Ammonia Levels High

[rewlyn]

no used to but had wrong plants so i took them out will get more when its cycled

 

[rewlyn]

todays readings are
ammonia: .25ppm
nitrItes: 0ppm

 

[fatheadminnow]

looking good!

-FHM

 

[rewlyn]

thanks man the levels look good too ay

 

[rewlyn]

todays levels
ammonia: .25-.50ppm(due to R.I.P. my other yellow lab )
nitrItes: 0ppm

i found him this morning the others ate his eyes

 

[fatheadminnow]

Sorry to hear about your fish.

-FHM

 

[rewlyn]

after 1 w/c the results are
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrites: 0ppm

 

[fatheadminnow]

Really nice!

Has your NitrAte level risen at all?

-FHM

 

[rewlyn]

yesterdays readings
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrItes: 0ppm

and todays readings
ammonia: .25ppm
nitrItes: 0ppm
nitrAtes: 0ppm

about 40hrs ago the tank went fully cloudy the 6-7 hrs later it was perfectly clear again

 

[Tolak]

I remember some time ago there being a topic about water problems, with an Australian member. Apparently their water supply had to travel from such a distance that the water supplier had to add a substantial amount of disinfectants, chlorine & chloramine. If I remember correctly they had to add at least double, if not triple the amount of declorinator, as well as having to let it age a couple of days to gas out any extra disinfectants, as well as let the pH stabilize.

You really have to add an extraordinary amount of dechlorinator to overdose a tank. Pick up either Tetra Aquasafe or Seachem Prime, and use triple the suggested amount. I've been using Prime for years, and routinely double the dosage when my tap water conditions require it, which is usually all winter. While chlorine will gas out after about 24 hours, chloramine will not, and may be hindering the growth of nitrifying bacteria. A new colony of nitrifying bacteria is rather delicate, and it won't take much of any disinfectant to slow or stop the growth.

 

[rewlyn]

I remember some time ago there being a topic about water problems, with an Australian member. Apparently their water supply had to travel from such a distance that the water supplier had to add a substantial amount of disinfectants, chlorine & chloramine. If I remember correctly they had to add at least double, if not triple the amount of declorinator, as well as having to let it age a couple of days to gas out any extra disinfectants, as well as let the pH stabilize.

You really have to add an extraordinary amount of dechlorinator to overdose a tank. Pick up either Tetra Aquasafe or Seachem Prime, and use triple the suggested amount. I've been using Prime for years, and routinely double the dosage when my tap water conditions require it, which is usually all winter. While chlorine will gas out after about 24 hours, chloramine will not, and may be hindering the growth of nitrifying bacteria. A new colony of nitrifying bacteria is rather delicate, and it won't take much of any disinfectant to slow or stop the growth.

the bottle says add 1.25mls per 20gallons for chlorine and add 3.75mls per 20 gallons for chloramines

i have to double that for my 40gallon i would honestly add about 10-20mls every time i w/c which by my calculations is plenty
the bottle contains 118mls all up id get about 5 doses out of 1 bottle

 

[rdd1952]

I've tried to read through everything but may have missed some things so forgive me if I mention something that has already been said. As Tolak mentioned, a lot of water companies add extra chlorine and chloramine in the winter months so extra dechlor is needed. I never measure mine but simply squirt some in. I probably add at least triple to quadruple the dosage. It is all but impossible to over dose it. you could add the whole bottle to a 40 gallon tank and not cause a problem.

The Ammo-Lock you were using was actually fine. It detoxifies ammonia (as FHM mentioned, that means it changes it into it's non-toxic form of ammonium). It is still available to the bacteria to process though and doesn't have any adverse effect on the cycling process. Seachem Prime that Tolak mentioned does the same thing as does Stress Coat Plus.

Depending on how soon after water changes you are testing, part of the ammonia that you are getting could be from the chloramine which is a combination of ammonia and chlorine. The dechlorinator breaks the bond which in essence adds ammonia to the tank. In a cycled tank that is quickly dealt with by the bacteria and if you are using a product like Ammo-Lock or Prime, they detoxify the ammonia as soon as it is created so it isn't harmful. If you are testing shortly after water changes, part of the ammonia you are seeing is coming from the chloramine and not from the fish or waste.

I’m not certain why you aren’t seeing any nitrate yet. If ammonia is being processed and your nitrite is 0 (meaning it is being processed) then your nitrate should be rising. The only things I can think of is if you are running some type nitrate remover in your filter. There are sponges and products like Nitra Zorb that remove it but most of them have to be recharged as the become saturated.

Really, the only thing you can do is continue the water changes. As waterdrop mentioned, they certainly don’t harm the cycling process. I’m not certain who the person was that told you that but it was definitely wrong. Actually, Bignose wrote a nice article (below) about why water changes are actually helpful rather than harmful. In the fish keeping hobby, water changes are always a good thing and can solve a lot of problems besides high toxin levels.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=226664

 

[rewlyn]

thanks rdd im not that scientific but i did get the jist of it

tadays readings are
ammonia: .50ppm
nitrItes: 0ppm
nitrAtes: 0ppm

does this mean r_p=.25ppm and the r_c=0 due to
day1--0ppm
day2--.25ppm
day3--.50ppm

 

[Tolak]

You also have to understand that not all dechlorinators or water conditioners are made the same. Here's a link to some reviews; http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/rev-cond.htm

I gave you the top two that will deal with most anything you will encounter, across the board. Any dechlorinator will take care of chlorine & chloramine, that is the sodium thiosulfate component. You can mix your own for under $10 per gallon, but that alone will still leave you with ammonia from the chloramine. http/www.angelsplus.com/SuppliesFishroom.htm

The component that converts ammonia to ammonium is hydromethane sulfinate, or a similar compound. This is generally about $15 per pound, and is mixed at the same ratio as sodium thiosulfate.

The component that binds up metals is EDTA, or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. EDTA chelates metals, basically locks them up so they have no effect on the solution they are in.

Seachem has some sort of proprietary additive that they use in Prime, that they state binds nitrite & nitrate. I've been trying for years to find out what this chemical is, with no headway whatsoever, they are very tight with this information. I have known plenty of folks who have had cycling emergencies who have used a huge dose of Prime after a large water change, and it has helped.

As you can see, you can get these few chemicals, and mix them as strong or as diluted as you want. This is where all dechlorinators or water treatments are not equal. Case in point; the Tetra rep who conducted a water treatment program at a club meeting a few years back.

AquaSafe & Prime are at the top of the list as far as conditioners that will deal with most anything. Weco declor is another strong product, but does not deal with ammonia. Other fail at the suggested dosing rate, or even at double to triple the dosing rate. A yellow tagging agent was used to show chlorine/chloramine, when the water went clear, this showed the neutralization of disinfectants. When a product such as Novaqua leaves the water yellow, but adding a half dose of a better dechlorinator clears it, that tells you something.

I've been looking into water suppliers, water conditioners, and dechlorinators for quite some time, get a big bottle; Tetra Aquasafe or Seachem Prime.

 

[rewlyn]

Thanks TOLAK im just about to head to the shops ill see if he can get it in, this could take up to 4-6 weeks to arrive but i wiil ring a few near my partnerswork then she could pop in and get it for me (police took my drivers licence, they are bad for that over here)