Ammonia Question

[Yiesh]

So I've been doing a lot of water changes lately because I thought my aquarium was going through a mini cycle. When I tested the water the ammonia showed up as somewhere in between 0 and 0.25. However when I tested after a 50% water change the levels were the same. Finally I tested my tap water and found out it showed the exact same color as my aquarium water. My question is, can tap water have ammonia in it? If so, is a range of 0-0.25 ppm ammonia going to harm my fish over time? Attached is a photo of my results, tap is on the right.

 

[Dreadz]

Use seachem prime to treat your tap water before you add it to your aquarium. It binds the ammonia into a non toxic form but leaves it available for consumption by your BB

 

[Yiesh]

Will that permanently neutralize the ammonia? I heard something about prime neutralizing nitrites and ammonia for 48 hours only. Also will the neutralized ammonia still show up on my tests?

 

[blert]

Will that permanently neutralize the ammonia? I heard something about prime neutralizing nitrites and ammonia for 48 hours only. Also will the neutralized ammonia still show up on my tests?

No, not permanently.
Yes, but I think it is more like 24 hours. A well established bio filter would be able to convert it by the time it wears off.
Yes, it will still show as positive for ammonia with the API (and similar type) test.

 

[Yiesh]

Great thanks, I already use prime when I change my water so it's nice to know I haven't been stressing my fish.

 

[jetajockey]

.25 isn't enough to harm the fish anyhow unless you have a really high ph level.

 

[Yiesh]

Even better. I always heard ammonia should always be at 0 no matter what because its so toxic so I didn't know if having a slight amount of ammonia would eventually cause stress in the long term like nitrates do in higher quantities.

 

[jetajockey]

Even better. I always heard ammonia should always be at 0 no matter what because its so toxic so I didn't know if having a slight amount of ammonia would eventually cause stress in the long term like nitrates do in higher quantities.

People repeat that a lot I've noticed but it has little basis in reality. Ammonia toxicity is ph and temperature dependant.

 

[Yiesh]

So at a temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit and a ph of 7.8, 0.25 ppm ammonia should be okay?

 

[Dreadz]

So at a temperature of 78 degrees Fahrenheit and a ph of 7.8, 0.25 ppm ammonia should be okay?

I found this rather interesting and informative when someone else posted it on another thread
http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html

 

[blert]

There is also a nice post on the topic by our very own jetajockey...
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

 

[Yiesh]

Both of those charts help tremendously, now I can stop getting panicky when I see low levels of ammonia. It's truly amazing how much incorrect information gets passed around about aquarium keeping.