Have i got high ammonia levels ?

[Neolithian]

I have an established tank at about 3 months now, with a sailfin catfish, 2 albino oscars 2- (what i call upside down catfish) - and 2 parrotfish. My ammonia levels i can never get down to 0, they are actually 0.25 - 0.50 ppm. My nitrite levels are 0 and nitrate levels are approx 40ppm.

Am i doing everything ok - or are ammonia levels like that anything i should be keeping a close eye on ?

Any help nice

 

[Crookster]

Hi,

How often do you do water changes and how much? And what type of filter do you use?

 

[jams.alaskan]

Your ammonia using bacteria don't seem to be keeping up with the fish waste, perhaps there is too great a fluctuation at times. Do you think that you may be overfeeding the fish? What is your tank cleaning ritual?

ALASKA

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Neolithian

Welcome to the forum.

You do have a problem there.

I'll move your thread to the Beginners section where you will be likely to get more answers.

 

[tstenback]

Hi Neolithian

How big is your tank? I wonder if there is any ammonia in your tap water. It may be there in the form of chloramines which many conditioners neutralize but it still seems to show up when testing for ammonia with some test kits.

 

[YesRushGen]

Yeah, what Terry said!

I'm pretty new around here, but had a similar issue when I started out.

In the last four weeks I've learned that there are two kinds of Ammonia test kits. One is nessler-based that uses only a single test solution (reactant). This tests color scale goes from clear (no Ammonia) to yellow, to darker shades of yellow. I used to prefer this test kit, as I like the fact that "clear" means no Ammonia. However, after learning that it falsely detects Ammonia that is neutralized by products such as Amquel or Ammolock-2, I learned of the other type of Ammonia test kit...

The second type is Selinocylate-based (or something like that). It has TWO test reactants. The color scale goes from bright yellow (no ammonia) to greenish yellow, to darker shades of green. This type of test kit will NOT detect Ammonia that has been neutralized. I now use this type of test kit exclusively!

cheers,

Kelly

 

[gixer]

that could well be the answer... it hapens a lot.

also...is this a very large tank...with very big filters? i hope so..that is some bio load with those fish..

i would expect something like at least 75gallons or 100gallons... nothing less for what you have.

a pair of oscars actually require 75gallon.

parrots require 10-15 gallons each

The sailfin will also put a huge load on your filter...

hopefully this isnt the case and you have a massive tank...but just thought i would ask

 

[Bol]

The first thing I would suggest is (as a few others have mentioned) getting your ammonia test results confirmed. There may not actually be a problem (other than with your test kit).

And, Kelly, the word you were thinking of is 'Salycilate'.