Ammonia

[Lunar Jetman]

i should probably get an aquarium test kit.

 

[az9]

just went 2 the pet store and got the water tested and the ammonia is 0.25

 

[This Old Spouse]

Did you pick up a liquid test kit while you were there?
 
Any ammonia is bad. Do a huge water change and replace with temperature matched dechlorinated water. Goldfish are notorious for being really dirty fish, so you should be doing water changes more often than with regular tropical fish.
 
Best to get Seachem Prime to dechlorinate your water as well. It neutralizes a number of trace elements as well as chlorine.

 

[gregswimm]

How did they test the water?

0.25 is still what I would consider 'the danger zone'. Keep changing that water.

 

[kad191]

If your ammonia is high and your filter is kinda working then you may have high nitrite levels too, your best off getting an api master test kit, it's expensive but the best thing I've ever bought!!!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

just went 2 the pet store and got the water tested and the ammonia is 0.25

Having the LFS test the water was a good move to get immediate feedback, but you are really going to need to own your own liquid test test. As mentioned the API master kit has all the necessary tests, and while it appears costly, it is far cheaper than buying each kit separately.

On the subject of NH3 versus NH4, which was mentioned earlier, NH3 is ammonia, which is toxic to fish. NH4 is ammonium, which is not toxic to fish. The test kits usually measure for either, so 0.25 means total ammonia/ammonium. Also as mentioned before, the concentration of ammonia to ammonium is defendant on the pH - lower pH ( under 7.0) has more ammonium and less ammonia. The opposite is true for high pH, like yours. So your fish are in danger, and you are in a fish-in cycle.


The recommendation here to do water changes is the best course of action. You will want to complete a water change to bring the level down to as close to zero as possible. 90% is a nice amount in this case, and refill with temperature matched, dechlorinated water. Then test the water again in about 12 hours. The goal is zero ammonia, zero nitrIte, and to keep nitrate under 40ppm, but there are contingencies where you need to keep the nitrate lower, and contingencies where you can't keep it lower.

What fish do you have?

 

[gregswimm]

API tests are ok but they are the lowest quality test you can get.

 

[kad191]

What other liquid test kits are there? Api is the only one I've heard of

 

[This Old Spouse]

Nutrafin and Salifert are two others.

 

[kad191]

I paid £30 for my API master kit, if that's the cheapest I'd hate to see the price of the others. Would there be any need for a more accurate kit? If you kept something specialist in the tank maybe?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Seachem also makes one. 
 
I think most people just have their preferences. There was an earlier topic about which ones people prefer. Whatever works best. 
 
You can generally get cheaper prices on ebay.

 

[kad191]

Birthday gift voucher for my lfs

 

[TwoTankAmin]

In fact both of the two are correct. One can have 0 ammonia at any pH, and to that extent the two are unrelated.
 
However, if there is any ammonia present, how toxic it may be and therefore how much of a worry it might be, is then directly related to pH. I can show 4 ppm of total ammonia (both NH3 and NH4+) in my Altum tank which is at a pH of 6.0 and not be immediately concerned. However, in a rift lake cichlid tank at a pH of 8.5 I would be concerned with a total ammonia reading of just .25 ppm.
 
If one wants to be technically correct, then by saying ammonia it means NH3 which is normally a gas. In water, it can readily steal H from H2O and that makes ammonium, (NH4+) and hydroxide ions (OH-). And this can work in both directions. What determines how much of total ammonia is in which form in the water depends on the pH.
 
The bacteria normally consume NH3. So what happens is as they use the NH3 and remove it from the water, some of the remaining ammonium is converting to ammonia to restore the balance. While it is not practical to add ammonia gas to an aquarium, if one could, once in the water it would begin turning into mostly ammonium. Conversely, when one does the normal fishless cycle, we are adding ammonium in some form to the tank. And once it hits the water some of it becomes ammonia.