Ammonia Issue

[Hoof Hearted]

We have a 600L tank in our office. It has been pretty healthy for several years. Recently, some fish died, and when I did the various tests I found that there was a high Ammonia reading. Since then i've been using Ammo Lock and doing a lot of water changes, adding some King British de-chlorination fluid in the recommended dose to each bucket.

The Ammonia level has stayed high. So I decided to test the fresh water that I was adding. I was surprised to find that after adding the de-chlorination fluid to a bucket of water, there was 0.5ppm Ammonia in the bucket. A google search confirmed that the de-chlorination fluid converts Chlorine to Ammonia. It's probably more of an issue because I've done 3 x 25% (150L) water changes in the past week. So i've used a lot of de-chlorinator. I added some buckets of water without de-chlorinator and found the Ammonia levels easier to control. I also found that the Ammo Lock causes the ph to lower drastically. So i've been using quite a bit of Ph-Up to fix that.

Have any of you guys got any pointers about all this. I want to get the problem fixed.

Ian

 

[Essjay]

The dechlorination product cannot convert chlorine to ammonia.
However, there are two disinfectants commonly used - chlorine and chloramine. Chloramine is chlorine and ammonia joined together. Dechlorinators split them apart and remove the chlorine leaving the ammonia in the water. Some dechlorinators 'detoxify' this ammonia until the filter bacteria or live plants (if any) remove it.
You could try asking your water company whether they use chlorine or chloramine in your area. But levels of ammonia from chloramine are usually not very high. If the tank level is over 0.5 ppm, it's not from chloramine.

Something else to consider - if the tank is in your office, does the building owner do something to the water supply?


If all these prove negative, it sounds as though something has killed the tank bacteria.
How high is the ammonia reading?
What is the nitrite level?

 

[Hoof Hearted]

The dechlorination product cannot convert chlorine to ammonia.
However, there are two disinfectants commonly used - chlorine and chloramine. Chloramine is chlorine and ammonia joined together. Dechlorinators split them apart and remove the chlorine leaving the ammonia in the water. Some dechlorinators 'detoxify' this ammonia until the filter bacteria or live plants (if any) remove it.
You could try asking your water company whether they use chlorine or chloramine in your area. But levels of ammonia from chloramine are usually not very high. If the tank level is over 0.5 ppm, it's not from chloramine.

Something else to consider - if the tank is in your office, does the building owner do something to the water supply?


If all these prove negative, it sounds as though something has killed the tank bacteria.
How high is the ammonia reading?
What is the nitrite level?

Thanks for the reply,

Our water company website states that they use chorine. I saw a few regions mentioned where chloramine is used, but ours isn't one of them. There is no additional treatment to the water entering our building. When I tested our aquarium water last week the Ammonia was 2ppm. I'm not saying that I think this originally came from the de-chlorinator. I was just stating that my Ammonia test found .5ppm ammonia in the water bucket after I added the de-chlorinator, whereas there was zero ammonia before I added the de-chlorinator to the bucket. So the de-chlorinator is producing this somehow.

I agree that the the tank bacteria has probably died. What is the best way to re-enstate it? Nitrate and Nitrite levels are zero. I'm using Ammo Lock to keep the Ammonia level at, or below 0.5ppm. When I left the office today i'd managed to get the ph back up to 7.0

I know you're supposed to alter the ph slowly, but when the Ammo Lock makes it go from 7.0 to less than 6 in a few hours, I felt the need to get it back up there quickly.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

First of all, DON"T PANIC

There is a very good article on the site to help with your problems: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il.433778/ Read it.

At ph 6.0 and using 80F as the water temp, your 2 ppm of Total Ammonia is just 0.0013 ppm of NH3, Your fish could live the rest pt their lives in this and be just fine. The most stringent line for toxicity of NH3 I suggest is 0.05 ppm. Many will say it is higher but I am overly cautious. At pH 7.0 the NH# rises to 0.0131 ppm which is still safe. However, it is not safe to have 2 ppm of total ammonia for extended periods. This is all detailed in the article linked above.

Ammo Lock detoxifies ammonia but the bacteria cannot use it then. Cy;ing a tank requires ammonia. Ammonia Lock keeps a tank safe from ammonia which means it also stops a cycle.

I doubt your bacteria died. But since most of your ammonia is actually ammonium (NH4) some of the bacteria cannot use it and those that can can do so much less efficiently. This makes the average cyle appear to be stopped. Also, ammonia must be oxidized by bacteria for you to see nitrite and then nitrate.

As you seem to reqalize, you need to get the cycle going again in the tank and this means stopping the use of the Ammo Lock. You need some level of ammonia to get the cycle done. As long as you can hold the NH3 at 0.06 or lower, keep on going at whaterver TA reading you get as long as it isn't over 2 ppm. monitor the pH as well because if it rises more the NH3 will also rise. At 7.5 the 2 ppm of TA will have 0.0409 ppm which leaves ittle room for more before you may need to act.

Do not worry about nitrite as a bit os salt will fix that until the cycle finishes re-establishing.