Irritated with my water!!!!

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flitabout

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
1,933
Location
Pipestone, Minnesota
So I got new fish about a week ago. I figured I might have a bump in Ammonia for a couple of days, and I figured I was in for some water changes not big deal. So I did a water change then tested the water it was .5 ppm. So I did another water change. It was .25 okay so not great but with some prime tolerable. Next day I tested the water still .25 another water change added extra prime again. This has been pretty consistent for the last week.
One of my new mollies is letting me know she doesn't like the water and now has the shimmies! So this morning I changed the water again and test before and after the water change both tests read .25 ppm WTF???
So now I test the tap... Yep there is .25 ppm in there. My water is really pissing me off! My stats are all out of wack all the time and have been fighting with them for years. Between high nitrates, liquid rock with tds of 501-550 now I have to battle ammo in the water?? Seriously? I can't afford an RO unit right now and I just don't know how to compensate for my screwy levels without one.
Anybody got any ideas???
 
That would make me mad too. Might try expanding the size of your BB bed, by adding an over
sized power filter like an A.C. 110. I have two 110's on my display tank. Maybe enough extra BB would grow in the additional filter to tackle the elevated ammonia.
 
Try doing water changes with 1.0 ppm ammonia out of the tap. Yet, I rarely saw ammonia greater than zero (unless the WCs were greater than 50%). An adequately sized and mature filter kept things in check.
 
This isn't normal I have never seen ammo in my water before. I will add more material to my canister. My 2 hobs are already completely loaded.
 
When I got fed up with my tap water I stopped using it. I just stopped changing water and added some floating plants and let the Hygro grow above the water line. Now I top up with either rain or RO which I buy from the store. Lasts me a good while.

I also no longer have a filter or any flow for that matter. Yes tanks are slow in terms of growth because I no longer fertilise or use co2. I only feed daphnia, copepods cyclops and scuds.

I haven’t registered nitrates since I started down this route or ammonia. No phosphate. I purchased more fish and no spike. No deaths for a long time apart from a couple of ottos. I narrowed this down to my LFS which has the same tap water running a TDS value off 660ppm as opposed to my tank which is 160ppm. That’s just gross. Obviously not saying your tank is gross in anyway but I know which water my fish would be living in out of mine and the LFS. I can even over stock slightly and all that happens is the plants grow a bit faster.

Because I don’t use tap I don’t have to use tap water conditioner which adds unnecessary artificial chelates and what ever else they put in there.

I know this method will never be for everyone but it’s an option I would seriously consider. I guarantee the Molly’s will improve if things are just left to stabilise. There is no guarantee it’s the ammonia that’s causing them distress.
 
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