Ammonia In Tap Water

[tam0904]

We've been running our new tank for 4 weeks, trying to cycle it.

We're managed to get nitrite 0 and nitrate to more or less between 0 and 0.5, but the ammonia has been stuck on 0.25.

We've tested the tap water today and the reading we are getting from our tank, 0.25 ammonia, is what is coming out of our tap water!

What can we do to neutralise the ammonia in the tap water before putting it in the tank?

We've managed to get where we are by doing 50% water changes either daily or every other day, and minimizing the feeding to every other day.

Help!!!

 

[Bigpig]

Not sure if you do it when cycleing but smaller regular water changes is best with ammonia tap water. I think

 

[puppyjess123]

What sort of colour is the ammonia tap water is it a peeish sort of colour?

 

[tam0904]

What sort of colour is the ammonia tap water is it a peeish sort of colour?

nope perfectly clear but we've tested it and its def got ammonia in

 

[puppyjess123]

Alright just as i have the API master test kit and the ammonia is a pee sort of colour and on the chart 0 ammonia is clear yellow when i was told pee colour is 0 from minxfishy.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol i think she thought you mean does the water from the tpa look a 'pee' colour...... i'd really hope it doesn't!

anyway, plenty of people do have tap water ammonia and the tank runs fine, once the filter is cycled it'll just process the extra ammonia. you just don't do any large water changes as you'd be adding in lots of ammonia at once, so instead of doing a 30% change once a week you'd do 15% changes twice a week.

Now I'm a little confused here though, can you explain how you are cycling the tank?

I get the sneaking suspicion that the lfs has told you to wait 2 weeks, test the water and if ammonia and nitrite are at 0 then you can add fish, you've been valiently testing and waiting for it to drop but it's just not shifted. am i right?

if thats the case then I'm afraid the tank won't be anywhere near cycled and unfortunately the lfs will have wasted 4 weeks of your time. Have a read of the two links in my sig 'whats cycling' and 'fishless cycling' which should explain some more.

if that's not the case and you're doing a proper fishless cycle by adding ammonia then it's just going to be a case of patience and it will go eventually.

 

[tam0904]

lol i think she thought you mean does the water from the tpa look a 'pee' colour...... i'd really hope it doesn't!

anyway, plenty of people do have tap water ammonia and the tank runs fine, once the filter is cycled it'll just process the extra ammonia. you just don't do any large water changes as you'd be adding in lots of ammonia at once, so instead of doing a 30% change once a week you'd do 15% changes twice a week.

Now I'm a little confused here though, can you explain how you are cycling the tank?

I get the sneaking suspicion that the lfs has told you to wait 2 weeks, test the water and if ammonia and nitrite are at 0 then you can add fish, you've been valiently testing and waiting for it to drop but it's just not shifted. am i right?

if thats the case then I'm afraid the tank won't be anywhere near cycled and unfortunately the lfs will have wasted 4 weeks of your time. Have a read of the two links in my sig 'whats cycling' and 'fishless cycling' which should explain some more.

if that's not the case and you're doing a proper fishless cycle by adding ammonia then it's just going to be a case of patience and it will go eventually.

Hey Miss Wiggle

I did think she meant was my tap water the colour of pee LOL stupid woman I am.

We are cycling with fish. I wasn't clued up on fishless cycling when I set the tank up as my internet access has only been sporadic lately. When I bought my tank, I was told by the LFS to add water, wait a week, bring in a sample of the water and I would be able to add fish. And I did that. Then when we bought our fish - 6 platys - they said you can add more next week, just bring another water sample in. Did as we were told, and they said nope no fishys for you - your water is too bad - only then did they explain cycling. We bought a testing kit there and then, and some bacterial booster which did precisely sod all. This was 3 weeks ago .

I sourced help here and was told to do big 50% changes daily until ammonia was 0 but then of course I didnt know I had ammonia in my tap water. I do add a de-chlorinator to my tap water before adding it into the tank, and get it up to 24% etc Im worried for my 6 platys, and tbh I have considered giving them away and starting again with fishless cycling but I think my little boy may throw a hissy fit and I can't deal with that!!!!!

Are water changes the only thing I can do to help, and should I be doing maybe 25% twice daily? I have only been feeding every other day but one of my fish is still pooing a massive long string out, whilst the others are fine. Its only one of my girls that does the mile long poo that hangs from her for ages! The others dont have anything like that going on. I am feeding them flake, and the instructions say 2/3 flake per fish, and I have been feeding more like 4 flakes crushed up every other day - I dont think that's over feeding is it?

ARGH so many questions.

 

[petertr]

There's a point.

If the tap water has ammonia in, can you cycle the tank by just replacing a few liters of water every day until both baterial colonies build up !! lol

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Although I usually don't recommend chemical products other than water conditioner, since you are in the middle of a fish-in cycle it may be useful to consider using a product that helps trap Ammonia in it's less toxic form. This will not replace the need for water changes, and may not be as effective if you have a tank with a higher range of pH...but may help reduce the risk to your fish. There are also water conditioners like Prime (that are designed for conditioning water with chloramines), that can do the same thing but are not designed for large amounts of ammonia.

During fish-in cycling it's helpful to cut back feeding to every other day...and the general "rule of thumb" is that a fishes stomach is about as big as it's eye (although they will try to pack away as much food as they can get!) Feeding sparingly during the cycle helps reduce the amount of waste they are producing, and don't worry... fish can go without eating for over a week.

As for the long poo...stringy poo, depending on the type, can be an indicator of diarrhea from stress, parasites, etc.

 

[petertr]

Although I usually don't recommend chemical products other than water conditioner, since you are in the middle of a fish-in cycle it may be useful to consider using a product that helps trap Ammonia in it's less toxic form. This will not replace the need for water changes, and may not be as effective if you have a tank with a higher range of pH...but may help reduce the risk to your fish. There are also water conditioners like Prime (that are designed for conditioning water with chloramines), that can do the same thing but are not designed for large amounts of ammonia.

During fish-in cycling it's helpful to cut back feeding to every other day...and the general "rule of thumb" is that a fishes stomach is about as big as it's eye (although they will try to pack away as much food as they can get!) Feeding sparingly during the cycle helps reduce the amount of waste they are producing, and don't worry... fish can go without eating for over a week.

As for the long poo...stringy poo, depending on the type, can be an indicator of diarrhea from stress, parasites, etc.

I use ammo-lock as my dechrlorinator. I figure, why not!

 

[jnms]

What test kit are you using tam0904? I used to have a Hagen kit and it always showed my water as 0.25 or 0.4 for the ammonia. When I changed to the API test kit, it showed as 0. Some kits aren't very good...

 

[raptorrex]

What test kit are you using tam0904? I used to have a Hagen kit and it always showed my water as 0.25 or 0.4 for the ammonia. When I changed to the API test kit, it showed as 0. Some kits aren't very good...

yep, there is a fair amount of gear out there just like that!

 

[tam0904]

Thanks for your replies!

We have an API master test kit, which is apparently a good one? We have got some ammolock and my husband has been using that, putting it directly in the tank. I have a feeling that's not the right thing to be doing though?

The orange coloured fish is the one doing the massive stringy poos, and it's been doing it since we had it from the fish shop. I am wondering if it's stress from the ammonia and nitrite levels?

My husband tested the water last 2 days ago and ammonia was .25. He added ammolock to the tank and he's just about to test now so we'll see what it does.

I am seriously thinking about jacking this in already. Do you get these problems with cold water fish?!

 

[tam0904]

Thanks for your replies!

We have an API master test kit, which is apparently a good one? We have got some ammolock and my husband has been using that, putting it directly in the tank. I have a feeling that's not the right thing to be doing though?

The orange coloured fish is the one doing the massive stringy poos, and it's been doing it since we had it from the fish shop. I am wondering if it's stress from the ammonia and nitrite levels?

My husband tested the water last 2 days ago and ammonia was .25. He added ammolock to the tank and he's just about to test now so we'll see what it does.

I am seriously thinking about jacking this in already. Do you get these problems with cold water fish?!

OK just tested and ammonia is still showing high - 1.0 atm

 

[raptorrex]

Thanks for your replies!

We have an API master test kit, which is apparently a good one? We have got some ammolock and my husband has been using that, putting it directly in the tank. I have a feeling that's not the right thing to be doing though?

The orange coloured fish is the one doing the massive stringy poos, and it's been doing it since we had it from the fish shop. I am wondering if it's stress from the ammonia and nitrite levels?

My husband tested the water last 2 days ago and ammonia was .25. He added ammolock to the tank and he's just about to test now so we'll see what it does.

I am seriously thinking about jacking this in already. Do you get these problems with cold water fish?!

yes everything is much the same whatever the temperature. though the bacteria will grow more quickly in a tropical tank, whatever, you will continue to have problem till your tank is cycled, locking away the ammonia will not help as the filter needs it to feed it bacteria colony/s. its one of the problems doing a with fish cycle, by its very nature it is stressful to the fish.

as to if you should give up? if you find this too much, you may well be best too!