Ah, yes they can have GH to several decimal places with the testing equipment they use. We just needed to make sure 
Questions on pH and Ammonia levels in my tank
- Thread starter Sergical
- Start date
GH of 6.2 ppm is very soft water, much the same as I have (my water authority says it is 7 ppm, and my API tests place it in the 0-1 dGH range so that is the same. The pH in the aquarium once fish are producing organics will likely lower below 7, also fine. Stay with soft water fish species. Do not consider any livebearers as they cannot last or be healthy in water this soft. Just some general comments to carry you forward successfully. 
I don't know what to say about that ammonia, it just does not make sense. You didn't respond on the chloramine issue though...do they add chloramine to your water? Or anything else (I am here thinking possibly something to raise the pH, I have this)?
I don't know what to say about that ammonia, it just does not make sense. You didn't respond on the chloramine issue though...do they add chloramine to your water? Or anything else (I am here thinking possibly something to raise the pH, I have this)?
this is my local water and all the information you are looking for should be on here
In the "Service Areas and Water Resources" section chlorine is mentioned but not chloramine, but down in the "Stage 1 Disinfectants" section chloramine is mentioned along with chlorine. So let's assume chloramine is added. This can affect ammonia tests, but someone with more knowledge of the chemistry will have to explain it.
If there is chloramine being used to treat the water would this show higher levels of ammonia at a non-toxic level? I think I was reading about that somewhere. I should've taken Chemistry in college more seriously.
You have some horrible crap in your water. I hope you drink filtered or bottled water because there is some seriously bad stuff in your mains water including agricultural pesticide and herbicide runoff, as well as radioactive substances (ahh scary stuff).
Chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia. Chlorine on its own will stay in water for a couple of days and kill stuff during that time, but it starts to break down and if the water is piped over long distances (100s of miles), the chlorine can be used up before it gets to the end of the line. To compensate for this, water companies mix ammonia with chlorine to produce chloramine and that stays together for a month or more and keeps killing things in the water for that time.
I'm not sure what the ammonia level is in the tap water. Have you checked it?
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Theoretically 8ppm of ammonia in an aquarium should have killed the fish, especially with a pH above 7.0. No idea why it hasn't but you need to do big daily water changes to get the level down to 0.
Chloramine is a mixture of chlorine and ammonia. Chlorine on its own will stay in water for a couple of days and kill stuff during that time, but it starts to break down and if the water is piped over long distances (100s of miles), the chlorine can be used up before it gets to the end of the line. To compensate for this, water companies mix ammonia with chlorine to produce chloramine and that stays together for a month or more and keeps killing things in the water for that time.
I'm not sure what the ammonia level is in the tap water. Have you checked it?
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Theoretically 8ppm of ammonia in an aquarium should have killed the fish, especially with a pH above 7.0. No idea why it hasn't but you need to do big daily water changes to get the level down to 0.
I do drink bottled water. The ammonia in my tap water is around 8.0ppm which is the same as the stuff in my tank. If I did water changes with my tap water doesn't that defeat the purpose? What should I do?
You need to contact your water company and inform them they have overdosed the ammonia when treating the tap water. If they don't do anything about it, contact the local press and inform them the water company is poisoning people in the town. There should be no ammonia reading in the tap water because it should be bound to the chlorine to make chloramine.
Ammonia is poisonous to people and animals.
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Get a bag of Wardleys Ammogon or Zeolite and prefilter the tap water before using it. Ammogon and Zeolite adsorb ammonia from water. If you get an external power filter or an air operated box filter, you can fill these with some Zeolite and run the filter on a bucket of tap water. You can dechlorinate the water while this is happening. Leave the filter running until the ammonia is 0 and then use that water for water changes.
Zeolite and Ammogon can be recharged by soaking it in a bucket of salt water, and then it can be re-used. Buy a big bag of swimming pool salt for this purpose.
If you can't find Ammogon or Zeolite, you can fill a large plastic storage container with tap water and put some floating plants in it. Provide them with lots of light and they will use the ammonia up. When there is no ammonia left, you use that water to do water changes on the fish tank.
You can use Ammogon or Zeolite in the main tank to get the ammonia level down to 0, then remove it and leave the filter bacteria to take over. Adding some floating plants will also help reduce the levels.
Ammonia is poisonous to people and animals.
------------------
Get a bag of Wardleys Ammogon or Zeolite and prefilter the tap water before using it. Ammogon and Zeolite adsorb ammonia from water. If you get an external power filter or an air operated box filter, you can fill these with some Zeolite and run the filter on a bucket of tap water. You can dechlorinate the water while this is happening. Leave the filter running until the ammonia is 0 and then use that water for water changes.
Zeolite and Ammogon can be recharged by soaking it in a bucket of salt water, and then it can be re-used. Buy a big bag of swimming pool salt for this purpose.
If you can't find Ammogon or Zeolite, you can fill a large plastic storage container with tap water and put some floating plants in it. Provide them with lots of light and they will use the ammonia up. When there is no ammonia left, you use that water to do water changes on the fish tank.
You can use Ammogon or Zeolite in the main tank to get the ammonia level down to 0, then remove it and leave the filter bacteria to take over. Adding some floating plants will also help reduce the levels.
Would you recommend purchasing a filter for my sink and filtering it for my water changes?
I nEEd mEnTAl HeLP
Fish Fanatic
Oh your water is bad. I would maybe invest in another water source since 8 ppm is really bad(and honestly unacceptable). The ph isn't an issue, your fish should adapt to that ph; fish are pretty adaptable. Although I don't believe in overstocking, your tank is over crowded. You have some schooling fish in there, along with the corys. I would return the neons and the corys, or upgrade all of them to a 20 gallon long. Work on getting your tank cycled and getting another water source. I would do a 80-90 percent water change everyday, along with prime to do a fish in cycle. Make sure not to overfeed during this time. About the ammonia, perhaps it is ammonium? The api test kit tests for both.
Most water filters won't remove ammonia but you could make one and fill it with Zeolite.
You could get some buckets of filtered water from your fridge and use that to do a water change on the tank. That would reduce the ammonia and get the level below 4ppm so the filters can deal with the rest of it. That would also buy you time to get something to deal with the ammonia in the mains water.
You could get some buckets of filtered water from your fridge and use that to do a water change on the tank. That would reduce the ammonia and get the level below 4ppm so the filters can deal with the rest of it. That would also buy you time to get something to deal with the ammonia in the mains water.
The Zeolite is a small white granule and looks like aquarium gravel. You put it in a fine mesh net and put that in a filter. Some filters have plastic compartments and you can just add the Zeolite into that instead of putting it in a mesh bag. The filter containing the Zeolite gets put into a bucket/ container of tap water and left to run. When the ammonia is 0 you remove the filter and use the clean water. Recharge the Zeolite.
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