Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates...acceptable Levels

[Ami]

Just out of interest I thought I'd try and find out what level of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate you guys would be willing to accept in your tanks.

I know that most people will say 0 on the ammonia and nitrite, however that isn't always possible in a tank, especially when you fill the tank from your tap!

We know that the toxicity of ammonia varies between species of fish and also with the temperature and pH of the water. Also it changes continually back and forth from NH3 (extremely toxic) to NH4+ (ammonium - relatively harmless), with the nitrogen being in the dangerous form at higher temperatures and pH.

I personally don't panic if my ammonia is within 0.4mg/l nor if my nitrite is within 0.1mg/l, but I would check the aquarium for any dead fish, uneaten food etc. I also use Ammo-Lock at water changes, which I understand can sometimes screw up the readings on my test kits.

What is acceptable to you guys and when would you really start to worry?

Ami

 

[Squid]

Im finding it hard to believe that people find any nitrite and ammonia acceptable.

The options for nitrates should be all less than rather than more than.. I thought anything up to 40ppm is acceptable, but preferably below 20ppm.

Squid

 

[Ami]

Im finding it hard to believe that people find any nitrite and ammonia acceptable.

The options for nitrates should be all less than rather than more than.. I thought anything up to 40ppm is acceptable, but preferably below 20ppm.

Squid

I guess I've confused people - I used < to mean within or below and > to mean up to (I would have put the > after the number if I meant more than). Sorry. )

You're in Guildford, right? So you must have some ammonia at least in your tap water and therefore you're tank can't possibly always have 0 ammonia levels...?

I'm in Farnborough - my FW tank is not over stocked in anyway, I did a fishless cycle which worked perfectly, I added the fish slowly so as not to overload the filter, my fish are fed once per day in a small amount with any excess cleared away and for one day per week are not fed at all. However, this tank always has some ammonia showing.

 

[dgwebster]

i can help but think when you have a living, constant supply of ammonia, its foolish to every think its ALWAYS at zero. unless you have all your fish trained to pee at certain times... from fish pee to actually going through your filter should be anywhere up to 20 minutes (assuming your filter output is enough to filter your tank 3 times an hour) and if you tank your sample at a point in time when a fish has taken a leak, its going to show ammonia.

 

[Ami]

i can help but think when you have a living, constant supply of ammonia, its foolish to every think its ALWAYS at zero. unless you have all your fish trained to pee at certain times... from fish pee to actually going through your filter should be anywhere up to 20 minutes (assuming your filter output is enough to filter your tank 3 times an hour) and if you tank your sample at a point in time when a fish has taken a leak, its going to show ammonia.

That's exactly why I asked the question! I can't believe that a tank would always have 0 ammonia becuase the bacteria can't convert it immediately. Apart from the fact that your fish are constantly passing waste into the tank, surely the bacteria don't convert the ammonia as soon as it gets too them - they must need time to get to work on it...?

Spotted that there's been 36 people voting but most peeps aren't giving their opinions, which is a pity cos I'm curious about this!

Ami

 

[tttnjfttt]

When you have enough bacteria built up in the filter, the levels should stay at zero or non-detectable amounts. Even if it is there, it is in such a small quantity that the tests cant detect it.

 

[Ami]

Ok, so that means I don't have enough beneficial bacteria because my tank varies between 0mg/l and 0.4mgl.

As I said, fishless cycle, not overstocked, not overfed etc so what can I do to persuade my beneficial bacteria to 'get it on'? Play them some Barry White??

Ami

 

[tttnjfttt]

what can I do to persuade my beneficial bacteria to 'get it on'? Play them some Barry White??

Ami

I think the best thing to do is time. The only time I have recently seen ANY ammonia reading, and it was more a trace, not even close to the level above zero, was after a 5 hour power outage then I cleaned out my filter because it was getting very gunked up. Same with nitrItes.

Hold off on buying more fish until you see all levels constantly at zero. Also, lay off of doing any filter maintence for a few weeks, that should help things. What type of filter are you running? I know UGF filters are more prone to mini-cycles and are easier to disturb with gravel vacuming.

 

[Squid]

I have just filled my tank up ready for a fishless cycle, and have not yet added the ammonia, so i have just tested the tapwater which as far as my test kit is concerned has resulted in 0. I dont live in guildford, i work in guildford, i actually live in farnham. However, my tap water is is still 0 and so must be different to yours.

I would be interested to see how people comment on what you have said though, as i will admit i had not thought of it in that way before (so i may have been a newbie jumping the gun!!! ). Although, we would probably only be talking about tiny bits at any one time, that would always be closer to that of 0 than 0.1.

One final comment.. (Not a dig). how come you added your fish slowly after doing a fishless cycle.. i have been lead to believe that the bacteria that you have built up will die off if you dont feed it, so by adding fish slowly this would have a negative effect on a fishless cycle. Again, it would be nice with someone with more experience to clarify this.

Cheers
Squid

 

[Ami]

what can I do to persuade my beneficial bacteria to 'get it on'? Play them some Barry White??

Ami

I think the best thing to do is time. The only time I have recently seen ANY ammonia reading, and it was more a trace, not even close to the level above zero, was after a 5 hour power outage then I cleaned out my filter because it was getting very gunked up. Same with nitrItes.

Hold off on buying more fish until you see all levels constantly at zero. Also, lay off of doing any filter maintence for a few weeks, that should help things. What type of filter are you running? I know UGF filters are more prone to mini-cycles and are easier to disturb with gravel vacuming.

Well, the tank has been up and running since June last year. Filter is a ClearJet 3 and I only rinse it through in old tank water once a fortnight. I use a gravel vac to clean any detritus from my substrate once per week when doing water changes. I remove any dead plant leaves etc once per week. I stir the substrate once per week to prevent any ammonia pockets from building up. There have been no new additions to the tank since August and I've lost a couple of fish since then due to suicidal investigations of the filter.

I obsessively checked the stats twice per week until November and now I do them once per fortnight. The nitrite rarely changes at all and the nitrate tends to vary up to 25mg/l, but the ammonia tends to be 0.1mg/l or 0.4mg/l - rarely 0. I've gotten to the point where I've decided it's not worth worrying about as the fish are doing well.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Just a thought - have you had these levels checked by the LPS to make sure your test kit is accurate? Also, are you testing the ammonai before or after your water changes? Could ammonia be coming in through your tap water?

 

[Ami]

I have just filled my tank up ready for a fishless cycle, and have not yet added the ammonia, so i have just tested the tapwater which as far as my test kit is concerned has resulted in 0. I dont live in guildford, i work in guildford, i actually live in farnham. However, my tap water is is still 0 and so must be different to yours.

I would be interested to see how people comment on what you have said though, as i will admit i had not thought of it in that way before (so i may have been a newbie jumping the gun!!! ). Although, we would probably only be talking about tiny bits at any one time, that would always be closer to that of 0 than 0.1.

One final comment.. (Not a dig). how come you added your fish slowly after doing a fishless cycle.. i have been lead to believe that the bacteria that you have built up will die off if you dont feed it, so by adding fish slowly this would have a negative effect on a fishless cycle. Again, it would be nice with someone with more experience to clarify this.

Cheers
Squid

Guess we do have different water - or my test kits out of date?! I'll test the tap water tomorrow when I get home from work and post the stats so call can see. Too tired and no patience at the mo! Zzzzzzzz....

I added them slowly because that is what I was advised to do here to prevent the filter from being overloaded and not being able to cope with the new additions. I had planned to add more fish than I have, but just never got around to it.

 

[Squid]

Just a thought - have you had these levels checked by the LPS to make sure your test kit is accurate? Also, are you testing the ammonai before or after your water changes? Could ammonia be coming in through your tap water?

Its a good point.. i do live quite close and my test kit says that my ammonia levels on tap water are 0. I use a nearly new API Master test kit. Maybe worth checking.

Squid

 

[Ami]

Just a thought - have you had these levels checked by the LPS to make sure your test kit is accurate? Also, are you testing the ammonai before or after your water changes? Could ammonia be coming in through your tap water?

That's what I've been saying since the start of the thread......my tap water shows ammonia when I test it, so I use ammo lock on it, but if I test the tank I still get ammonia levels and I know that the ammo lock can muck up test results, which is why I posted this poll....

 

[dgwebster]

there could be:

one your perception of colour is off
test kit is off (unless other kits have been used)
urm, a very small local pocket of gas forms over the colour on the chart, amking it slightly diff. for some random bizarre reason this happens every time you do a test.