High ammonia levels.

[Nickiminaj lover]

I started my 29 gallon fresh water tank about a month ago. I've had a lot of problems with it. I've had about 11-15 fish die. I've done lots of water changes and upgraded to the liquid tests. But my ammonia will not go down!
1 dwarf gourami
3 platies
1 allege eater
1 Malaysian trumpet snail( so tiny do they get bigger?)
PLZ help

 

[Mumma.of.two]

How often do you change to water? Have you touched the filter? Using dechlorinator?

 

[Nickiminaj lover]

I've changed it maybe twice a week. I remove the carbon when I change the water. I use water conditioner and the stress stuff.

 

[Nickiminaj lover]

Just had a platy die this morning took it out when i saw it. Just changed the water last night.

 

[jlk]

Have you checked your tap water for ammonia? What type of water conditioner are you using?

 

[Nickiminaj lover]

Every thing was good except the ammonia. It's a new tank maybe a month old.

 

[Nickiminaj lover]

No I haven't and API Tap water Conditioner.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Sound like your not changing the water often enough. Ideally you need to test daily and change enough water to keep it at or below .25ppm. This may take multiple changes per day.
Also you don't want to touch the filter unless its completely clogged up. When that happens swish the media in a bucket if tank water to clean.

 

[Nickiminaj lover]

Ok thank you will do a water change tomorrow. Just tested my tap water to see the ammonia level.

 

[Nickiminaj lover]

Ok here is the results from my tap water ammonia test

 

[Nickiminaj lover]

What do you think it's at? And is that my problem? And what should I do?

 

[jlk]

Ok, that answers the issue with your ammonia level. It's likely chloramine (chlorine mixed with ammonia) but its quite a high amount. I'm on my cell but it looks like its @2-4ppm for your tap. Hopefully, someone else can see it more clearly. Does your tank read the same or higher? This would also explain your fish losses.

This is a tough call here because your tap ammonia is very high. I honestly would start by investing in some Prime as your water conditioner. I would give serious thought to mixing your tap with spring or RO water to reduce the amount of ammonia your adding. Or switch solely to spring or RO (reconstituted). Once your tank is fully cycled, your good bacteria should be able to handle small water changes as you will be limiting the amount of ammonia your adding but you may want to consider some type of sink filtration setup to reduce the ammonia levels in general or an alternative water source. Please ask if you have questions!

 

[Nickiminaj lover]

Had to end up finding another water source and Ammonia chemicals ( Kordon Ammonia Defoxifier) will post what happens. About to do a water change.