Emergency? Ammonia at .25 ppm

[Koppriecht]

How big a deal is this. I have 11 fish in my 30 gallon tank and the ammonia reading is at .25 ppm. The tank is about 6 months old and I did a 50% water change last weekend after I tested the water but the ammonia is still there.

I figure it can be 3 things:

1) Bio-load too high
2) Feeding the fish too much or too often
3) Changed the filter bag. (This done about a month ago but the water was never tested.)

Will another wc do any good?

 

[1972ford]

the water comes out of my tap at ,25 ammonia but the tank converts it quickly. i need more plants to help mine further. as for you test your tap the look for dead fish or do a good gravrl vac and rinse your filter media in old tank water then see what happens

 

[PNWaquarist]

Are you using the API Master Kit? The test result for cycled, ammonia-free water often shows a slight hint of green. (It's never canary yellow, as the color chart indicates.)

On the other hand, changing the filter media may have destroyed an appreciable amount of your BB (though there should be plenty of it in the substrate if the tank is 6 months old). If I were you, I'd dose the tank with water conditioner to tie up the ammonia and then run ammonia and nitrite tests. If there's no nitrite (which is much more obvious with the API kit), there's probably no appreciable ammonia.

 

[gilpi]

I don't think .25 is dangerous, but could be a sign of something starting up, sometimes tap water reads that much and I believe it's the lowest level of your test kit?
Is this the first time you've checked or did it just changed?
I'd say check your tap water before going any further.
And as you mentioned changing the filter media got rid of some or most BB? Hard to tell not knowing your setup.

Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Koppriecht]

I'll be! The tap water reads .25 as well if I am reading the API correctly. The tank test is on the left, tap water on the right. Seems like the tap test is a little more yellow. Is there anything I can do about this?

 

[Angela1108]

I wouldn't worry too much. Like someone mentioned most cycled tanks look more between 0 and .25 than 0. Plus there is some other additive that pops for ammonia - ammonium or something like that.

Just add prime or something similar - it makes the ammonia and nitrite non toxic for 24 hours


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Fresh2o]

In 2012 the water out of the tap had 5 ppm nitrate and 1.0 ppm ammonia. The filters were well established and I never saw the ammonia rise past zero except when the WCs were greater than 50%. I kept them at 25-30%. In 2013 tap params returned to 0/0/0.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[PNWaquarist]

I wouldn't worry too much. Like someone mentioned most cycled tanks look more between 0 and .25 than 0. Plus there is some other additive that pops for ammonia - ammonium or something like that.

Ammonium ion is the protonated form of ammonia. At pH 7.5 or so, about 99% of the ammonia is actually ammonium. The API test result for "ammonnia" is the combination of ammonia and ammonium.

My guess is that the OP's water supply contains a lot of chloramine. I don't know the details of how the API test works, but it's possible that chloramine may give a false positive for ammonia.

My understanding is that all water conditioners reduce aqueous chlorine (HOCl) and chloramine to chloride ion. (Ammonia is the other product of chloramine reduction.) I've read that some water conditioners do not deactivate the ammonia that results from chloramine reduction, so it's possible that the OP is introducing ammonia into his/her tank this way. Then again, I think that most water conditioners (including Prime) take care of this.

Based on the color of the OP's ammonia test of the tank water, that looks like an appreciable amount (~0.5 ppm) of ammonia and not a false positive. I agree with the others that adding Prime to the tank and some "bacteria in a bottle" would be the best way to deal with this.

 

[Koppriecht]

Well my nitrite test was 0ppm. That's good right? I have some Prime and will put one dose in the tank. If it only works for 24 hrs then what? What bacteria in a bottle do you recommend?

 

[dalto]

You should not need bacteria in a bottle in an established tank.

Are you doing your tests shortly after your water changes? If so, you are just seeing the chloramines in your tap water which is normal. Try testing your water 24 hours after the water change. The ammonia should be gone.

 

[Koppriecht]

I did the ammonia test today and the water change was last weekend. If I have 0 nitrites then do I really need to add bacteria?

 

[dalto]

OK, so the ammonia cannot be coming from your tap water. What are your nitrates testing at?

 

[Koppriecht]

Hmmm, Nitrate is 0 ppm. I did just put in 2.5 ml of Prime though. Does that effect it?

 

[dalto]

It almost sounds like your tank is no longer cycled. Although, if it wasn't cycled then 0.5ppm of ammonia in a week would be seemingly not much.

Very strange.

 

[Koppriecht]

What should the Nitrate reading be for a cycled tank?

 

[dalto]

It should be greater than 0

Essentially when everything is working properly Ammonia->Nitrite->Nitrate. So you should be slowly accumulating Nitrates between water changes. The fact that you have generated 0 Nitrates in almost a week is not normal for a cycled tank.

Then again, your ammonia level is odd as well. Are you sure you used the Nitrate test correctly? The API one is a little touchy if you don't follow the instructions.

 

[Koppriecht]

Well I feel dumb. Re-tested (properly) and Nitrate is at 40 ppm.

 

[Koppriecht]

I did have a guppy die during the week. It sat in the tank overnight so maybe the ammonia spike is from that?

 

[dalto]

Ok, well now things are making more sense. What kind of filter do you have on the tank?

 

[Noviceafter2yea]

Do more frequent partial water changes and invest in a seachem ammonia alert. It does not replace regular testing, but many of us have tap water that has free (bad) ammonia and the liquid tests don't differentiate between good and bad ammonia. The ammonia alert shows when the bad ammonia is present.

You can order one on Amazon. Like I said, it doesn't replace regular testing or water changes. It eased my mind.