  And they have said that it will not revert back.  Nitrite and nitrate however is only effective for 24-36 hours; Prime somehow binds these, but they can return to the toxic form.
 
And if you have acidic water, with a pH below 7, ammonia will change into ammonium on its own.  And this too is permanent, but if the pH should become basic (above 7) then the ammonium will change back into ammonia.  All of this is relative to the pH.  But the change caused by Prime is not the same.  I will report back depending upon Seachem's response.
 
Byron.

 

[Byron]

I thought it was good to have some nitrate in your water. I'm not an expert, though. I should move to the EU if taking care of fish is easier there.

 
There is some misunderstanding in the hobby about nitrate.  First, let me say that it is toxic, as is ammonia and nitrite, but not as serious as the latter two over the short term.  The level of nitrate, as well as the length of exposure to it, factors in how "safe" or "toxic" nitrate will be.  And some fish manage better than others.
 
The goal of every aquarist should be to keep nitrates as low as possible, and certainly never above 20 ppm.  Remember that our fish all live in natural waters that are basically zero nitrate.  Some more recent studies into nitrate are showing that long-term exposure, and/or elevated levels of nitrate, can cause much the same issues as ammonia and nitrite.
 
Plants were mentioned...these do not directly use nitrate, generally speaking, but they do help to keep nitrates lower.  Plants use ammonia/ammonium as their preferred source of nitrogen, and only when this is no longer sufficient will they turn to nitrate.  There is some evidence that they might actually prefer nitrite to nitrate (once ammonia/ammonium is used up), but this has not been thoroughly investigated.  Anyway, the point is that they will only take up nitrate if ammonia/ammonium is no longer present.  This is due to the plant having to change the nitrate back into ammonium, and this uses valuable energy, so the plant only resorts to this when forced to.  Because plants use the ammonia, less is taken up by the nitrifying bacteria, so nitrite will be less, and similarly nitrate.  So plants keep the nitrates lower, but not by directly using them.
 
In high-tech planted tanks, where all nutrients have to be in higher levels to balance the more intense light, nitrogen is ged as nitrate; adding ammonia to a fish tank is always a dangerous thing, and nitrate is generally safer.  But as I pointed out above, this is limited, and adding nitrate is still a real risk in some situations.
 
Nitrates occurring from within the aquarium can be controlled by water changes, maintaining a stocking level that can be handled by the system, and not overfeeding.  Nitrates coming in with the source water is a very different issue, and here other steps will be needed, depending upon the level.
 
Byron.