Tap Water Results

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savrip

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 26, 2018
Messages
43
Location
Louisville, KY
I just did a tap water measurement for the first time and the ammonia seems really high while everything else seems fairly in check. I dose with Prime when I change out tank water I guess it's good to give the bacteria a chance to break down the ammonia.IMG_20181014_201422~2.jpeg
 
That test is from the actual tap water? Not the water from your tank?

Your tank is cycling now (fish in or no fish???) or you already have a tank running with fish in it?

How long?

Don't drink it!

Well it seems if that is tap water, and you already have fish, you might want to consider setting up a container and letting the water age, and treat with Prime rid it of ammonia. Then add to water for pwc to tank, some would just add Prime to the tap water and it will work for 24 hours.

Side note- If your water company uses Chloramines then you will need to make sure that you dose for that, about 2x as much as normal for Chlorine. Not all brands of dechlorinator can knock down chloramines.

So you can add additional media, ceramic rings or pellets, black stars or filter padding. I also like Seachem Matrix which has lots of surface area for building a strong colony of BB.

You can always use RO/DI water and remineralize it.

Maybe check with the Water supplier and see if that is always high like that.
 
The 60 gallon tank has been going strong for 1.5 months. It's probably safer to drink the tank water than my tap water!

I'll do another test today and find out from a different sink. Beside doing water changes for Nitrates I haven't had any issues from this tank since it was brand new and made the rookie mistake of adding fish too soon. It definitely caused a lot of stress and I learned a lot of information quickly about the hobby.

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The 60 gallon tank has been going strong for 1.5 months. It's probably safer to drink the tank water than my tap water!

I'll do another test today and find out from a different sink. Beside doing water changes for Nitrates I haven't had any issues from this tank since it was brand new and made the rookie mistake of adding fish too soon. It definitely caused a lot of stress and I learned a lot of information quickly about the hobby.

12 Yellow Lab Cichlids
5 Upside-Down Catfish
1 Albino Golden Dojo Loach
1 Kuhli Loach
 

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Verified again this morning from a different tap source. The reading on the left is the tank water the one on the right is from the tap.

I did manage to fumble the first test tube and break it on the bathroom floor.IMG_20181015_061325.jpeg
 
Interesting that ammonia is that high out of the tap. I'm wondering if your water source where you live has ammonia and your water company is converting it to the safer ammonium?? The API liquid test kit will NOT differentiate between bad ammonia and safe Ammonium.

I'd think with ammonia that high your fish wouldn't last long.
 
Interesting that ammonia is that high out of the tap. I'm wondering if your water source where you live has ammonia and your water company is converting it to the safer ammonium?? The API liquid test kit will NOT differentiate between bad ammonia and safe Ammonium.

I'd think with ammonia that high your fish wouldn't last long.
That could be it, I make a phone call to my water company and ask them.
 
Where I'm at the water company sends out a yearly water report in the mail. I thought this was fairly common but apparently it isn't. I'd definitely call them up and see if they can explain why you are getting ammonia in your water.

The next option would be using spring or distilled water.....or hooking up an RO filtration system in your home.
 
It's pretty common to have ammonia levels that high in tap water nowadays. Water companies are using chloramine instead of chlorine because the chloramines dont break down as quickly as chlorine but they do cause the positive reading for ammonia. You can double check if there are chloramines in the water report, they can be found through google.

Best bet, do smaller more frequent water changes and treat the water before it goes in the tank.
 
Thanks for leading me on the path to find out more information. My fish are living, so I wasn't too concerned, but it's always good to have more information. We do have some of the best tasting tap water in Louisville, as long as you don't think about how much crap is in it.

I posted a screenshot of the levels of organics and inorganics, and looks like the numbers would match up with the readings. I'm going to avoid drinking tank water unless there is an outage. :ROFLMAO:

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Haha! Also learned a way around getting the picture squished. Dropbox direct link to the photo. I hope that helps everyone see the photo better.
 
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