Strange Ammonia Test

[jkun17]

I was doing an ammonia test and something strange happened. As soon as the indicator solution hit the water it turned a milky white then became crystal clear.

I was testing a bowl I bought at a flee market and the ammonia levels were high so I added ammo-lock in hopes that it would help my problem along.

 

[Teelie]

Are those the test strips? I haven't found them to be very useful.

 

[jkun17]

No, it's the liquid test. It's really really weird.

 

[Teelie]

That is odd. Usually the liquid tests are more reliable, maybe it was a chemical reaction with a cleaner agent that had been used in the bowl before?

 

[jkun17]

That's my best guess, but I don't know if it means the water is good or bad.

If anyone knows, it would be a help. I don't wanna throw this thing away.

 

[Ahmad]

Prime, Amquel and other products that nuetralize ammonia like yours will mess up ammonia reading with liquid tests. So the readings your getting is most likely wrong. So I would not worry about it.

I use Amquel so I use strips!

HTH

 

[jkun17]

So is it safe to put my betta in there?

Is there a way to get rid of the ammonia? (It's in a bowl and I change the water twice a week)

 

[Teelie]

Scrub it well and use vinager. It'll safely clean it and the ammonia problem is probably a minor one. IIRC, ammonia evaporates when not in water so it should be fine after that.

 

[jkun17]

Thanks!!

Another note: I've been ussing bottled water in my betta bowls and now it is starting to become rather expensive to keep buying bottled water. Is there any process I can use that will possibly eliminate the ammonia? I don't remember if I heard it here or somewhere else that there is a kind of stone that I can buy that will soak up ammonia?

Is there anything I can do for my fish bowls such that ammonia isn't that big of a problem?

 

[jkun17]

The problem is that most of the water for my fish goes to my bowls and I change those about twice a week; however, ammonia is a problem and I can't seem to find a way to completely neutralize it. No matter what I try I can't find a way to lower it to 0. The chemical conditioners screw up my tests so I never know exactly if I'm giving my bettas safe water.

What else can I do to my tap water to remove the ammonia?

My tanks are not the issue because they are cycled and have carbon filters to remove ammonia; but my bowls don't have the benefit of a filter to remove the ammonia.

I have thought about starting a tank for the soul purpose of generating de-ammoniated water for my bettas. Does anyone know if that would work? My thought was a simple 5 gallon that I would cycle with just some gravel. Then again, would it be possible to use water from my tank to fill my fish bowls with de-ammoniated water?

 

[Teelie]

There is a kind of rock that absorbs ammonia but it only absorbs so much and it's not a replacement for water changes. As to getting rid of ammonia, the only way to do it is to cycle it and even then that only takes care of the problem until the bacteria are overwhelmed.

 

[jkun17]

Thanks Teelie for all your advice. I hope you won't mind me taking one more stab into un-charted territory.

I was considering creating a 5 gallon tank for the soul purpose of cleaning up tap water for my bettas. My thought was to buy a 5 gallon tank, put a bio wheel in it, cycle the tank and use it to clean up my water. I know that my addatives will break up the Chlorine and Chloramine and take care of the hard metals but nothing I have will eliminate the ammonia. So I thought about what will break up ammonia, the only thing that came to mind was the bacteria and so I thought about a tank dedicated to cycling water for my bowls (I know it would make more sense to just put the bettas in there with separators but I've got over a dozen bettas and I'd set up a water scheduel and all that lovliness to ensure that my bettas are getting their water when they need it. That and I can only keep so many bettas in a 5 gallon and I've already got a system of organizaion for my betta bowls. And this is a lot to put in parenthesis ).

I would probably just put gravel and a plant to absorb some of the nitrates.

Another two questions (I'm so sorry I keep bugging you):

1. Is this a weird setup or what?

2. I am seriously considering setting up a purely water and plant tank for this purpose and I wanted to know if the plants would produce anything that would counteract my efforts to creat de-ammoniated water?

3. (I know I said two up there ) Would an under gravel filter be necessary for that kind of set-up?