Emergency question

[Ch4rlie]

But of course the nitrate could be coming from your tap water, it’s pretty common for folks to have nitrate from taps.

If the nitrate reading is from the tap water source then that tells me the tank is no longer cycled or something has happened to the BB in your tank and filter

But your livestock is showing no symptoms of ammonia or nitrite poisoning so that kinds of put that theory of something wrong with BB out of the window.

And lastly there could be something wrong with the ammonia testing solution perhaps

I cannot know which it is for certain at this moment in time.

Very confusing.

 

[Peyton L]

Ok, if zero nitrite and a reading of nitrate then that suggests to me the tank is cycled.

The water conditioner, what brand do you use?

It been known that Seachem Prime can give false readings of ammonia shortly after water changes for example.

I’ve been using tetra aqua safe. I’ve always used it but I have recently gotten a new bottle so idk

 

[Peyton L]

But of course the nitrate could be coming from your tap water, it’s pretty common for folks to have nitrate from taps.

If the nitrate reading is from the tap water source then that tells me the tank is no longer cycled or something has happened to the BB in your tank and filter

And lastly there could be something wrong with the ammonia testing solution perhaps

I cannot know which it is for certain at this moment in time.

Very confusing.

My tank has been cycled for almost 20 years up till I added this betta in so I would like to assume it’s cycled still but again who knows with all this weirdness. I’m going to try to buy a new ammonia kit and try to just change everything to new bottles and restart because im going crazy

 

[Ch4rlie]

Tetra aqua safe is one of the better tap water conditioner actually, I’ve used this before in the past actually.

 

[Ch4rlie]

My tank has been cycled for almost 20 years up till I added this betta in so I would like to assume it’s cycled still but again who knows with all this weirdness. I’m going to try to buy a new ammonia kit and try to just change everything to new bottles and restart because im going crazy

20 years, OTS perhaps?
(Old Tank Syndrome)

Need @essjay scientific brain here to help out.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

@Peyton L If this has @Ch4rlie even stumped, then you can rest assured that you're not crazy at least! It is weird! Small comfort when it doesn't solve your problem, but hey, at least sharing with other hobbyists who are like "huh, that's weird" helps a little, hopefully!

There has to be something small that has been overlooked that accounts for this, surely. Fingers crossed that combined brains can work it out!

Can you get photos of the tanks involved please? Not sure how it might help, but you never know. What filtration do you have and how do you clean them/how often? Do you have any issues with pest snails?

 

[Essjay]

It has me stumped as well


Just to make sure I've got things straight:
No ammonia in tap water.
Ammonia appears in every tank the betta is in, even a tank that has been running fine for years and years.
Nothing in the tank (substrate, decor) causes ammonia to appear in the water.
Fish show no signs of ammonia poisoning.

I may have missed whether you've done this so apologies if you have -
Have you tried leaving a glass of tap water to stand and see if ammonia appears in that?
And a glass of dechlorinated water as well to compare that to plain tap water.

What is the pH of the tank water?