HELP! my fish tank ammonia is 8ppm!

[Rhys19]

...And then you'd have to remember to add the same chemical to the water every single time you did a water change and, we all know, that chemicals in the tank are to be avoided.

yeah true fair point... I think I'll just stick to waiting patiently better to wait than to risk my tank with chemicals...

 

[Colin_T]

I use well water (My hose) it's not connected to my water softener or heater I'd love to use my water heater so I don't have to wait for the 60*F water to reach tank temp

I used to boil some tap water and add it to a bucket of water to get the temperature up a bit. Alternatively, make up a large container of water and put a spare aquarium heater in it. Let it run overnight and the following day you have nice warm water to do water changes with.

 

[NannaLou]

I used to boil some tap water and add it to a bucket of water to get the temperature up a bit. Alternatively, make up a large container of water and put a spare aquarium heater in it. Let it run overnight and the following day you have nice warm water to do water changes with.

one kettle of boiling water to 13 litre of cold if an almost perfect mix for me - sad how quickly you learn/remember things like this

 

[Byron]

I use well water (My hose) it's not connected to my water softener or heater I'd love to use my water heater so I don't have to wait for the 60*F water to reach tank temp
I'll test my hose water when I get the chance but right now it's muddy because my pressure tank needed to be cleaned out

is there anyway I could use my water softener water? like maybe some kind of chemical I could add in to help it?

Test the well water on its own for nitrates when you can, we can sort out that issue.

Water softeners that use common salt (sodium chloride) make the water even worse for fish. What is the GH of the well water?

 

[Rhys19]

Test the well water on its own for nitrates when you can, we can sort out that issue.

Water softeners that use common salt (sodium chloride) make the water even worse for fish. What is the GH of the well water?

I haven't tested the GH it's not listed anywhere what my GH is at when my petstore tested my water after I returned my dead fish they never said anything about my water hardness just that my nitrates were high along with ammonia and ph, and I forgot to ask them about it. as for the nitrates let me go test it real quick

 

[Rhys19]

I haven't tested the GH it's not listed anywhere what my GH is at when my petstore tested my water after I returned my dead fish they never said anything about my water hardness just that my nitrates were high along with ammonia and ph, and I forgot to ask them about it. as for the nitrates let me go test it real quick

alright the nitrate test is just now sitting for five minutes then I will post the result

 

[Deleted member 149562]

A quick and easy way to get an idea how hard your water is....when you use a kettle or boil water anywhere are you left with limescale (chalky white substance) inside whatever you boiled water in....do you get a white, hard coating on the inside of the aquarium that refuses to budge?

If you find that your kettle etc is furring up with limescale, you have hard water. The worse the deposit, the harder the water will be.

 

[Rhys19]

A quick and easy way to get an idea how hard your water is....when you use a kettle or boil water anywhere are you left with limescale (chalky white substance) inside whatever you boiled water in....do you get a white, hard coating on the inside of the aquarium that refuses to budge?

oh my gosh yes! it gets all over my filter and the top of the aquarium it is soooo freaking hard! I tried cleaning my aquarium lights and you just cant get it off without vinegar

 

[Rhys19]

ok my nitrates in just well water is: it looks like 20 ppm

 

[Rhys19]

it's kinda really hard to tell though it's like dark orange not red and the closest it looks like is 20 ppm

 

[FishNturt808]

oh and heres my pleco if anyone wanted to see him (Common pleco) it's a little blurry ik but that's just my phoneView attachment 142345

Is anyone else thinking this is a clown pleco? Looks pretty similar to mine. If that’s the case definitely don’t push for algae growth. And definitely add some sort of driftwood.

 

[Rhys19]

Is anyone else thinking this is a clown pleco? Looks pretty similar to mine. If that’s the case definitely don’t push for algae growth. And definitely add some sort of driftwood.

clown pleco? huh at the petstore it was labeled common pleco

 

[Byron]

clown pleco? huh at the petstore it was labeled common pleco

The species are similar, but from the photos on Planet Catfish I would suggest the fish in the photo here is a common pleco, but there are several species. They all seem to have a spotted pattern on the head, which Clowns do not (as far as I know).

 

[Rhys19]

The species are similar, but from the photos on Planet Catfish I would suggest the fish in the photo here is a common pleco, but there are several species. They all seem to have a spotted pattern on the head, which Clowns do not (as far as I know).

did you see my post about the nitrates in the well water?

and also I was thinking on setting up a 75-100+ gal aquarium as for plecos what would you recommend if I were to get say a 125? this being after the tank is cycled obviously

 

[FishNturt808]

The species are similar, but from the photos on Planet Catfish I would suggest the fish in the photo here is a common pleco, but there are several species. They all seem to have a spotted pattern on the head, which Clowns do not (as far as I know).

I haven’t seen the commons with stripes, but the only commons I’ve seen in person are in the Petco tanks, and who knows what they really are. Petco sure doesn’t. You’ll know in a few months for sure, clowns stay on the smaller side, commons grow real big.