My Tanks Water Conditions - Fish-in Cycle

[Aquatic_Az]

...right well just done a 25% water change on my newly inherited tropical tank and tested the water. It was originally my brothers and isnt even that old its approximately a month old but his girlfriend has moved in with a cat and he didnt wish to have the fish and the cat. So now the issue is im not sure if he has even cycled it correctly or not. My results came up as so:

PH - 7.6
Ammonia - 1 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 10 ppm

The tank is 54 litre capacity.

Now why is there 1 ppm of ammonia present? and what should I now do about this?

Has it done another mini cycle?

Im thinking this because when I got it, it came with 2 platy and I have recently added in myself 4 guppy.

Any help much appreciated

 

[Truck]

your probably experiencing a mini cycle, keep your ammonia and nitrite at 0 and nitrate below 20ppm

do water changes to bring these down

 

[Aquatic_Az]

Ok thanks, looks like ill do another water change tomorrow then

 

[Truck]

NO!!! (sorry) do a water change now ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish, it kills them

 

[Aquatic_Az]

NO!!! (sorry) do a water change now ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish, it kills them

Ok just done another 25% water change and the results are better and the ammonia levels have reduced but there still approx. 0.25 - 0.5 ppm

So I just ran a quick test on my tap water aswell and it has approx. 0.25 ppm

So how do I now get rid of ammonia completely, would I need to add a chemical to my tap water?

 

[Truck]

your tap water shouldnt contain ammonia, what test kit are you using, liquid or strip?

if you have ammonia in your tap water i would ring the water board (once you know for definate)

 

[Aquatic_Az]

your tap water shouldnt contain ammonia, what test kit are you using, liquid or strip?

if you have ammonia in your tap water i would ring the water board (once you know for definate)

Blimey!

Im using an API master test kit - Liquid

 

[Truck]

test again, and if the results are the same, do another water change, and phone your water company, ammonia is normaly found in urine (so yeah id be quite worried)

 

[Aquatic_Az]

test again, and if the results are the same, do another water change, and phone your water company, ammonia is normaly found in urine (so yeah id be quite worried)

Ok thanks

 

[drobbyb]

If you have zero ammonia before the waterchange, and an ammonia reading after the waterchange, then you have ammonia in your tap water. It's not uncommon and as long as your ammonia reading goes back to zero you are probably ok.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Aquatic Az,

Ammonia in tap water is fairly common, so you don't need to go calling your water authority. What is important is that you know it's there, which you do.

In a cycled tank, it isn't a problem because the filter quickly consumes the excess ammonia after the water change. However the fact that you already have detectable ammonia is a concern. It could be a mini cycle as you suggested, or it could be that the tank wasn't cycled when your brother had it and is still cycling now.

You need to keep ammonia as low as possible (obviously if the tap water is reading 0.25 then you won't get it any lower than that until the filter is fully cycled).

If ammonia levels go above the level found in the tap water, you must do water changes immediately. Ammonia is extremely toxic to fish so it is very important to keep the level as low as you possibly can.

In either case, you can relieve the situation by buying a product called Ammo-Lock. This converts ammonia into less harmful ammonium. This would alleviate the stress on the fish until your filter catches up.

You can also cut back feeding to half the usual amount and half the usual frequency. This will reduce ammonia production to a minimum.

Also, definitely don't buy any more fish until this is sorted as it would make the situation worse.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress. Try to test the water twice daily to keep an eye on the water stats. Any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Cheers

BTT

 

[Aquatic_Az]

Thanks very much backtotropical abit of relieving news there.

I have done another 40% water change today and have got the ammonia still down to 0.25 - 0.5 ppm so I think ill carry on larger water changes daily.

I think ill switch to feeding my fish every other day to control ammonia output aswell as you suggest Will try and pop down to the fish shop I use today aswell and get some of this Ammo-Lock.

 

[alchemist]

If your water supply has chloramine and your water conditioner only takes out chlorine then you will be left with ammonia in your conditioned water (chloramine = ammonia + chlorine)

I would test your water for ammonia after you have treated it and before you put it in the tank and see if you get an ammonia reading.

That your water changes is reducing the ammonia suggests this isnt the case - but it is worth checking out.

 

[Aquatic_Az]

Well my water supply does contain 0.25 ppm of ammonia from the tap, however I havent tested it after adding the water conditioner, so ill test this later

 

[Aquatic_Az]

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress. Try to test the water twice daily to keep an eye on the water stats. Any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Cheers

BTT

Thought id check back to this topic to keep you informed

Was going to do another water change when I got back in after work but decided to test the water beforehand and my results were like so:

PH - 7.6
Ammonia - 0 - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 10 ppm

The ammonia has deffinately reduced, although not quite sure if its zero as the colours are quite similar, even got my mum to check incase it was my eyes and it has deffinately changed So in the end I didnt do a water change as I felt there was no need