Ammonia Problem.

[Jabb3r]

Yesterday I did my big gravel clean, it went well and looked like I removed about 60% of the water doin it, I put new de-chlorinated water in without prob and all seemed well. I tested the levels last night to find that there was 0.25 - 0.50 ppm ammonia detected, no nitrites and 20 - 40 ppm nitrates. I didn't understand why, mebe disturbin things might have effected the water chemistry etc, but tonight I tested the tap water and got exactly the same results, the colours are identical so I'm wonderin how I can sort this now cause water change won't help, will just give more of the same

What can I do?

Jab

The fish don't seem to be actin any different apart from 1 danio who seems to be hoverin near the surface more, then goin for a swim and repeat. I just aint sure how to go about fixin things now

 

[Uriel]

If your getting readings off your tap water then it is possible it is a false positive. Make sure to give your test tubes a really good clean and make sure your viewing them under natural light not artificial. I would avoid feeding your fish for a day or 2 just to be on the safe side and then test both again.

 

[Jabb3r]

Ok will do, Thanks for the quick reply.

Fingers x'd!

 

[Mellis67]

There are two possible reasons... You may be reading the chloramines in the water and they are showing up as ammonia.. Did you treat your water going in? If so depending on your test kit it may be showing the "locked" chloramines. This is a common problem. The only test kit I know that gets no interference from this is the SeaClear Ammonia kit.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, it is quite true that you can get an ammonia reading when the conditioner separates the chloramine into chlorine and ammonia (and locks it up or neutralizes it, depending on the term one uses.) But in my experience this kind of trace rarely even looks like 0.25ppm, much less 0.50ppm. It is much more likely that the tank cleaning as stirred up enough debris to cause a reading. This is quite common. We try to maintain our debris levels through gravel-clean-water-changes and filter maintenance but even in well-maintained tanks we can sometimes get readings like this. Unless there is something else going on, I'd expect it to clear up shortly.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jabb3r]

Ok thanks for the replies guys. I'm feelin a lil bit better about it. the water was treated per bucket I put in, I might drop another half cap in or somethin just to make sure though.

Cheers!
Jab

 

[Jabb3r]

Ok I just done another test with pretty much the same result. I've been lightly feeding them and did a lil 10% change last night, water was treated. Any ideas?

 

[rdstars]

Just wondering did you happen to clean out the filter aswell?

 

[Jabb3r]

No I aint touched the filter since I started the tank. I plan to change one of the carbon trays in next 2 - 3 weeks and then the other a week after that. I should say my tap water came up with the same result again too. I wonder if my test kit is somehow stuffed.

 

[guppi]

Can you take a photo of the results next to the test cards, might show better with flash picture.

 

[rdstars]

Take some water down to your LFS and ask them to do a test for you. That should rule out tap water or test kit.